Columbia Sectionals Day 1 Recap: 14-Year-Old Amelia Knudson Logs 25.97 50 Free

2025 Speedo Sectionals – Columbia

• Wednesday, July 9 – Saturday, July 12
• Mizzou Aquatics Center, Columbia, MO
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Packet
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results on Meet Mobile” Region VIII Speedo Summer Sectionals”

Day 1 of the 2025 Sectionals in Columbia wrapped up last night with a mix of impressive club and college athlete wins.

The session saw two 14-year-old girls capture event wins: Amelia Knudson of Brownell Talbot and Alexa D’Amico of Razorback Aquatics. Both wins also ranked them in the top five of their event among 13-14 girls this season.

Knudson’s win came in the 50 free, blasting a 25.97 to be the lone sub-26 swimmer in the field. She now ranks third this season in her age group. Later in the session, D’Amico took the 200 breaststroke in 2:35.63, the fourth fastest 13-14 performer of the year.

Mexican Olympian and Southern Illinois University swimmer Celia Pulido won the women’s 50 fly in 27.32. She out-touched 16-year-old Lucy Velte by .07 for the victory.

On the men’s side of the meet, the Tsunami Swim Team of Kansas City shined bright, kicking it off with a 1-2-3-4 finish in the men’s 1500. Ellis Crisci, who placed 10th in the event at U.S. Nationals last month, led the way with a 15:26.09. This marked a five-second add from his time at Nationals. Whitaker Steward finished close behind him in 15:29.90. Trailing about 20 seconds behind this duo, Samuel Hennenfent (15:48.97) rounded out the podium, and Deacon Gutshall (15:55.96) came in fourth to deliver some serious points for the club.

Tsunami swimmers took both the longest and the shortest freestyle event, as Ian Everett claimed the 50 free in 22.91. This marks the Tsunami/University of Indiana swimmer’s first time under 23.

Other Event Winners

• Riley Miklos, an incoming University of Nebraska sophomore, unleashed a seven-second personal best in the 800 free (9:01.51) to take the event
• Razorback Aquatic Club’s Hayden Gibson posted a 2:12.16 in the 200 back for the gold. This bettered her lifetime best of 2:12.64 from U.S. Nationals. Andy Baklanov, and SMU commit took the men’s race in 2:02.23
• Ryan Coughenour of Columbia Swim Club closed the session with a home pool victory in the 200 breast. He swam a personal best of 2:19.13 to edge out Noah Reeves (2:19.26)

Team Scores Through Day 1

Men:

1. Tsunami Swim Team of K.C. – 170.5
2. Parkway Swim Club – 161
3. University of Missouri – 91

Women:

1. University of Missouri – 84
2. Razorback Aquatic Club – 83
3. Columbia Swim Club – 81