Day 2 of 2021 GAIN Invitational Produces New Olympic Trials Qualifiers

2021 GAIN Invitational

• April 9-11, 2021
• Selby Aquatic Center, Sarasota, Florida
• Short Course Yards (25 yards) Prelims/Long Course Meters (50 meters) Finals
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central

Summer Smith of Bluefish won the 100 back with a lifetime best time of 1:02.19. She dropped .59 and picked up a Wave 1 qualification for Olympic Trials. She also placed second in the 200 fly with 2:13.83, a Wave 1 cut and her best time since the summer of 2019.

16-year-old Lucy Bell of Fort Collins Area Swim Team won the 200 fly with a Wave 2 qualifying time of 2:12.06. It was her second-best lifetime performance and her fastest since 2019 Summer Juniors when she clocked a 2:11.18. Sandpipers’ Paige Kuwata swam a PB of 2:14.11 for third place, coming in under the Wave 1 standard for the first time.

Connor Hunt of Sarasota Sharks and Josh Parent from Bluefish battled it out in the men’s 200 fly, with Hunt getting the win thanks to a strong back half. His 2:03.44 was his fastest since 2019 Summer Juniors. For Parent, it was a lifetime best by just over 1 second.

Other notable swims:

• Bowe Becker and Blake Pieroni, both representing Sandpipers, went 1-2 in the men’s 50 free. Becker edged his teammate, 22.70 to 22.85. Becker has been faster this year; he went 22.57 in San Antonio in March. It was, for Pieroni, his fastest performance of the year.
• Gracie Weyant of Sarasota Sharks and Hilltoppers’ Emma Weber were both about a second and a half off the Wave 2 cut in the 200 breast, but they easily made the Wave 1 standard. Weyant went her third-best time ever; she swam 2:31.15 and 2:31.70 in 2020. Weber was the fastest she has been since 2019 Summer Juniors when she cracked the 2:30 barrier with 2:29.90.
• Sandpipers’ Cody Miller won the men’s 200 breast by 6 seconds with 2:14.23. He went 2:10.22 in November at U.S. Open Indy.