Elizabeth Nawrocki Goes 1:09 in 100 Breast, Academy Bullets Light Up NCSA Day 2 Prelims

2023 NCSA SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 26-30, 2023
• IUPUI
  • Indianapolis, IN
• LCM (50 meters), Prelims/Finals
• Meet Central (With PDF results)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Prelims Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2023 NCSA Summer Championships”

A number of swimmers climbed all-time age group rankings on Thursday morning at the long course NCSA Summer National Championships, including notably Academy Bullets teammates Elizabeth Nawrocki in the girls’ 100 breaststroke and night 1 standout Brayden Capen in the 100 back and 400 IM.

Nawrocki entered the meet as the #2 seed in the girls’ 100 breaststroke, but the 16-year-old Illinoisian easily qualified first into the final on Thursday with a 1:09.41, undercutting her best time in the event by a second-and-a-half.

A rising high school junior, Nawrocki’s previous best was done a month ago at the NAC Summer Sizzler, where she swam 1:10.96. In total, she’s dropped almost three seconds this calendar year, which far outpaces her 1.3 second improvement in the short course high school season.

She now ranks 37th all-time in the 15-16 age group among Americans, just behind US Olympian Caitlin Leverenz (and a few spots ahead of World Record holder Lilly King). Megan Jendrick’s record in that age group remains a 1:07.05, which she swam at the 2000 Olympic Games.

The 2nd qualifier from prelims is Wisconsin commit Bridget McGann in 1:11.20; the Academy Bullets swimmers went 1-2-3 in the heads with Chloe Diner qualifying 3rd in 1:11.20.

Nawrocki’s teammate Brayden Capen, meanwhile, had a big morning of his own. After hitting the Olympic Trials Cut on Wednesday evening in the 200 back at just 14, he swam lifetime bests of 4:31.13 in the 400 IM and 57.36 in the 100 back. He is the 5th (tied) and 3rd seeds in those races, respectively.

That swim in the 400 IM moves him to 8th place all-time in the age group, while the 100 backstroke swim moves him to 7th. His targets in finals would be Michael Phelps’ 4:24.77 in the 400 IM and Josh Zuchowski’s 56.62 in the 100 back if he wanted to capture those National Age Group Records.

Other Morning Highlights:

• 17-year-old Caiden Bowers from the Eagle Swim Team in Maryland dropped a second-and-a-half from his seed time to lead all qualifiers in the boys’ 100 breaststroke, but that’s going to be a very tight final. Qualifying behind him were Jake Wang (1:03.33), Alex Ochsenbein (1:03.43), and Aiden Bucaria (1:03.44). Bucaria dropped over two seconds in his swim.
• Lilla Bognar from Team Greanville in South Carolina had a big four second drop to qualify first in the girls’ 200 fly in 2:14.21. Lurking as the second qualifier is Emily Roden, who has a best time of 2:13.74 but was 2:16.02 in prelims. Bognar, a rising high school junior, is primarily an IM’er, backstroker, and middle-distance freestyler, with those IMs especially likely to benefit from her improvement in the 200 fly.
• John Crush of the famous Crush family in Louisville, Kentucky, shaved .01 seconds off his seed time to qualify 1st in the boys’ 100 backstroke.