Friday Futures Recap: Leah Hayes Posts #4 All-Time 11-12 200 Free

2018 Futures Championships

• August 2-5, 2018
• Four locations
• LCM
• Meet Pages:
  • Cary, NC
  • Richmond, VA
  • Rochester, MN
  • Santa Clara, CA
• Rochester, MN live stream

The four USA Swimming Futures meets continued Friday with the first prelims-finals day of competition.  Swimmers from the Cary, North Carolina Futures meet posted half of the top-three finishes across the eight individual events on Friday, including the fastest swims in five of eight events.  On the other end of the spectrum, the Rochester Futures meet generated just one top-three aggregate finish.

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Addison Smith of Baylor Swim Club put up the top time across all of the Futures competitions, winning a tight race in Cary over Abigail Pilkenton of Dynamo, 2:02.76 to 2:03.01.  The second-fastest time belonged to 14-year-old Ana Herceg of Nitro Swimming, who posted a strong back-half to win the Rochester Futures title in 2:03.00.  Notably, 12-year-old super star Leah Hayes finished second in that race in 2:04.29.  That cuts more than a half-second off her previous best time, and moves her into #5 on the National Age Group historical rankings for 11-12 girls.

Megan Bull of Somerset Valley pulled away over the final 50 to win the Richmond Futures in 2:03.14.  Jennifer Campbell and Sarah Snyder put together a 1-2 finish for Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics at the Santa Clara Futures meet, touching in 2:03.38 and 2:04.65, respectively.

Men’s 200 Freestyle 

The top swim in the men’s 200 free also came from the Cary meet, with Matthew Nutter of Sarasota Tsunami taking the win in 1:52.18.  Jack Vandeusen of Bolles finished second at the Cary meet in 1:53.26 for the #3 time across all futures meets.

Out in Santa Clara, Zachary Van Zandt of CCAT Swimming flipped fourth at the 100 mark before blowing past the field to win by over a second in 1:52.33, good for #2 in the aggregate standings.  Wilson Walker of Lehigh University (1:53.49) and Trent Frandson of Central Iowa Acquatics (1:53.83) were victorious in Richmond and Rochester, respectively.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

Youth reigned supreme in the women’s 100 breaststroke, with three of four meet winners all 14 or 15 years old.  Santa Clara saw the top two aggregate swims, as 14-year-old Lydia Jacoby finished first in 1:11.05, narrowly ahead of 15-year-old Ana Adame (1:11.19).  Across the country in Cary, 14-year-old Alicia Henry out-touched Cecilia Porter, 1:11.45 to 1:11.47.

Rounding out the meets, 15-year-old Clarissa Sabin of Berkeley Aquatic Club won the Richmond meet in 1:12.12, and Haley Downey of Splash Club topped the Rochester standings in 1:12.38.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

Naval Academy swimmer Chris Bondarowicz (representing Fanwood Scotch Plains) was the lone swimmer to crack the 1:04 barrier in any of the Futures meets, turning on the jets over the second 50 to finish in 1:03.95 in Richmond.  Jacob Rauch posted the second-fastest aggregate time of 1:04.18 in Cary for the win.  Andrew Britton rounded out the top three with his 1:04.47 in Santa Clara.

Power for Life swimmers Charles Bennett (1:04.99) and Jacob Schababerle (1:05.14) posted a 1-2 finish at the Rochester meet.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

A pair of 14-year-olds—Joy Jiang of Nys Aquatics (1:01.80) and Katelyn Crom (1:01.93)—touched first in Richmond and Santa Clara, respectively, to earn the #2 and #3 spots on the aggregate list.  18-year-old Caroline Theil of Greater Nebraska took the Rochester title in 1:02.29.At the Cary meet, Madison Cummings of ECAC cut nearly 1.5 seconds from her preliminary time to post the top aggregate time of 1:01.39.  Addison Smith, who posted the top 200 freestyle time earlier in the day, finished second in Cary in 1:02.01.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

Richmond hosted two of the three fastest times of the day, including a 54.96 from Cornell swimmer James Huang that proved to be the top time of the day.  He edged out Cason Wilburn of East Coast Aquatics, who finished in 55.23 for the #3 time across all meets.

Campbell Auerbach and Kamal Muhammad put together a 1-2 finish for Dynamo at the Cary meet, posting times of 55.02 and 55.46.  That swim from Auerbach proved to be the #2 Futures time overall.  Miles Mackenzie of Tiger Aquatics clocked a 55.40 to win in Santa Clara, while Grant Reeves won a tight heat in Rochester in 56.85.

Women’s 400 IM

Vanderbilt commit Alixandra Roy executed a great back-half to win the Cary title, posting the top time of the day in 4:54.34.  Brooke Zettel of TAC, who had the lead through 300 meters, faded for second in 4:56.06.

Seacost Swimming’s Corinne Carbone pulled away over the final 100 to win in Richmond in the third-fastest time overall (4:56.31).

At the other two meets, 14-year-old Katelyn Crom won by nearly five seconds in Santa Clara (4:56.77), and Riley Tapley of Jeffco Hurricanes beat Ella Flowers to the wall in Rochester for the victory (5:00.06).

Men’s 400 IM

Other winners on the day were Brandon Schuster (4:29.41, Santa Clara), Liam Bogart (4:32.07, Richmond), and Cameron Linder (4:34.93, Richmond).Fresh off his second place 200 freestyle from earlier in the session in Cary, Jack Vandeusen of Bolles came back to post the fastest 400 IM (4:27.19), cutting more than five seconds off his prelims swim and lifetime best.  Tyler Watson finished second (4:28.93).