Girls Breaststroke Steals Show at Juniors Prelims with Multiple Top 15 Swims

2022 SPEEDO JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 1 to 5, 2022
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, California
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Page
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Live Results (OMEGA) (also can be found on MeetMobile)

Elmbrook’s Lucy Thomas took the girls 100 breast top seed in record-breaking fashion this morning, but she was far from the only swimmer in the event to make waves during the prelim session. 

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Lucy Thomas – 1:08.07
2. Katie Christopherson – 1:08.39
3. Emma Weber – 1:08.54
4. Raya Mellott – 1:09.32
5. Grace Rainey – 1:09.71
6. Aubree Brouwer – 1:09.88
7. Jessey Li – 1:09.95
8. Alicia Henry – 1:10.04

Perhaps the most notable swim behind Thomas came from Raya Mellott, the fourth place finisher in 1:09.32. Representing the Crow Canyon Sharks, the 14-year-old Mellott dropped over a full second from her lifetime best, which moves her up to third all-time for 13-14 girls. 

All time Top 10 13-14 Girls 100 Breast

1. Amanda Beard: 1:08.09
2. Megan Quann (Jendrick): 1:09.14
3. Raya Mellott: 1:09.32
4. Grace Rainey: 1:09.42
5. Emily Weiss: 1:09.45
6. Annie Zhu: 1:09.65
7. Alexis Wenger: 1:09.82
8. Anita Nall (Richesson): 1:09.83
9. Allie Szekely: 1:09.87
10. Alex Walsh: 1:09.98

Sitting above Mellot is a pair of legends, Amanda Beard and Megan Quann (Jendrick). Both Beard and Quann went on to win individual Gold at the Olympic Games in breaststroke, with Beard winning the 200 in 2004 in Athens and Quann winning the 100 in Sydney in 2000. If Mellott is able to drop more this evening, she has the ability to join Beard as the only 14 and under to swim under the 1:09 barrier. 

Also notably, Grace Rainey, who now sits just behind Mellott in the 13-14 rankings, qualified 5th for tonight’s A final with a 1:09.71. 

It wasn’t just Mellot who shot up the all time age group rankings this morning, however. 16-year-old Katie Christopherson of Swim Atlanta qualified 2nd in 1:08.39, an over 6 tenth drop from her lifetime best moved her up to 12th all-time for 15-16 girls, including behind Thomas who jumped to 7th all time this morning.

Christopherson had very tight splitting, with only a 3.7 second difference between her 1st and 2nd 50, the tightest of the top 8 swimmers this morning. That should set up for an exciting race with Thomas this evening, as Thomas’ first 50 was 7 tenths faster than anyone else while Christopherson owned the field’s quickest closing 50.