2018 Southern Premier Meet
- March 2nd-4th 2018
- Nashville Aquatic Club, Nashville, Tennessee
- 25y (SCY) course
- Live results
The first day of one of the most exciting non-championship junior meets in the country saw the Walsh sisters pick up right where they left off in their first meet since the Tennessee High School state championship a month ago, and first club since they dominated Winter Juniors in December.
15-year old Gretchen Walsh won the 200 free in a new lifetime best of 1:45.88. That knocked 2 full seconds off her previous flat-start best, which was set at this same meet last year. It was also faster than the 1:46.1 that she swam on a relay start at Winter Juniors – East.
She won that race by 2-and-a-half seconds, and in the process kicked off a near-clean-sweep for the Nashville Aquatic Club of the day’s girls’ “open age” events.
They won the 200 free relay in 1:30.91, with Gretchen leading off in 22.61 and older sister Alex Walsh anchoring in 22.06. Louisville-based Cardinal Aquatics took 2nd in 1:32.55, while SwimMAC Carolina took erd in 1:34.15 – including a 23.43 leg from 12-year old Sophia Lindauer.
Alex Walsh won her first event in the girls’ 200 back with a 1:52.47, taking a 5-second margin of victory over Lakeside’s Annabel Crush.
Ella Nelson was the group’s lone double winner in individual events, topping both the 100 breaststroke (1:01.03) and 400 IM (4:10.84). That’s the 2nd-best time by a 16 & under in the country this season.
NAC didn’t enter an 800 free relay, which left SwimMAC to win in 7:23.01.
The wins on the boys’ side were much more evenly distributed, with only one team winning more than 1 race.
Owen Conley of the Dayton Raiders won the boys’ 200 backstroke in 1:44.77. That’s his new best time by almost a second, and on top of his drop at Winter Juniors, he’s dropped 4 seconds in 3 months. His teammate Nicholas Perera won the 400 IM in 3:48.87, which is almost a two-second drop for him, and gave him almost an 8-second margin of victory in the meet.
Among the other top-finishers included a 1-2-3 SwimMAC finish in the 100 breaststroke, led by Will Chan in 54.38. Markus Wennborg took 2nd in 55.56, while Colson Zucker took 3rd in 55.65.
Other Day 1 Winners:
- Tennessee Aquatics’ boys’ 200 free relay won in 1:22.59, including a 20.19 rolling-star from Ben Boor.
- Will Tarvestad from Triton Swimming in Louisville won the boys’ 200 free in 1:38.14.
- The Lakeside Swim Team in Louisville won the boys’ 800 free relay in 6:39.16.
Women’s Top 5 Teams After Day 1
- SwimMAC Carolina – 642.5
- Nashville Aquatic Club – 493
- Lakeside Swim Team – 272
- Cardinal Aquatics – 206
- Dynamo Swim Club – 180
Men’s Top 5 Teams After Day 1
- SwimMAC Carolina – 844
- Lakeside Swim Team – 341
- Nashville Aquatic Club – 262
- Dynamo Swim Club – 223
- Dayton Raider Swim Club – 223
