Grimes Pulls Off 1:51.46 200 BK, 1:53.93 200 FL, And 4:40.59 500 FR In One Session

2022 Desert Invitational

• August 27 to 28, 2022
• Henderson, Nevada USA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Full Results Under “2022 Desert Invitational” On MeetMobile

This weekend, the Sandpipers of Nevada held a meet in short course yards, with all of the club’s top swimmers participating.

One of the biggest standouts of the meet was 16-year-old Katie Grimes, who underwent a 200 back-200 fly-500 free triple on day two and put up impressive times in all three events. She started off her day with a second-place finish in the 200 back, dropping 1.37 seconds off her best time of 1:52.83 to go 1:51.46. Finishing in front of her was 17-year-old Bella Sims, who went 1:50.79 and also dropped a significant amount off her previous best time of 1:51.69. Both Sims and Grimes’s times would have been fast enough to final at the 2022 NCAA Championships meet (Sims would have make the ‘A’ final wheras Grimes would have made the ‘B’ final).

Grimes then went on to win the 200 fly in a time of 1:53.93 in the 200 fly, which was a 2.47-second improvement from her previous lifetime best of 1:56.40 (originally 1:57.40, but adjusted for altitude). That time would also be worthy of a B-final at 2022 NCAAs. But she wasn’t done with that, as just one event later, she went on to clock a 4:40.59 to win the 500 free. In that event, her best time stands at 4:32.97, but it was still a very strong swim considering that one, it was yet again fast enough to make the B-final at 2022 NCAAs, and two, she had to swim two other races in the same session beforehand (with only the boys’ 200 fly separating her 200 fly and 500 free races).

What’s most impressive about this feat is that for most swimmers, Grimes’s times in the 500 free, 200 back, and 200 fly would be considered an extremely strong showing at an end-of-the-season championship meet. However, she managed to pull them off at a smaller club meet taking place in the summer, all in one day.

On the first day of the meet, Grimes swam in four other events, going 23.86 in the 50 free, 55.78 in the 100 back, and 16:28.73 in the 1650 free. Her 50 free time was an 0.08-second improvement off her personal best.

Sims also raced in several other races. In addition to the 200 back, she also hit a personal best in the 100 breast, dropping nearly a second to hit a 1:04.34 in the event. She also swam a 4:13.73 400 IM, 2:23.47 200 breast, 54.27 100 fly, and 48.73 100 free. Her 100 free time was just 0.21 seconds off her lifetime best of 48.52.

15-year-old Claire Weinstein, a 2022 World Championships team member alongside Grimes and Sims, also got some racing in—although she didn’t set any best times. She finished first in the 200 free and 200 IM with times of 1:46.59 and 2:03.86 respectively, while also putting up a 23.95 in the 50 free, 59.21 in the 100 back, 59.49 in the 100 fly, and 2:02.22 in the 200 fly.

On the boys’ side of the meet, 17-year-old Ilya Kharun was a standout performer. He dropped 3.61 seconds off his lifetime best of 1:50.20 in the 200 back, winning the event in a time of 1:46.59. A similar drop came in the 200 breast, where his PB went from a 2:06.74 to a 2:03.58. In addition, he also put up best marks of 55.57 and 44.25 in the 100 breast and 100 free respectivley, and hit a 47.57 100 fly and a 3;56.97 400 IM.

Kharun was recently removed from the 2022 U.S. Junior Pan Pacs team because it was discovered that he was born in Canada and not the United States.