2021 SUMMER SOUTHERN SECTIONALS
- July 22-25, 2021
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
- Long Course Meters (LCM)
- Results on MeetMobile: “2021 ST TXLA Speedo Southern Sectionals”
Julia Cook kicked off night three of the competition by topping Kathryn Power in the 100 back. Cook’s time of 1:01.74 was just off of her lifetime best in the race, a 1:01.34 from 2018. It was also faster than her time of 1:02.45 that earned her 48th at Wave II of Olympic Trials. While Cook won the event in the finals, it was Olivia Bray, her teammate at Texas, who finished with the fastest time. In prelims, Bray finished in 1:01.27.
Bray’s decision to scratch came in order to focus on her second event of the night, the 100 fly. There, she beat out Emma Sticklen by half of a second to take the win in 58.92. Earlier this summer, Bray was a finalist in the race at Wave II of Olympic Trials, finished 7t in 58.36. Her lifetime best in the event came from her prelims swim of that meet, where she touched in 58.07.
The men’s 100 back featured a three-way showdown between Ethan Gogulski, Brett Pinfold, and Daniel Krueger, with Gogulski coming out on top. The only athlete of the three to compete at Wave I of Olympic Trials, Gogulski’s time of 55.05 would have been fast enough to win the event and earn a bid to Wave II of competition. The swim marked a new lifetime best for the Texas A&M senior, with his previous best being a 55.60. Pinfold took second in 55.65, while Krueger rounded out the top-3 in 56.13.
Taking the win in the women’s 400 free was Hayden Miller, a 16-year old from Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club. Miller beat her lifetime best in the race by nearly two seconds, touching in 4:12.85 to win the event by over eight seconds. While she finished 10th in the race at Wave I of Trials, her time from this weekend would have won the event, beating out Sally Tafuto’s time of 4:13.98, and earned her a spot at Wave II.
With her swim, Miller now ranks as the 52nd fastest performer in the 15-16 age group in USA Swimming history. Going into the weekend, she sat just outside the top 100, with her previous best of 4:14.58 being just off of Trina Radke’s 100th ranked swim of 4:14.55.
After swimming a time that would have won him gold in the 400 IM at the Olympics yesterday, Carson Foster cruised to a huge win in the 400 free. The swim also marked a big lifetime best for the Texas sophomore as, coming into the meet, he hadn’t dipped below 3:55 in the race.
The runner-up in the race was the same as in the 400 IM as well, as Cooper Lucas finished in 3:54.00. That time makes him the 16th fastest performer in the 15-16 age group in USA Swimming history. He now has finished faster in the event at his age than swimmers such as Drew Kibler, Michael Phelps, and Bobby Finke.
Sterling Crane finished with the fastest time in the men’s 100 fly, taking a second off of his prelims swim to touch in 53.45. The University of Texas junior was just off of his time from Trials, where he touched in 53.42.
