Kate Hurst Has More Huge Drops; Baylor Stanton Passes Michael Phelps in the 200 IM

2023 SWIMMAC LC/SC INVITATIONAL

• November 11-12, 2023
• SwimMAC Training Facility/KAC, Charlotte, North Carolina
• LCM Prelims, SCY Finals (50m prelims, 25y finals)
• Result on Meet Mobile: “2023 NC SwimMAC November LC SC Invitational”

Leah Shackley had another big day, just missing a pair of lifetime bests, while fellow Junior National Teamer Kate Hurst dropped time in a primary event on Sunday at the SwimMAC Long Course Prelims/Short Course Finals meet.

Shackley entered the meet primarily known for her sprint fly events, winning the 50 at the World Junior Championships and finishing 2nd in the 100.

This week, though, she’s really shown off her versatility, first with a best time in the 200 back on Saturday, and then with a win in the 100 back on Sunday.

Swimming in the yards final, Shackley finished in 50.95. That missed her personal best, from a District Championship meet in March in her native Pennsylvania, by .12 seconds.

She also won the 200 fly in 1:54.87, which was .24 shy of her personal best.

Shackley wasn’t the only Junior National Teamer and class of 2024 star to have a big meet. Kate Hurst from Scarlet Aquatics in New Jersey won the 500 yard free on Sunday in 4:44.55. For the future Texas Longhorn, that’s a drop off the 4:46.32 that she swam in March that was her previous personal best.

She also won the 1000 yard free in 9:43.72, which is a nearly-six second drop.

Hurst, who tends toward the longer end of the freestyle range, swam a best time in the 200 yard free on Saturday. She’s committed to the University of Texas for the fall.

Among the top day 2 performers on the boys side was 16-year-old Baylor Stanton, who won the 200 IM in 1:46.24 and the 100 free in 44.93. That 200 IM time was a new personal best, which climbs him from 30th all-time in the age group to 25th – bumping the most-decorated swimmer of all-time Michael Phelps out of the top 25.

Stanton also has wins in the 200 free (1:37.64) and 400 IM (3:48.91), making four total on the weekend.

Other Big Sunday Swims:

• National Junior Teamer Norvin Clontz, 16, out-battled his former teammate Santi Alzate of SwimMAC Carolina, 15, in the 500 free final. Clontz touched in 4:25.58 and Alzate was just behind in 4:25.62. The two battled for the full race, never separated by more than a few tenths. Just as Alzate looked like he might be seeing daylight, Clontz clawed back and, with a 51.46 closing split, took the win. Alzate’s swim was a best time by two-and-a-half seconds.
• Cal commit (2025) Elle Scott won the 200 IM (1:59.72) and 100 free (49.75) on Sunday, showing off her versatility – she’s best-recognized as a breaststroker. She finished 2nd, though, in the 200 breaststroke in 2:13.63, placing runner-up to her SwimMAC teammate Sofia Plaza (2:13.42). Plaza, a Florida commit for fall 2024, won the 400 IM on Saturday in 4:09.73, a best time by more than three seconds.
• 15-year old Eliza Wallace from Mecklenberg Swim Association swam 2:15.82 in the 200 breast, which was the 6th-best time of the finals session. That was just shy of a three seconds drop. That follows a breakthrough in the 100 on Saturday, where she became just the 9th 15-year-old to break a minute, dropping over three seconds to swim 59.96.
• Scarlet Aquatics’ Richard Poplawski won the 200 fly in 1:46.59. A senior Harvard commit, that knocks more than a second off his best time of 1:47.81 from March 2022. That time would rank first among Harvard swimmers this season, and continues a great fall for Harvard commits. Poplawski’s future teammate Joshua Chen dropped 1.5 seconds in the 100 breast, going 52.6, last weekend in Texas.