2023 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West
- December 6-9, 2023
- FMC Natatorium, Westmont, Illinois
- Prelims: 9:00 am (CST)/ Finals: 5:00 pm (CST)
- Wednesday finals (relays only): 6:00 pm (CST)
- SCY (25 yards)
- Meet Central (USA Swimming)
- How To Watch
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results or on Meet Mobile
- Heat Sheets Wednesday Finals
Boys’ 800 Yard Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals
- Meet Record: 6:22.78 – Lakeside Aquatic Club (M Williamson, C Lucas, M Hatcher, R Paulk), 2022
- 13-14 NAG Record: 6:55.16 – SwimMAC (Osman, Turner, Clontz, Bartee), 2021
- 15-16 NAG Record: 6:30.45 – Rose Bowl Aquatics (Dalmacio, Kim, Larrick, Maurer), 2021
- 15-18 NAG Record: 6:22.78 – Lakeside Aquatic Club (M Williamson, C Lucas, M Hatcher, R Paulk), 2022
- 17-18 NAG Record: 6:23.21 – Carmel Swim Club (Davis, Rothrock, Hadley, Mitchell), 2019
Podium:
- Lakeside Aquatic Club ‘A’ (Williamson, Lucas, Hatcher, Paulk) – 6:20.34 *MEET RECORD*
- Rose Bowl Aquatics ‘A’ (Li, Noguchi, Liu, Kim) – 6:29.54
- Irvine Novaquatics ‘A’ (Maksymowski, Chen, Hitchens, Santos) – 6:33.05
Lakeside Aquatic Club’s Maximus Williamson (17), Cooper Lucas (18), Max Hatcher (17), and River Paulk (18) went on a record-breaking spree to open the 2023 Speedo Winter Junior Nationals – West in Westmont, Illinois, on Wednesday night.
Combining for 6:20.34 in the 4×200 freestyle relay, the foursome from suburban Dallas took 2.34 seconds off their own Short Course Juniors meet record, set in 2022. They also broke a pair of National Age Group records in the process: the 17-18 NAG (6:23.21) that had been held by Carmel Swim Club since 2019, and the 15-18 NAG record that this same Lakeside quartet set last year at Winter Juniors West (6:22.78).
The Lakeside boys swam in the same order as last year, with Williamson followed by Lucas, Hatcher, and Paulk. All four of them were faster.
As he did a year ago, Williamson led off with a National Age Group record. Last time it was the 15-16 NAG; this time, the 17-year-old Williamson cracked the 17-18 NAG mark with 1:32.00. That is a full 1.07 seconds faster than his leadoff last year.
Lucas (1:33.57) and Hatcher (1:36.91) improved their splits by about half a second, and Paulk (1:37.86) was about four-tenths faster than he’d been a year ago.
Splits Comparison:
| Lakeside Aquatic Club, 2023 | Lakeside Aquatic Club, 2022 | Carmel Swim Club, 2019 | |
| New SC Winter Juniors, 17-18, and 15-18 Record | Old SC Winter Juniors and 15-18 Record | Old 17-18 Record | |
| 1st leg | Maximus Williamson – 1:32.00 | Maximus Williamson – 1:33.07 | Wyatt Davis – 1:33.68 |
| 2nd leg | Cooper Lucas – 1:33.57 | Cooper Lucas – 1:34.13 | Gus Rothrock – 1:37.94 |
| 3rd leg | Max Hatcher – 1:36.91 | Max Hatcher – 1:37.44 | Griffin Hadley – 1:37.54 |
| 4th leg | River Paulk – 1:37.86 | River Paulk – 1:38.14 | Jake Mitchell – 1:34.05 |
| Total Time | 6:20.34 | 6:22.78 | 6:23.21 |
Nice