Leah Shackley Breaks Y Nationals Championship Record In Prelims of 100 BK (51.71)

2023 YMCA NATIONALS (SC)

• April 2-7, 2023
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Psych Sheet
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Finals Recap

The second prelims session of the 2023 YMCA Nationals is in the books, with the event lineup featuring heats of the 100 back, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, and the 200 medley relay.

16-year-old Leah Shackley of Blair Regional Y wasted no time this morning, clocking a 51.71 in the 100 backstroke to set a new Championship record.  The previous mark stood at 52.19, done by Meghan Small in 2015. Shackley’s swim this morning puts her just under a second off her own previous best time of 50.83, which she swam at the Pennsylvania High School District 6 Championships in early March.

Cumberland YMCA’s Daniel Diehl cruised to the fastest time of the morning in the boys’ 100 backstroke. Diehl logged a 47.16 this morning, well off his personal best time of 46.01 from Winter Juniors. Taking the second spot out of the morning was Schroeder Y’s Sam Lorenz, who dropped about half a second to post a 47.56.

The boys’ 400 IM should be a good race this evening, with the top four qualifiers coming in this morning within a second of each other. Piedmont YMCA’s David King leads the field with a 3:55.43, which is about three seconds slower than his personal best from the Virginia Senior Champs meet last month. Tyler Quarterman, a Texas commit from Boise, shaved a tenth off his own personal best to qualify in second with a 3:55.90. Isaac Fleig, who entered the meet as the top seed, rounds out the top three qualifiers with a 3:56.00 this morning.

Greater Spartanburg YMCA’s Hayden Penny led the prelims of the girls’ 400 IM, coming in at 4:15.95. Qualifying behind her was Emily Thompson of Greater Somerset County YMCA, who logged a 4:17.02 this morning. This should be an exciting race this evening, with both Penny and Thompson owning personal bests under 4:13.

Meghan Tiernan from Cheshire YMCA had a huge swim this morning in the 400 IM to qualify in 3rd. The Villanova commit dropped nearly four seconds from her best time from this meet last year to post a 4:20.50.

Lynchburg’s Brendan Whitfield decisively took the top spot of the morning in the boys’ 200 freestyle. Whitfield, a Virginia Tech commit, swam a 1:36.17 to clear the field by over a second. Whitfield should be quicker tonight, with his best time standing at 1:35.27 from Winter Juniors. Piedmont Y’s Will Browne had a fantastic swim to take the 2nd seed going into tonight’s final, as he dropped nearly two seconds to post a 1:37.24.

The top six swimmers in the girls’ 200 freestyle dipped below the 1:50-barrier this morning, led by Sydney Gring from Boyertown YMCA. Gring recorded a 1:47.88, which is over a second slower than her personal best from the Pennsylvania High School District 3 Championships last month. Anna Moesch, the meet record holder in the event, qualified in 2nd with 1:48.75.

Another notable performance this morning in the girls’ 200 free was done by Katie Lawrence from the Wyckoff Family YMCA. She swam a best time by over two seconds to move from 20th to 5th this morning, coming in at 1:49.50.