Harvard Commit Joshua Chen Goes 52.6 in the 100 Breast in N. Texas

2023 LAC Fall Classic

• November 3-5, 2023
• Northwest ISD Aquatic Center, Justin, Texas
• Short Course Yards
• Results on Meet Mobile: “LAC Fall Classic”
• Full Meet Results

Top pros and juniors collided last weekend in Justin, Texas for the 2023 LAC Fall Classic. The meet featured swimmers from Coley Stickels’ post-graduate training group at Texas Ford Aquatics; National Teamer Maximus Williamson and Junior National Teamers Cooper Lucas and Avery Collins from the Lakeside Aquatic Club; Junior National Teamer Josh Chen also from TFA; and a number of high-profile collegiate recruits all competed in the suburbs of Fort Worth.

The Pros

The Texas Ford Aquatics pro/post-grad/elite group is dominated by sprinters, which is coach Coley Stickels’ specialty, and those sprinters showed out at the Fall Classic.

Matt King won the 50 free (19.16), 100 free (41.71), 200 free (1:34.33), and 100 fly (47.58) on the weekend individually.

That 200 free time, along with a 48.31 in the 100 back, are both new lifetime bests for him; his 50 was two-tenths from his best time, his 100 was about four-tenths away, and his 100 fly was about six-tenths away.

King, who started his college career at Alabama with Stickels before transferring to Virginia, didn’t finish the 2022-2023 collegiate season for the Cavaliers. His collegiate future is still uncertain – at last comment, he was planning a return to Virginia, but it’s unclear as to whether that’s still the case.

King swam for the US at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, winning a bronze medal as the anchor in finals of the 400 free relay and a gold medal as the anchor of the 400 medley relay in prelims.

On the other side of the pool, his former Alabama teammate Morgan Scott won six events:

• 50 free – 22.93
• 100 free – 48.62
• 200 free – 1:46.23
• 100 back – 52.54
• 100 fly – 53.40
• 200 IM – 1:57.55

That 200 IM was a new personal best.

Scott, who like King didn’t finish the 2022-2023 NCAA season, had her best finish at Worlds Trials in the 100 back (19th) and the 50/100 free (52nd) this summer. She was faster in summer 2022, though still has work to do to get to the 53.51 that qualified for Worlds for Team USA in the 100 free last summer.

Other highlights from that group include Jacob Molacek (19.63/52.41 freestyles, 47.36 backstroke).

Juniors on the National Team/Junior National Teamers

In addition to the above, there were four high school swimmers who represent the US on either the National Team or Junior National Team at the meet.

That includes Maximus Williamson, who won the 200 fly (1:45.72) and 200 IM (1:45.21).

The big collision, though, came against his club and high school teammate Cooper Lucas. The 400 IM, arguably event 1a or 1b for both swimmers, saw Lucas win in 3:46.71 and Williamson finish 2nd in 3:48.83. While that’s not a best time for either, it is a non-championship best time for both swimmers.

Lucas won his other primary event, the 500 free, in 4:27.06, while Williamson beat-out Lucas by .14 in the aforementioned 200 fly.

Not to be overlooked is their training partner Matteo Palmisani, one of the top Italian juniors who is now training with Lakeside. He finished 3rd in the 200 free (1:3992), 2nd in the 100 fly (48.19), and 3rd in the 200 fly (1:46.38), battling with his high-profile American teammates.

While those guys had a lot of big battles with similar event specialties, Texas Ford’s Joshua Chen, another recent transfer to the area from Iowa, was dominant in the breaststroke races. That includes winning the 100 in 52.63 and the 200 in 1:56.74, both of which were new lifetime bests. The 100 knocked a second-and-a-half off his old best, done to finish 2nd at the 2022 Iowa High School State Championships.

Chen is a Harvard commit, and that 100 time would rank him 4th all-time among Harvard swimmers all-time, while the 200 would rank him 6th.

On the girls’ side of the pool, Lakeside’s Avery Collins won two events and added personal bests in two other events (that weren’t wins).

She won the 200 breast in 2:14.58 and 400 IM in 4:19.57, primary events, while she swam personal bests in the 50 free (24.54 – 27th) and 200 free (1:50.01 – 2nd). Collins is a Texas commit.

Other Top High School Performers

Among the rest of the competitors, Ava Pape from Texas Ford Aquatics was the standout. A high school junior and Notre Dame commit, Pape grabbed three wins and a ton of personal bests at the meet. Her results:

• 500 free – 4:52.84 (1st/PB) – Winter Juniors
• 1000 free – 9:59.03 (1st/PB) – Winter Juniors
• 200 back – 2:00.77 (4th/PB)
• 100 breast – 1:07.21 (TT/PB)
• 200 breast – 2:19.07 (6th/PB)
• 1oo fly – 57.41 (TT/PB)
• 200 fly – 1:59.87 (1st/PB) – Winter Juniors

Some of those drops were huge, too. The 500 free, for example, saw her go from 5:01.18 in January, her previous best, to 4:52.84. That gave her a narrow win over Katy Jost from Texas Ford, a Kentucky commit, who was a best time of 4:52.97 for 2nd.

When she committed to Notre Dame, Pape did so as an IMer and 200 butterflier; she’s now shown the Irish a different side, with her distance freestyles blooming in a big way.

Other Big Performances:

• Texas (2024) commit Campbell Chase from City of Richardson ran into some of the best swimmers in the meet, but still came away with some personal bests. That includes s 23.19 in the 50 free, 55.46 in the 100 back, 2:05.05 in the 200 back, and a Winter Juniors cut of 2:16.87 in the 200 breast. She skipped most of her primary events, though she did finish 2nd in the 200 IM in 2:00.87 (after a 2:00.18 in prelims).
• Texas Ford 16-year-old Georgia Wimberly won the 200 back in 1:59.68, which was her best result among personal bests in seven events on the weekend. Her older brother Jacob, a Texas A&M commit, had a good meet too, finishing 3rd in the 200 IM (1:48.31) and hitting several season-best times.
• High school freshman Evan Pan-Wang from Metroplex Aquatics swam best times in all five of his races (in both prelims and finals), including a 50.35 in the 100 fly, 50.31 in the 100 back, 1:49.75 in the 200 back, and 1:52.65 in the 200 IM. That 100 back puts him in the top 50 all-time among 13-14s, and all of those swims rank him among the top 100.
• LAC 15-year-old Ella McWhorter won the 100 breast in a new personal best of 1:02.39, a Winter Juniors cut. Her previous best from March was 1:02.94.