Presenting the MP Weekly Wonders for the weekend of January 13-15, 2017.
Jonny Kulow, 12, Lander Swim Club: 100y free (51.70) – Kulow won all his events at the 2017 Powell Winter Fiesta Invitational, including the 100 free where he went a best time by 1.7 seconds. In addition, Kulow took home new times in the 50/200 free, 100 breast, and 100/200 IM.
Tim Stollings, 16, Tri-County YMCA Wild Waves: 100y back (51.65) –Stollings dropped 2.5 seconds and won the men’s 100 back at the January Jump Start hosted by Swim GSA at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. He dropped time in every event, including the 50 free (-.35), 100 free (-2.2), 500 free (-6.8), 100 fly (-1.1), 200 fly (-7.5), and 400 IM (-5.4).
Katharine Berkoff, 15, and Cale Berkoff, 17, Missoula Aquatic Club: 200y back – Sister and brother each won the 200 back at the 41st Annual Washington Open at Federal Way. Cale notched his second-best lifetime swim (1:49.23, only off by .03) and was the #2 18-and-under in the U.S. for the weekend. He picked up a new PB leading off the MAC 200 medley relay in 23.83. Katherine, meanwhile, won the 100 back with a new lifetime best (53.34) and was only .23 off her PB in the 200 back with the #1 18-and-under 200 back in the country: 1:55.99. She also lowered her PBs in the 500 free (4:55.50, -3.2) and 100 breast (1:06.50, -0.8) and 100 fly (56.90, -1.9). She also led off the 4×50 free with a PB of 23.57 and the 4×50 medley with a PB of 25.28.
Chris Erickson, 14, Aberdeen Swim Club: 200y breast (2:09.19) – Swimming at the Midwest All Star Invitational hosted by the Aquatic Club of Elkhorn, Erickson knocked 3.1 seconds off his seed time and was 6.5 seconds faster than he’d been a year ago, when he won the boys’ 13-14 200 breast with 2:09.19. He also won the 50/100 free, 100 breast, 100 fly, and 200 IM.
Ethan Newland, 14, Greater Nebraska Swim Team: 200y breast (2:12.43) – Also at the Midwest All Star meet was Newland, who finished second behind Erickson in both the 100 breast and the 200 breast. He went best times in both distances, and also earned new PBs in the 50 free and 200 IM. Newland has improved 5.1 seconds in the last year in the 100 breast, 11.2 in the 200 breast, and 10.2 in the 200 IM.
Sydnie Sovinsky, 17, Liverpool Jets Swim Club: 200y fly (2:04.94) – Sovinsky was 4/10 off her PB but 7.2 seconds ahead of last year’s pace when she won the women’s 15-and-over 200 fly at the Niagara 12U IMX & Senior Powerpoint Championships hosted by the Fairport Area Swim Team. She also won the 200 IM and was runner-up in the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 back.
Jack LeVant, 17, North Texas Nadadores: 200m fly (1:59.56) – LeVant posted a lifetime best and finished on the podium (third) with his first-ever sub-2:00 200 meter butterfly at the Pro Swim Series at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin. LeVant also improved his times in the 200 free and 100 fly, achieving the A finals in both events.
Charlotte Hook, 12, TAC Titans: 400y IM (4:29.06) – Swimming at the SGSA January Jump Start, Hook dropped 9.7 seconds and finished third in the women’s open 400 IM. She was 31.5 seconds faster than she’d been a year ago. Hook also competed at the TAC Titans Polar Plunge Meet over the weekend, where she posted new times in the 50 free, 100 breast, 50 fly, and 100 IM.
Bluefish Swim Club boys’ 11-12 4×100 meter free relay: Tyler Lutz, James Misto, Erik Watka, and Landon Him combined for 3:58.63 at the CeraVe Invitational hosted by Berkeley Aquatic Club. The four 12-year-olds came within 6/10 of the national age group record (3:58.04, set in 2014 by Cincinnati Marlins) and took 7.9 seconds off their own New England Swimming LSC record, set in July 2016.
Reminder: The Weekly Wonders column is a celebration of age-group swimming, where new champions are made every day. Anyone can look up the top swims of the week. That’s not what we’re doing here. If we were only reporting on the week’s top swims we would feature the same handful of athletes every Wednesday. Instead, this is an opportunity to introduce the swimming community to athletes who have made great strides in the context of their own particular swimming worlds. By association, it also celebrates their coaches and their teams. The Weekly Wonders column, therefore, amounts to a pat on the back for a job well done, and hopefully encourages swimmers of all levels to continue to reach from within to get to that next level.
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Go Berkoff’s!
I met Cale after the 400 IM final, he’s a nice guy.
I’m really sorry for asking this here, but what are the opinions of people who have worn Adidas’ breaststroke suit? I’m wearing it to a meet next weekend and I was wondering how big of a difference it makes in breaststroke races? If it helps, I used to wear an Xpresso before I got this one for Christmas.
Since you already have the suit and plan to wear it, why not just see for yourself how well it performs?
Yeah, you certainly make sense, I guess I’m just nervous.
Bob, you should sleep at that very late hour if you live in USA. It would be better for your body before your meet next weekend. Good luck.
You’re right Bobo! Thank you for your concern and good luck wishes, I’ll do my best next weekend! 🙂