Here are the Weekly Wonders for the weekend of December 8-10, 2017:
Bradley Dunham, 17, SwimAtlanta: 500y free (4:19.07) – Dunham, a University of Georgia verbal commit for 2018-19, dropped 5.8 seconds in prelims at Speedo Winter Juniors East to log the 8th-fastest 500 free for 18-and-under boys in the U.S. this weekend. Dunham placed 8th in finals. He also competed in the 200 free (16th place), 1650 free (6th), 100 back (4th), and 200 back (15th), and earned PBs in all five events.
Rhyan White, 17, Wasatch Front Fish Market: 100y back (52.81) – Swimming at Speedo Winter Juniors West, White notched her first two sub-53s in the 100 back, going 52.90 in prelims and 52.83 in finals. Last December the Alabama verbal commit went 54.60. White was 5th in the 100 back final and 3rd in the 200 back. She also swam the 100/200 fly and 200 IM, and took home new times in the 100 back and 200 fly.
Kaden Smesko, 15, Firestone Akron Swim Team: 100y back (49.86) – Smesko broke 51 in the 100 back for the first time at Speedo Winter Juniors East. He led off the FAST 400 medley relay with 50.16, and he swam a 49.86 in prelims of the individual event to place 34th. Smesko lowered his PB by 1.5 seconds and was 3.1 seconds faster than he’d been at this time last year. He also competed in the 200 back and finished 19th with a lifetime-best 1:47.83.
Caroline Mahoney, 15, Coastal Maine Aquatics: 100y free (52.06) – Mahoney improved her seed time by 1.3 seconds to win the girls’ 100 free at the BASA Bowdoin Open hosted by Bowdoin College Swimming and Diving & Brunswick Area Swimming Association. She also won the 50 free, placed 12th in the 200 free, and was 8th in the 500 free, 3rd in the 100 back, and 2nd in the 200 back. She earned new PBs in all but the 200 free and was notably 19.4 seconds faster than she’d been last year in the 500 free, 6.1 in the 200 back, 4.7 in the 100 back, 3.6 in the 100 free, and 1 in the 50 free.
Torri Huske, 15, Arlington Aquatic Club: 100y fly (53.34) – Huske took another 3/10 off a one-week-old PB to win the girls’ 100 fly at the Sport Fair Winter Classic sponsored by Potomac Marlins Swim Team. Now 3 seconds faster than she was a year ago at this time, Huske broke the meet record with her winning time. She also won the 50 free (meet record), 200 free, 500 free, 200 fly, and 200 IM, and was runner-up in the 200 breast. She finished the weekend with PBs in all 7 events.
Isaac Giordano, 14, Mighty Marlins Swim Club: 100y fly (51.13) – Swimming at the PNS 14&U Short Course Championships hosted by Bellevue Club Swim Team Boosters, Giordano went his first two sub-53s in the 100 fly. First he posted a 52.46 in prelims, then he won the event with a best-by-2.2-seconds 51.13 that night. Giordano is now 6.2 seconds faster in the 100 fly than he was at the same meet last year. He also went PBs in the 200 back, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 200 IM.
Tona Zinn, 13, SOCAL Aquatics Association: 200y IM (1:55.97) – Zinn won all his individual events (boys’ 13-14 200 free, 100 breast, 100 fly, and 200 IM, and boys’ 11-14 200 fly and 400 IM) at the Southern California Swimming Winter Age Group Championships hosted by Gators Swim Club. He improved his month-old 200 IM time by 1 second, coming to the wall 9.8 seconds faster than he’d been at the same meet last year. Zinn wrapped up the weekend with new PBs in all 6 events he swam.
Tyler Christianson, 15, Naval Academy Aquatic Club: 200y IM (1:50.02) – Swimming at the 44th Annual NBAC Christmas Invitational hosted by North Baltimore Aquatic Club and Retrievers Aquatic Club, Christianson earned his first Winter Juniors cut in the 200 IM thanks to a 3.2-second drop from his seed time. Christianson is 5.1 seconds ahead of last year’s pace in the event. He also took home new PBs in the 100 back, 100/200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 IM.
Andrew Clough, 14, Velocity Aquatics: 200y IM (1:55.37) – Clough was 7-for-7 at Niagara Swimming’s STAR Short Course Invitational. He won the boys’ 13-14 100/500/1000/1650 free, 100/200 back and 200 IM, snagging best times in all 7 events. His 200 IM time was a PB by 2.4 seconds, and fully 7.2 seconds faster than he’d been at this same meet last year.
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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I think Torri Huske is 15.
Did you hear about the 11 year old boy who went a 1:52.25 in the 200IM?
not sure I believe that one
I don’t know where you heard it, but the 11-12 Boys NAG record is 1:55.75 by Joshua Zuchowski at the Showcase Classic back in March this year. Had the pleasure to watch it in person – an incredible swim.