Presenting our MP Weekly Wonders for the weekend of July 21-23, 2017:
Lola Mull, 14, Mid-Michigan Aquatics: 1500m free (16:51.30) – Mull swam lights-out at the Columbus Sectionals hosted by Ohio State Swim Club. She began with a blistering 8:45.30 to win the 800 free and finished with a 16:51.30 to win the 1500. She also won the 400 free and was a finalist in the 400 IM and 200 fly. She earned huge PBs in all those, plus the 200 free, and scored her first national time standards in the 400 free (PBx10), 800 free (PBx8.5), and 1500 free (PBx26.5), and 400 IM (PBx6.7).
Oliver Cafferty, 15, Birmingham ‘Y’ Blue Dolphins: 100m back (57.55) – Also swimming at Columbus Sectionals, Cafferty went an astounding 4.6 seconds faster than his seed time in the 100m back, placing 5th. His first time under 1:02, Cafferty earned a U.S. Open cut, bypassing both the Winter and Summer Juniors standards. He also went PBs in the 50/100/200 free and 200 back.
Nathaniel Stoffle, 14, Summit Swimming: 100m back (59.43) – Stoffle won the Division 2 boys 13&O 100 back at the Georgia Swimming 14&U Age Group Championships and scored his first-ever Winter Juniors cut. He lopped 2.1 seconds off his seed time in prelims, crashing through the 1:01 barrier for the first time. Stoffle also improved his PBs in the 50/100/200 free, 50/200 back, 100 breast, 200 fly, and 200 IM during the weekend.
Cassie Howell, 12, Performance Elite Aquatics: 100m back (1:07.35) – Howell won the girls 11-12 100 back at the Mississippi Swimming Long Course State Championships hosted by Mississippi Makos. She improved her PB by 2 seconds and was 2.7 seconds faster than she’d been a year ago. Howell also won the 50/100/200 free, 50 back, and 200 IM, and was runner-up in the 400 free.
Emma Weber, 13, Flatiron Athletic Club: 100m breast (1:11.93) – Swimming at the Colorado Swimming Senior Long Course State Championships, Weber won the girls 14&U 100 breast with a best-by-1.6-seconds 1:11.93. She broke Zoe Bartel’s meet record and scored her first U.S. Open cut in the event, going 5.5 seconds faster than she had been at this point in the season last year. She also dropped 5.5 seconds in the 200 breast (-12.6 vs a year ago) and earned her first Summer Juniors cut. She won that event with a new meet record, too. Furthermore, she left the meet with new times in the 100 free, 200 fly, and 200 IM.
Aidan Kreiley, 15, Mercury Swimming: 100m breast (1:07.54) – Kreiley dropped 3.5 seconds and was 5 seconds ahead of last year’s pace when he won the 15&O 100 breast at the Niagara Swimming Long Course Championships. Kreiley also took 11.2 seconds off his 200 breast and was runner-up. He earned his very first Winter Juniors cuts in both events. In addition to the two breaststrokes, Kreiley updated his PBs in the 50/100/200/400 free and 200 IM during the weekend.
Vanessa Herrmann, 17, Aquastorm: 100m breast (1:12.39) – Swimming at the Minneapolis Sectionals at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Hermann went best times in both the 100 breast (PBx0.4) and 200 breast (PBx2.9), and pocketed her first U.S. Open cuts in both events. She was runner-up in the 100 and tied for first in the 200 with 2:35.97.
Ben Waterman, 17, Lobo Aquatic Club: 100m fly (56.09) – Waterman dropped a full second in prelims of the 100 fly, which vaulted him into the A final at Gresham Sectionals hosted by Mt. Hood Aquatics. While his final time was just a tick slower, it was his second consecutive sub-57, and earned him his first Summer Juniors invitation in the event. Waterman finished the meet with updated times in the 50/100/200 free in addition to the 100 fly.
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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