Presenting our MP Weekly Wonders for the weekend of July 28-30, 2017:
Martina Thomas, 17, Razorback Aquatic Club Aquahawgs: 100 free (57.45) – Thomas dropped 6/10 and earned her first Winter Nationals cut in the 100 free qualifying for the A final at NCSA Summer Swimming Championships. She finished seventh in the 100 free and sixth in the 200 free. Thomas finished the weekend with new PBs in the 100 free, 200 back, and 50 fly.
Alana Barthel, 14, Aulea Swim Club: 100m back (1:06.90) – Barthel swam her three best 100 back times at the Oahu Grand Prix. She won the four-person A-final of the girls’ 12-14 100 back with 1:07.79 after a PB of 1:07.55 in prelims. She swam a third time, and this one cracked the 1:07 barrier. Barthel is now 4.2 seconds faster than she had been a year ago. She also earned lifetime-bests in the 50 back and 50 fly.
Madelyn Christman, 14, Fishers Area Swimming Tigers: 200m back (2:15.63) – Christmas won the girls’ 13-14 100 free, 100/200 back, and 200/400 IM, and was fourth in the 50 free, at the Indiana Swimming Age Group State Championships. She dropped gobs of time and picked up new PBs in all 7 events. She also scored her first Summer Nationals cut in the 200 back, her first Summer Juniors cut in the 100 back, and her first Winter Juniors cut in the 100 free.
Camryn Forbes, 18, Butler Y Aquatic Club: 200m back (2:13.57) – Forbes won the women’s 200 back at the YMCA National Long Course Championships, taking 7/10 off her lifetime best. She also won the 100 free and 100 back, and finished fourth in the 50 back. Forbes lowered her PB in the 50 free leading off the BYAC 200 free relay.
Matt Fallon, 14, Somerset Valley YMCA: 200m breast (2:19.73) – One of the youngest boys swimming at Speedo Junior National Championships, Fallon made it into the C final of the 200 breast, dropping half a second off a PB that was only 2 weeks old. In finals he improved by another few hundredths and finished 19th, the only 14-year-old in the A, B, or C final of the event. Last summer at this time, Fallon was a 2:29.2-200-breaststroker.
Trenton Vonhartitzsch, 12, SwimTulsa: 200m breast (2:37.94) – Vonhartitzsch lopped an improbable 10.9 seconds off his best 200 breast time at the Oklahoma Long Course State Championship hosted by Jenks Trojan Swim Club. He went 8-for-8 for the weekend, winning the boys’ 11-12 50/100 free, 50/100 back, 50/100/200 breast, and 200 IM, and picking up new PBs in everything he swam.
Garret Green, 13, Blue Tide Aquatics: 200m IM (2:16.26) – Green dropped 5.2 seconds to land in the A final of the boys’ 13-14 200 IM at the Texas Age Group Swimming Long Course Championship hosted by Longhorn Aquatics. The only 13-year-old in the final, he finished seventh with a time that was 9.4 seconds than what he’d done a year ago at this time. Green finished the meet with new times in the 100/400/800 free, 100/200 breast, and 200/400 IM.
Zachary Washburn, 13, Manta Ray Aquatics: 200m IM (2:20.10) – The only 13-year-old in the A final of the boys’ 13-14 200 IM at the Inland Empire Long Course Championships in Pendleton, Oregon, Washburn destroyed his PB by 5.4 seconds and got the win. He also won the 50/100 free and 100/200 fly, and was runner-up in the 200 free and 100 back, and third in the 200 back. Washburn came home with new PBs in all 8 events.
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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