This week we have a theme: first-time national time standards! Here are the MP Weekly Wonders for the weekend of August 4-6, 2017:
Bobbi Kennett, 16, Sienna Plantation Aquatics: 50m free (26.65) – Kennett earned her first-ever national cut in the 50 free at the Southern Zone Senior Championships hosted by the Aggie Swim Club. She hit the Winter Juniors standard leading off the mixed 200 free relay, then got the Summer Juniors cut in the final of the individual event, where she placed 2nd. It was her best time by 0.5 and 1.6 seconds faster than last year. Kennett finished the meet with PBs in the 50/200 free, 100 breast, and 50 fly.
Camden Holmes, 16, Downeast Family YMCA: 50m free (24.33) – Swimming at the YMCA National Long Course Championships, Holmes dropped .15 off a two-week-old PB in prelims to pick up his first-ever Winter Juniors cut. And to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he hit the standard again in finals, only .04 off his prelims time. Holmes is now 1.1 seconds faster than he’d been at this time last summer. Two weeks earlier he added PBs in the 100/200/400 free, 50/100 fly, and 200 IM.
Isabella Rhodes, 18, Portneuf Valley Swim Team: 50m free (26.74) – Seeded with a yards time, Rhodes dropped .85 from her year-old PB to make the A final of the 50 free at Santa Clara Futures Chammpionships with her first-ever Winter Juniors cut. She took another .20 off in finals, missing the Summer Juniors cut by only .05. Rhodes finished the weekend with new times in the 50/100 free and 100/200 back.
Reilly Tiltmann, 14, Elmbrook Swim Club: 100m back (1:05.45) – Tiltmann won the girls’ 13-14 100 back at the Wisconsin Swimming 13&Over Long Course State Championships. She dropped a half-second from her two-week-old PB and snagged her first-ever invitation to Winter Juniors. Tiltmann is now 4.8 seconds faster than she was a year ago. She also won the 100/200 fly and was runner-up in the 50/100 free and 200 back. She went six-for-six with best times during the weekend.
Jojo Randby, 14, Greater Omaha Aquatics: 100m breast (1:13.75) – At the Central Zone 14&U Long Course Championship at Rochester Aquatic Center, Randby won the girls’ 13-14 50/100 breast and was fifth in the 200 breast. She dropped .8 in the 100 breast from a PB that was only 1 week old, improved 3.1 seconds since last year at this time, and notched her first-ever Winter Juniors cut. Randby also went best times in the 50 free and the 50 breast.
Jordan Tiffany, 15, Hilltop Aquatic Swim Team: 200m breast (2:25.05) – Tiffany snagged her first-ever invite to Winter Juniors thanks to a massive 5-4 second drop in the 200 breast at Western Zone Senior Championships hosted by Clovis Swim Club. Tiffany went best times in the 100/200 breast, 100 fly, and 200/400 IM during the meet. Her 200 breast time is now 7.1 seconds faster than at the same time last year.
Bergen Davis, 16, Glacier Swim Club: 200m breast (2:26.75) – Swimming at Santa Clara Futures, Davis dropped 1.5 seconds in his 200 breast to finish 20th. He pocked his first Winter Juniors cut in LCM (he already had the standard in SCY). He also scored a new PB in the 200 back.
Spencer Holt, 16, Glacier Swim Club: 100m fly (56.61) – Also swimming at Santa Clara Futures in what appears to be his first long course meters appearance, Holt took his yards seed time and blasted a 57.48 in prelims, which would have qualified him for the meet by .91. He then won the C final with 56.61, picking up his first-ever national standard, which happened to be a Summer Juniors cut. He did the same thing in the 200 fly, going 2:08.59 in prelims, then 2:07.01 in finals, to earn a Winter Juniors cut.
Margaret Marando, 15, United Swim Association: 100m fly (1:03.33) – Marando won the C final of the women’s 100 fly at Geneva Futures Championships, dropping 1.3 seconds from a PB that was only two weeks old, and picking up her very first Winter Juniors cut. Marando has improved her 100 fly by 3 seconds since last summer, and her 200 back by 6.6.
Ellen Brooks, 16, Mariner Swim Club: 200m fly (2:19.15) – At the Maryland LSC Long Course Championships hosted by North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Brooks won the 200 fly with a PB by 2.1 seconds and earned her first-ever invitation to Winter Juniors. Brooks wound up the weekend with new times in the 800 free, 100/200 fly, and 400 IM.
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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