MP Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 7/18/2018

Presenting the Weekly Wonders for the weekend of July 13-15, 2018:

Olivia Tighe, 17, Coastal Maine Aquatics (CMA-ME): 100m free (58.37) – Tighe picked up her first Winter Juniors cut in the 100 free with a second-place finish at Northeast Swimming’s Senior Championships hosted by SSA. She finished the weekend with new PBs in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, 100 fly, and 200 IM.

Nathan Quarterman, 15, Boise YMCA Swim Team (BY-SR): 100m back (58.34) – Quarterman dipped below the 1:00 barrier in the 100 back for the first time in prelims, earning a Winter Juniors invite with 59.59. He then took another .8 off his new PB in finals for a total improvement of 2.5 seconds. Quarterman finished with a Winter Nationals cut, 5.3 seconds faster than his time from the same meet last year. Quarterman took home new times in the 100 free, 200 free, 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM.

Noelle Harvey, 14, North Coast Aquatics (NCA-SI): 200m back (2:19.24) – Harvey snagged her first two Winter Juniors cuts in the 200 back in prelims and finals at the Los Angeles Invitational hosted by Trojan Swim Club. She swam a 2:19.24 in prelims, improving her seed time by 3 seconds and making the A final. That put her 7.7 seconds ahead of last year’s pace. Harvey also earned new PBs in the 200 free, 400 free and 100 back.

Ryan Foote, 17, Spokane Waves Aquatic Team (SWAT-IE): 100m breast (1:05.24) – Swimming at Speedo Sectionals at Mt Hood, Foote took 3 seconds off his previous PB in the 100 breast, which dated from the same meet a year ago, to snag his first national cuts in the event. First he qualified for Winter Juniors in prelims, then he improved by another 1.2 seconds in finals and scored an invitation to Winter Nationals with 1:05.24. In addition to his 6th-place finish in the 100 breast, Foote took 12th in the 200 breast and 22nd in the 400 IM. Over the course of the weekend he improved his PBs in the 50 free, 50/100 back, 100/200 breast, and 200/400 IM.

Parker Keller, 16, Helena Lions Swim Team (HLST-MT): 100m breast (1:06.68) – Competing at the Montana Summer Long Course State Championship, Keller won the boys’ 15-16 100 breast and posted his first Winter Juniors cut in the event, going 2.4 seconds faster than his 3-week-old PB. Keller has improved by 2.8 seconds over the last 12 months. He also went best times in the 50 free, 50 breast, 50 fly, and 400 IM.

Mary Martin, 15, Greater Des Moines YMCA (DSMY-IA): 100m breast (1:12.74) – Martin snagged her first Summer Juniors cut in the 100 breast while dropping 2.9 seconds off a 3-week-old PB to win the women’s open event at the ACAC Summer Detasseler. She was 4 seconds fast than she’d been at this time last year, and won the race by 3.4 seconds. Martin also won the 200 breast to go 2-for-2 for the weekend.

Preston Niayesh, 17, Tule Nation Tritons (TNT-CC): 200m breast (2:24.41) – Niayesh sliced 2.2 seconds off a week-old PB in the 200 breast at the Los Angeles Invitational. He won the D final with a time that was 4.5 seconds faster than what he swam at the same meet last year. Since the beginning of the year, Niayesh has improved his PBs in the LCM 50 free, 50/100/200 breast and 100 fly.

David Boylan, 17, Crawfish Aquatics (CRAW-LA): 200m IM (2:08.70) – Boyland cracked a best-by-7-seconds 200 IM in prelims at the Speedo Southern Sectionals hosted by Longhorn Aquatics. He picked up his first Winter Juniors cut in the event. Boylan also scored PBs in the 100 back,  200 back, 100 fly, 200 fly, and 400 IM during the weekend.

We were also watching Australia’s NSW Country Championships, where in the Women’s 11 Years & Under 50 SC Metre Backstroke final, 11-year-olds Mia Braovic from Kincumber Pacific Dolphins and Sommer Smith from Hunter tied for second place with 34.48, while Francesca Chitukudza from City of Orange, also 11, won in 32.55.

 

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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Swimmash
5 years ago

This is my favorite post of swimswam! Two years ago my son was a weekly wonder…everyone doubted him, his ability! Without identification I can tell you he has accomplished more than most! So go out and get it done you never know when that break through is coming!!

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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