Natalie Mannion Wins 200 Fly/200 Back Double to Finish Rochester Sects

2019 SPEEDO SECTIONALS – ROCHESTER, MN

  • Thurs. March 14 – Sun. March 17, 2019
  • Rochester Rec Center, Rochester, MN
  • Long course meters (50m)
  • Live Stream
  • Meet results available on Meet Mobile

15-year old Natalie Mannion of Commonwealth Swimming in New England finished off the 2019 Speedo Sectionals with two more wins on Sunday. Her weekend in Minnesota wrapped with wins in both the 200 back (2:16.69) and 200 fly (2:18.85), adding to earlier wins in the 100 meter distances of each stroke. That 200 fly is her best time by half-a-second, and in total in 2019 she’s knocked more than 18 seconds off her best in that event.

Mannion won 4 of the 7 individual events that she entered at this meet. In the 3 that she didn’t win, she placed 2nd in each: all behind 16-year old Scottsdale swimmer Ashley Strouse.

Strouse wrapped up her meet with a win in the 1500 (17:07.20). While that was far short of her best time, she did win all of the freestyle events except for the 50, showing off incredible range. Her times this weekend:

  • 50 free – 27.38 (4th)
  • 100 free – 57.36
  • 200 free – 2:02.44
  • 400 free – 4:15.75
  • 800 free – 8:54.06
  • 1500 free – 17:07.20

Other Sunday Winners:

  • Minki Kang, a 23-year old swimming unattached, won the men’s 1500 freestyle in 16:02.77, followed by 20-year old Cameron Kelley in 16:20.25. The top-finishing junior was 14-year old Hubert Huang of Commonwealth Swimming in 16:38.00
  • Ryan Purdy of the Glenbrook Swim Club dominated the boys’ 200 back final with a 2:03.72. The next-closest finisher, Garrett Kiesel of Empire Swimming, was 2:10.17. Purdy’s time ranks him 5th among American 17-year olds in the event this year (two 16-year olds have been faster as well). He also won the 100 back and 200 IM at the meet.
  • Scottsdale’s Daniel Matheson won the men’s 200 fly in 2:07.36, taking a nailbiter over fellow 16-year old Quinn Loughran of Glenbrook. Matheson opened a big lead on the first 150 of the race, and heading toward the final turn looked like he was pulling away, but Loughran was .43 faster on the final length to finish 2nd in 2:07.37 – .01 seconds behind.
  • Pyper Doo of North Suburban Aquatics earned two ‘only’ designations with her 26.61 win in the 50 free: she was the only swimmer besides Strouse to win a women’s freestyle event at the meet; and she became the only female swimmer from the host state of Minnesota to win an event at this meet (one male event was one by a Minnesotan).
  • Timothy Cushman of Empire Swimming won the boys’ 50 free in 24.38, beating-out Glenbrook’s Michael Hadjiivanov (24.54). 2nd through 6th places in the race were separated by just .13 seconds, including a tie for 3rd just .01 seconds behind Hadjiivanov.

Final Team Scores

Boys Top 5

  1. Glenbrook Swim Club – 587.5
  2. Empire Swimming – 358
  3. Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 288
  4. Rochester Swim Club – 263
  5. Commonwealth Swimming – 203

Girls Top 5

  1. Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 636
  2. Commonwealth Swimming – 386
  3. Empire Swimming – 327
  4. Badger Aquatics Club – 176.5
  5. Sioux Falls Swim Team – 149

Combined Top 5

  1. Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 924
  2. Glenbrook Swim Club – 713.5
  3. Empire Swimming – 685
  4. Commonwealth Swimming – 589
  5. Rochester Swim Club – 371

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Yozhik
5 years ago

It is great to see such an all-around good swimmer. Swimming successfully all strokes and freestyle events from 50 to 1500 is nice. But what is her specialty? Or she thinks of herself a great addition to all american relays? American team does need the help to Katie and Leah. For how long can they cover the 200 – 400 – 800 – 1500 and 4×200 events. We heard about group of talented young girls who are breakng one NAG record by another. This wave of new talents is touching everything but not the events mentioned above. The only exception can be Claire Tuggle. But in her case it is not clear yet for how long her strong progress that… Read more »

PKWater
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Looks like she is a backstroker primarily only stroke she has trials cuts in.
She does look to be on the cusp of being very good at everything except maybe breast.
It will be interesting to see if she starts to focus more on the freestyles as these next two years ramp up. Back is crowded, free isnt as much and there are lots more spots open with relays.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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