NCSA Day 3 Finals Scratches: Zuchowski Drops 400IM to Focus on 100 Back

2021 NCSA SPRING INVITE

Thursday Finals Heat Sheets

FAST’s Joshua Zuchowski scratched the 400 IM final to focus on the 100 back ‘A’ final. The events were separated by 5 heats of the women’s 100 back. This decision follows his lifetime best 200 back on Wednesday night, 1:41.68, which is the 3rd fastest 200 yard back ever swam by a 15-16 year-old. Ahead of him is World Record-holder Ryan Murphy (1:40.93) and Texas’ Carson Foster (1:41.66). Sam Powe from McCallie GPS Aquatics snagged 2nd and is now #8.

16-year-old Zuchowski was the 2nd seed going into the 400 IM final, half-a-second behind top seed Michael Cooper from OLY Swimming who dropped nearly 4 seconds from his lifetime best this morning for a time of 3:50.00. Zuchowski was within 2 seconds of the best time he posted at the Florida Virtual Championships in December.

In the 100 backstroke, Zuchowski is also the 2nd seed. He is ranked .36 behind Inspire Swim Team’s Luke Barr, an Indiana commit. The ‘A’ final is set up to be an exciting race with Powe ranked only .05 behind Zuchowsk after he posted a lifetime best of 47.68 in prelims. Powe nearly took the 200 back in finals last night, leading the race up until the 150 yard mark until Zuchowski powered home the last 50 with a split of 25.51.

In the 100 back final tonight, the top 5 swimmers are separated by just over half-a-second. Powe is set to race in the 200 free ‘B’ final beforehand.

There are no other scratches from the top 8 swimmers in each event, but Virginia commit Zoe Skirboll of Racer X Aquatics scratched the 400 IM ‘B’ final to focus on the 200 free ‘A’ final where she is ranked 4th. Birmingham Swim League’s Mason Mathias followed suit on the men’s side, dropping the 400 IM ‘B’ final to focus on the 200 free ‘A’ final where he is the top seed by a full second.

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About Annika Johnson

Annika Johnson

Annika came into the sport competitively at age eight, following in the footsteps of her twin sister and older brother. The sibling rivalry was further fueled when all three began focusing on distance freestyle, forcing the family to buy two lap counters. Annika is a three-time Futures finalist in the 200 …

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