NY and NJ Teams Put 6 Swimmers on the Podium in the Girls 1500 at Junior Nationals

2022 SPEEDO JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 1 to 5, 2022
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, California
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Page
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Live Results (OMEGA) (also can be found on MeetMobile)

GIRLS 1500 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• World Junior Record: 15:28.36, Katie Ledecky (2014)
• Meet Record: 16:14.67, Gillian Ryan (2012)
• 13-14 NAG: 16:11.98, Becca Mann (2012)
• 15-16 NAG: 15:36.53, Katie Ledecky (2013)
• 17-18 NAG: 15:27.71, Katie Ledecky (2015)

Top 8 finishers:

1. Hayden Miller (Cypress Fairbanks): 16:28.28
2. Chloe Kim (Scarlet): 16:28.77
3. Kate Hurst (Scarlet): 16:37.22
4. Maddie Waggoner (Jersey Wahoos): 16:41.85
5. Sophia Knapp (Tide): 16:43.49
6. Alexa Reyna (Badger): 16:48.36
7. Sophia Karras (Long Island): 16:56.20
8. Kylie McMurray (Greater Philadelphia): 16:58.57

Timed finals of the girls 1500 free took place today at the Junior National Championships in Irvine. The event resulted in a somewhat rare concentration of podium finishers from the same geographic area of the country. In all, 6 of the top 8 swimmers represent clubs from the New York City area or New Jersey.

Starting at the top, Scarlet Aquatics, which is based in Summit, NJ, just West of New York City, had the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the event. 15-year-old Chloe Kim took 2nd, swimming a 16:28.77, while 16-year-old teammate Kate Hurst was 3rd in 16:37.22.

Next up was 17-year-old Maddie Waggoner out of Jersey Wahoos. The Jersey Wahoos operate out of Mount Laurel Township, NJ, which is in the Philadelphia area. Waggoner took 4th in the 1500 today, swimming a 16:41.85.

Taking 6th was Badger Swim Club’s Alexa Reyna, swimming a 16:48.36. Badger Swim Club is based in Larchmont, NY, just outside of NYC. In 7th was Long Island Aquatic Club’s Sophia Karras. Finally, the 8th place finisher, Kylie McMurray is from Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club, which is based in Sewell, NJ.

It’s not all that often that we see a Junior Nationals podium essentially filled out from swimmers all from the same general area of the country. The only non NY/NJ swimmers on the podium were Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club’s Hayden Miller, who won the event in 16:28.28, and Tide Swimming’s Sophia Knapp, who took 5th. Cypress Fairbanks is based in Texas, while TIDE is a Virginia Beach based club.

NY/NJ teams have performed very well all week, with Jersey Wahoos and Scarlet Aquatics in particular having an incredible meet. Jersey Wahoos has some young talent that is really shining through right now. Maddie Waggoner scored 35 points individually, taking 2nd in the girls 800, 4th in the 1500, and swimming in the ‘B’ final of the 400 IM. It was 16-year-old Henry McFadden who really turned heads, though. McFadden won the boys 200 free in a blistering 1:48.27, took 2nd in the 100 free with a 49.72, 3rd in the 400 free in 3:54.74, and 3rd in the 200 fly with a 1:59.05. His efforts earned him a whopping 69 individual points.

Jersey Wahoos also trained 12-year-old Audrey Derivaux, who managed to score 3 points at her very young age. Derivaux was a ‘B’ finalist in the girls 200 fly, swimming a 2:16.23, and was a ‘C’ finalist in both the 100 fly and 200 back. She broke the 11-12 NAG in the 100 fly as well.

Back in 2018, JW named Paul Donovan as their new Director of Competitive Swimming. Donovan came to the club after spending 8 years as the head coach of Swim Ireland’s National Aquatic Centre Performance Centre, which is essentially Swim Ireland’s high performance training center. He also spent a season as a volunteer assistant at the University of Florida (2007-2008) under then head coach Gregg Troy. It would appear that Jersey Wahoos is excelling under Donovan’s leadership.

As for Scarlet Aquatics, they recorded a top 10 finish in combined team scoring, as well as a 4th place finish in the girls team standings. Chloe Kim and Kate Hurst were huge parts of their team’s success, combining for 105 individual points. Kim led the way, winning the title in the girls 400 IM, taking 2nd in the 1500 free, 4th in the 800 free, and 7th in the 400 free. As for Hurst, she was 3rd in the 1500, 5th in the 800, and 8th in 400 free. She also finished 17th in prelims of the 200 free, just one spot away from qualifying for the ‘B’ final.