USA Swimming has released its psych sheets for the 2015 Junior National Championships, with Maxime Rooney, Ella Eastin and Michael Andrew among the biggest names.
The meet begins next Thursday, July 30th, in San Antonio, Texas.
Rooney, the nation’s top NCAA prospect of the ongoing recruiting season, will swim a very full event lineup. In true Florida Gator fashion, the Gator commit will take on 6 events over the 5 days of action, headed by the 200 free, where Rooney was last year’s Junior National runner-up.
Rooney will swim the 50, 100 and 200 frees, plus the 100 and 200 fly and the 100 back.
Eastin is an incoming freshman with the loaded Stanford Cardinal, and she’ll swim an equally-daunting lineup. Eastin is entered in both butterflys, both breaststrokes, both IMs and the 100 back, and she’s the top seed in three of those races (200/400 IM and 200 fly).
Michael Andrew has a pat 5 events over the 5-day meet, with most of his signature races represented. Andrew won his first Junior National title last summer in the 100 back, and he’ll be back to defend that event. He’ll also contest the 100 fly, 100 free, 200 IM and 50 free – the latter two races saw him climb to within striking distance of the 15-16 National Age Group records in the past few weeks.
Interestingly, though, Andrew will not swim the 100 breast, which is the only event he’s managed to break a 15-16 NAG in so far. Andrew might be saving that race for Senior Nationals, which will take place the following week in San Antonio.
A few other swimmers might be planning similar strategies, saving some major events for Senior Nationals. 15-year-old Reece Whitley will swim the 200 breast at Juniors, but not the 100. (He’ll also swim 200 IM at Juniors, just a two-event lineup). U.S. Short Course World Champs team member Katie Drabot is entered in just one race, the 200 IM.
You can view the full psych sheets here, with the caveat that they could still change in the week leading up to the event. Unofficial prelims timelines are here.
Just a few of the bigger names and their event entries:
- Maxime Rooney: 50/100/200 free, 100/200 fly, 100 back
- Michael Andrew: 100 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 200 IM, 50 free
- Ella Eastin: 100/200 fly, 100/200 breast, 200/400 IM, 100 back
- Taylor Ruck: 50/200/400/800 free, 100 back, 200/400 IM
- Sean Grieshop: 200/400 free, 200 fly, 200 breast, 200 back, 200 IM
- Reece Whitley: 200 breast, 200 IM
- Katie Drabot: 200 IM
- Miranda Tucker: 100/200 breast, 100 fly, 50/100 free, 200 IM
- Alex Valente: 100 fly, 100 back, 50 free
- Mark Jurek: 200/400 IM, 100/200 fly, 400 free, 200 breast
I know a lot of teams that are choosing not to attend Jrs this year. My team, for example, is skipping Jrs all together and sending everyone to Futures (since more people can attend futures in the first place) and Nationals. Jrs really has lost its credibility with it no longer being a selection meet for Jr Worlds, and in the SCY version, it now being split into two meets. If they wanted to downsize on the SCY meet it is easy to make the time standards faster… they complain about the Jrs time standards being too close to winter nationals, but the winter nats cut are extremely slow, especially in comparison to summer juniors and summer nationals. USA Swimming… Read more »
There are enough comments saying the Youngster from us are not getting enough international experience. And when they have the chance they drop? Why focus on a meet where you are 2 3 seconds than the field instead of an one against the best juniors of the world which are as fast or faster than themselves?
I’m not advocating the idea… just saying that it’s a real thing that’s out there.
Big world juniors medal hopefuls like Rooney or Grieshop are entered in a lot of events at that meet. Hopefully they keep some energy for the week later. The qualifying meet, unfortunately, is US nationals. It would be dumb to swim faster times at juniors than at nationals and miss a qualification.
Don’t leave out the possibility that they aren’t planning on going to Nats. Some of the HS Seniors may just go to juniors and take a short break before heading off to school.
Grieshop with every 200 and the 400 free. That’s a cool lineup
Happy to see Andrew, Whitley, Eastin, Rooney and the others but I find weird they swim at this meet because it doesn’t qualify for world juniors.
Unfortunately the qualifying meet is Nationals the week later.
I say unfortunately because it would be so much simpler to have a great junior nationals serving as world junior trials.
I predict a huge meet for Taylor Ruck on the girls’ side. She’s not American but swims at US junior nationals. It always surprises me. But that’s another debate.
Very interesting to see youngsters like Alex Walsh and Regan Smith too.
Funny to note that Andrew and Whitley will not swim against each other on breaststroke. One swims the 100.… Read more »
Should be a good tuneup for Ruck as she gets ready for World Jr’s.
Marciano in his first Juniors meet