Florida Virtual Championships – Site 1 (Sarasota)
- December 11-13, 2020
- Selby Aquatic Center, Sarasota, FL
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Psych Sheets (PDF)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 Florida Virtual Championships – Site 1”
- Live Stream (Sarasota Sharks Youtube Channel)
Day 2 of the Sarasota, Florida Championships saw record-breaking performances and multiple lifetime bests, those of which that were posted by 18&Under swimmers will count toward USA Swimming’s 18&Under Winter Championships.
Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte started off the finals session with a victory in the 100 back, touching the wall 1st at 47.65 and getting half a second closer to his lifetime best, 44.60, than he was this morning. 18-year-old Hayden Kwan of United Swim Club and Lochte were neck-and-neck at the halfway point, splitting 23.49 and 23.45, respectively. Kwan finished the race in 2nd place with a best time of 47.99, shaving .32 seconds off of his previous best from July.
Lochte then posted a 1:43.48 for 1st place in the 200IM, finishing the race over 4 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. This was nearly 5 seconds faster than his prelims time and he came within 3.5 seconds of his lifetime best from 2007. His Gator Swim Club training partner Grant Sanders snagged 2nd place at 1:47.65 while Liam Custer of the Sarasota Sharks tried to chase him down, ultimately touching the wall 3rd with a time of 1:48.20. Both Sanders and Custer added time to their lifetime bests, but Custer was the closest to his, adding .8 to his freshly acquired best time from November.
Custer, a high school junior, followed up his LSC record-setting 500 free this morning with another solid swim, claiming 1st place with a time of 4:21.67. He added 3 seconds to his prelims time, but still touched the wall with a .83 second lead over Sanders who finished in 2nd place.
18-year-old Emma Weyant of the Sarasota Sharks defended her top seed rank in the 200IM by posting a time of 1:58.70. The U.S. National Team member chipped away .83 of the gap between her prelims time and her lifetime best, 1:58.07, which she swam at the 2018 FHSAA 4A State Meet. Weyant’s 15-year-old teammate Michaela Mattes took 2nd place at 2:02.13, 1 second off of her one-month-old personal best.
Weyant had a relatively quick turnaround in finals, with only 2 heats of the men’s 200IM between her own 200IM and 500 free. Unfazed, she crushed her lifetime best by nearly 2.5 seconds and touched the wall 1st at 4:38.39. Her previous best was from the 2019 FHSAA 4A Swim and Dive Championships. Tonight, Weyant even scared the 17-18 LSC record of 4:36.81. Mattes snagged 2nd place again with a time of 4:46.74, less than 1 second off of her best time from February, 2019. Her Sarasota Sharks teammate, 14-year-old Addison Sauickie, posted a 4:48.12 for 3rd place, adding about 1 second to her best time from November.
Other Event Winners:
- 16-year-old Natalie Mannion of the Sarasota Sharks won the 100 back, touching the wall at 54.08 nearly half a second ahead of the field. This was faster than her prelims time, but still 1 second off of the lifetime best she posted in December, 2019.
Considering how far he is off his stroke 100s, to be 3 seconds from his best in the 200 IM is really encouraging.
I think that has to do with older athletes losing their power and speed as they get older, but his endurance should keep up.
Tell that to 2016 Anthony Ervin. Or George Foreman.
not to mention Dara Torres
There is no way Torres wasn’t on PEDs
I kind if feel like it’s the opposite of what you said here
When people get older we see them getting better at sprinting, not switching to the 1500 and getting PBs
Master’s swimmers who are sprinters fare better as they age in terms of time increases. Jeff Farrell at 85 is an example. Dara is another. I doubt she was doing PEDS. She certainly was high profile enough to be targeted for testing.
1:43.3 right now is solid for Lochte
He also went 1:36.2 in the 200 free yesterday. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out for him. I hope he can find a way to get on the team, but he’s fighting being a 36 year year old.
I think it’s 200 IM or bust
He could do a solid 1:46 and make the relay
Ehhhh, I think we’ll have 3 or 4 people under 1:46, and more under 1:47. I feel like Lochte would have trouble breaking 1:47
Not if he can’t break 1:36 in yards
Bro it’s in season
Haas when he was at UT would routinely go 1:36’s in season before going 1:30, 1:29 when it counted. Seem to remember him having the big split on the 800 free relay at Rio.
Haas, Seliskar, Apple, Kieran, Kibler, Rooney, Farris, Pieroni, et all will make for an exciting 200 Free @ OT’s!
American freestylers will need to be on their A game at trials just to qualify for finals, so excited for these races