Sam Stewart Moves into 8th in World Rankings with 1:57 IM in College Station

2020 COLLEGE STATION SECTIONALS

• February 27th-March 1st, 2020
• Texas A&M University Rec Center, College Station, Texas
• SCY Prelims/LCM Finals
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 Speedo Sectionals Championship Series” (or search “College Station”)
• Day 1 recap
• Day 2 recap
• Day 3 recap

Former Texas Longhorn Sam Stewart punctuated a successful weekend at the College Station Sectional Championships on Saturday with a 1:57.76 to win the men’s 200 IM. That knocks more than a second-and-a-half off his previous lifetime best of 1:59.45, done at Summer Nationals in 2018, and jumps him into 8th place in the world rankings this season.

That swim also makes Stewart the 3rd-ranked American in the 200 IM this season. A repeat of that time for Stewart at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials will likely earn him a spot in finals, at a minimum. Last season, it would have tied him with Ryan Lochte as the 4th-fastest American in the event, which would put him within striking distance of making the Olympic Team.

Previously in the meet, Stewart swam lifetime bests in the 200 back (1:58.97), 200 free (1:49.15), and 100 breast (52.89). That included wins in both the 200 back and 200 free.

13-year old Hannah Marinovich from the Clovis Swim Club, who on Friday became the youngest qualifier for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials with a 2:29 in the 200 breaststroke, picked up her first win of the meet on Saturday. There she swam a 1:11.51 in the 100 breaststroke. That leaves her about half-a-second short of a second Olympic Trials cut, but makes her the 7th-fastest American 13-year old in the history of the event (she’s the fastest ever over 200 meters).

Marinovich swam a 1:03.13 in prelims of the 100 breaststroke, in yards, which was also a lifetime best for her.

In the men’s version of that race, Texas post-grad Will Licon won in 1:01.79, beating out SMU swimmers Colin Feehery (1:02.62) and Michael Rudd (1:03.21). That puts both SMU swimmers into the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer.

For Licon, that is his first 100 breaststroke swim of 2020. The time is a little slower than what he’s been in early March each of the last few years: in 2019, he swam 1:01.11, and in 2018 he swam 1:00.89. Both of those races were done at Pro Swim Series events.

Making a surprise appearance this weekend is former Texas A&M swimmer Canadian Kyle Troskot. On Sunday, he won his best event, the 50 free, in 23.14. Currently working as a volunteer assistant at TCU, swimming Canada doesn’t have any registered meters swims for Troskot since last July, though he did swim a modest yards meet in February (20.52 in the 50 free, 1:55.69 in the 200 free).

His 23.14 on Sunday was short of his best time of 22.77, but does already almost match his time from last April’s Canadian World Championship Trials. He’s the 9th-ranked Canadian in the men’s 50 free this year.

Other Day 4 Winners

• Texas A&M swimmers defended home pool in the women’s 100 backstroke, with two-time team captain Raena Eldridge winning in 1:02.66, followed by her teammate Emma Carlton in 2nd in 1:02.92, and Kara Eisenmann in 4th in 1:03.57. The lone interloper in the Aggie finish was US National Teamer Lillie Nordmann, who finished 3rd in 1:02.95.
• Brett Pinfold topped the men’s 100 back final in 56.54, which is his fastest time in the event since 2016. The top junior swimmer was Tyler Hulet from The Woodlands Swim Team, who took second in 56.74 – cutting 9-tenths off his previous lifetime best in the event. Hulet is now just .15 seconds short of the Olympic Trials standard.
• KitKat Zenick, a commit to the recent Big Ten Champions Ohio State, swam a lifetime best of 26.00 to win the women’s 50 free. She just out-touched 16-year old Cory Shanks, who was 2nd in 26.02, and 16-year old Katie Crom, who was 3rd in 26.13, in the final. Those swims were best times for all 3 swimmers. Zenick’s time left her .01 seconds short of the Olympic Trials qualifying standard. She’s already qualified for that meet in the 100 fly (1:00.53) from Winter Juniors – West.
• Canadian Olympian Sydney Pickrem, who took a bronze medal at the World Championships in the 200 IM last year, won that event on Sunday in 2:11.82. She’s been 2:09.2 this year, at the FINA Champions Series meet in Beijing in January. Katie Crom was 2nd in 2:17.88 on a back-to-back event.
• 15-year old Hayden Miller from the Cy-Fair Swim Club in Houston won the women’s 800 free in 8:50.87, followed by another 15-year old Kylee Grafmiller, and 16-year old Milla Ruthven from Loveland Swim Club in Colorado. Miller is already an Olympic Trials qualifier in that 800 free thanks to an 8:44 at the Knoxville Pro Swim in January. Clare Vetkoetter, who won the 1500 to open the meet, was 4th in the 800 in 9:01.04.
• The Mission Viejo Nadadores elite group went 1-2 in the men’s 1500 free, as they did in the 800 free earlier in the meet. Michael Brinegar won in 15:19.21, while David Heron took 2nd in 15:36.31. 18-year old David Johnston, who swam best times in the 200 back, 400 free, 200 breast, and 400 IM earlier in the meet, was the top junior finisher in 3rd place in 15:40.36. That swim was his first individual final without a best time this week.

Final Team Scores

Top 5 Men’s Teams:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores – 268
2. Longhorn Aquatics – 238
3. Metroplex Aquatics – 200
4. KATY Aquatic Team for Youth – 197
5. Clovis Swim Club – 181

Top 5 Women’s Teams:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores – 233
2. Clovis Swim Club – 208
3. Lakeside Aquatic Club – 179
4. Magnolia Aquatic Club – 155
5. DART Swimming – 142.5

Top 5 Combined Teams:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores – 501
2. Clovis Swim Club – 389
3. Lakeside Aquatic Club – 353
4. Longhorn Aquatics – 263
5. Metroplex Aquatics – 244