Shamrock Showdown
- Richmond, Virginia
- March 27-30, 2025
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Full Meet Results
Swim RVA hosted the Shamrock Showdown which featured a number of fast swims, but Finn O’Shea from Nation’s Capital Swim Club led the way for individual swims. On the team side, the Westchester Aquatic Club girl’s team and the Nation’s Capital boy’s team won the titles.
Finn O’Shea, a 14-year-old out of NCAP, swam six events, going all personal best times and winning five of them. He also moved up the top 10 season rankings in three of them.
The only event O’Shea did not win was the 50 freestyle, where he swam 21.26 to drop one-hundredth of a second from the 21.27 he went at his State Championship meet in the beginning of March.
In the 100 free prelims, he swam 45.88, which marked his first time under 46 seconds, and a little more than a two tenths improvement from the 46.11 he went at the Potomac Valley 14 & Under Championships. He now sits at 4th in the 13-14 season rankings in the event. Coming into the season, O’Shea’s best time was 47.69, marking an almost two second drop this year.
He also dropped positions in the 100 and 200 backstroke events. In the 100 back, he swam 50.64, dropping more than a second-and-a-half from his previous best of 52.36 at the NCAP Invitational and moving up to 10th this season. This is another event he has seen significant season improvement in, coming in at 54.29, almost four seconds slower than he finished out this year.
In the 200 back, he swam 1:49.21 to move into 7th. His previous best time was 1:56.09 from January, and he came into the season at 1:58.98 from March of 2024.
His other event wins came in the 100 breast, where he swam 59.95 to drop from his 1:03.58 last month, and the 200 IM, which he swam in 1:55.07 to drop from his previous best of 1:57.70 in January.
Despite this performance, O’Shea was not the high point winner for the 13-14 boys. Westchester’s Noland Barrett swam a line-up of eight events, of which he won four, finished 2nd in three, and 4th in one.
Of his eight events, four of them were freestyle. The interesting part about his freestyle events was the fact that he won the 50 free (21.40), 200 free (1:40.60), 500 free (4:39.62), and 1000 free (9:44.20), but he finished 2nd in the 100 (46.01). All four of these events were new personal best times for him.
His 100 and 200 freestyle were also top-10 times this season for the 13-14 age group. HIs 200 was 1:40.60, about a half-second drop from the 1:41.03 he went at the beginning of March. His preseason best in the event was 1:46.04 from last March and brings him in at 9th this season.
In the 100, he swam 46.01 to move up to 5th for the season. This was almost a two second drop from the 47.96 he went in February.
Barrett also swam the 200 back, where he finished 4th in 1:57.32, and both butterfly events. In the 100, he went 52.37 to finish 2nd, and in the 200, he swam 2:04.07 in finals for another 2nd place finish and his only non-best time of the meet.
Other Notable Swims:
- Ines Arnall, a 16-year-old out of Westchester Aquatic Club, won the girl’s 15 & Over high point award thanks to her perfect meet of ten gold medals, five individual and five relays. She swam new personal best times in the 50 free (23.01), 200 free (1:48.12- 800 free relay leadoff), 100 back (53.30), 200 back (1:55.44), and the 200 fly (1:58.92).
- Brianna DeCasseres, a Westchester 14-year-old, took the 13-14 girl’s high point award after winning five golds, five silvers, and a bronze. Three of her golds came from individual events, the 200 breast (2:19.61), 200 fly (2:08.97), and the 200 IM (2:06.94), all of which were new personal bests.
- Matthew Doty won the boys 15 & Over high point award as an 18-year-old from SwimMac. Over the course of the meet, he won eight total medals, five gold, two silver, and one bronze. His individual gold medals came in the 100 IM (50.99), the 200 IM (1:49.06), and the 400 IM (3:53.82), all personal bests. Doty will be swimming at the Air Force Academy in the fall.
