Sprint News for 4/9/2012: Thorpe’s Record Falls; Hanser Quick in Cuba; Cal Cleans Up

…On the first day of the 2012 Swimming Australia Age Group Championships, 14-year old Nicholas Groenwald took down Ian Thorpe’s National Age Record in the 200 IM with a 2:06.01 (the old mark was 2:06.25). “I saw my time was 1:35.9 at the 150m mark and I knew that I would have to go faster than I normally do to get the record, so I was really happy,” said Groenewald – a great quote speaking to a young swimmer pulling a veteran move by looking at the clock mid-race.

Other swimmers competing include 2012 Olympic Team qualifier Cameron McEvoy, who swam a personal best in the 50 free of 22.26 on Monday evening to break the National Record for 17-year olds. He made the Olympic squad on the 400 and 800 free relays, with the 100/200 double looking to be his best event combination. But we said the same thing about James Magnussen until earlier this year. That swim now moves him to the top 25 in the world, and makes him the 11th-fastest Australian ever (including faster than the legendary Michael Klim).

Other National Age Records on the day include a 55.19 100 fly from 14-year old Damian Fyfe; the next generation of the legendary Aussie butterfly group in 14-year old Jemma Schlicht swimming a 59.80; and a national 13 & under record in the boys’ 200 free with a 1:57.48 from Kyle Chalmers

…In Cuba, sprinter Hanser Garcia won the 100 free at the 25th Copa Marcelo Salado in 48.39 – just .05 slower than his National Record at last year’s Pan American Games. He split 23.48-25.91 in the race, which is slightly more front-heavy than he was last year in Guadalajara, though he hoped to finish better and beat his best time. Improvements in his start is a big key for him, however, as it’s the ‘fundamentals’ of the sport (starts, turns, underwaters) where he has huge ground for improvement.

The result is not bad considering that about three weeks ago, he dropped a weight on his head causing a huge gash that required staples. It doesn’t seem that the injury kept him out of the water for long, but it did provide at least minor interruption to his training. Overall, however, things appear to be going well at his new training ground in Peru…

Tom Shields and Caitlin Leverenz put more hardware in their trophy-cases as they picked up the official awards for Pac-12 men’s and women’s swimmers of the year. Other awards handed out included: Dave Durden (men’s Coach of the Year); Teri McKeever (women’s Coach of the Year); David Nolan (men’s Newcomer of the Year); and Maddy Schaeffer (women’s Newcomer of the Year). Something we missed during the crazy record-haul at women’s NCAA’s – Schaeffer tied Karlee Bispo’s 17-18 National Age Group Record in the 100 free with a 47.96…

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John m.
11 years ago

Yeah..I guess i’m thinking more along the line of “breakout” swimmers…
Loving the website! keep it up.

Chris Clarke
11 years ago

1:57.48 200LCM free for a 13 year old is amazing!

John m.
11 years ago

As I was impressed with Nolan’s versatility, doesn’t it seem like AZ breaststroker Cordes should win Pac 12 “newcomer” of the year? Two American records (200MR)? He really stepped on the scene whereas Nolan didn’t seem to go above the hype. Cal’s Hamilton would have been a good choice as well.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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