It’s a new year and we have new names to celebrate in this week’s report. Presenting the Daring Dozen for January 8, 2014:
Drew Kibler, 13, Washington Township Swim Club: 50 free (22.08) – Kibler was representing Team Indiana at the 2014 Mid-States 14 & Under All-Star Championships in the IU Natatorium when he won the Boys’ 13-14 50 free. He dropped .33 in prelims from his seed time and another .15 in finals for a half-second drop from his best time.
Daniel Krueger, 14, McFarland Spartan Sharks: 100 free (47.23) – Just a tick off his personal best, Krueger was nevertheless a half second faster than he was a year ago winning the 100 free at the 2014 SWAT Single Age Grand Prix in Pleasant Prairie, WI. He also won the 50 free, 200 back, 200 fly, and 200 IM.
Emily Trieu, 12, Redlands Swim Team: 200 free (1:56.62) – Trieu won the 200 free for Team Southern California at the 2014 Pacific Coast All-Star Meet. Her time was more than four seconds faster than her seed time, and three seconds faster than the rest of the field.
Kay Sargent, 15, Victor Swim Club: 500 free (4:54.96) – Sargent went under 5:00 for the first time and scored a personal best by six seconds, winning the 500 free at the 2014 Victor New Year’s IMX Challenge. A year ago her best time was 5:02. At the IMX Challenge meet she also won the girls’ 200 free, 200 back, 200 breast and 200 fly.
Trey Freeman, 13, Wasatch Front Fish Market: 1000 free (9:54.54) – Not only did he break 10 minutes for the first time, but Freeman dropped 12 seconds en route to winning the 1000 at 2013 Kearns Holiday Open Invitational. Freeman had a huge meet, winning the 200 fly (6 second drop), 200 IM (-4 seconds), and 100 fly (-1). Plus, a 13 second drop catapulted him into third in the 200 breast.
Regan Barney, 14, Unattached: 1650 (17:00.21) – Swimming at the 2014 TXLA January Splash #1, Barney won the mile (by 19 seconds) and improved her time by 22 seconds since she last swam the event four weeks ago. Not bad for a backstroker. Barney competed in both backs, both IMs and the 500 free at Winter Juniors.
Luke Thornbrue, 12, Hillsboro Swim Team: 100 back (56.16) – In winning the Boys’ 11-12 100 back for Team Oregon at the 2014 Pacific Coast All-Star Meet, Thornbrue dropped 2.2 seconds from his seed time, and 3.5 from where he was in February 2013.
Anthony Marcantonio, 18, Bluefish Swim Club: 200 back (1:51.01) – At the ABF Trials/Finals meet at Boston University, Marcantonio won 100/200 back, 100/200 breast, 200/400 IM, and the 200 fly. His 1:51 in the 200 back was his personal best by more than 4 seconds.
Alexis Wenger, 13, Grosse Pointe Gators: 100 breast (1:04.38) – Representing Michigan in the 2014 Mid-States 14 & Under All-Star Championships at the IU Natatorium, Wenger won the Girls’ 13-14 100 breast by 3.5 seconds. She achieved a personal best and was 2.5 seconds ahead of her time from last January.
Maggie Summit, 12, YMCA of the North Shore: 200 breast (2:25.95) – Summit whacked 45 seconds off her seed time to win the Girls’ 11 & Over 200 breast at the YNS Team Specialty Meet in Beverly, MA. Her nearest competitor was 25 seconds behind.
Matthew Grauslys, 17, Executive Swim Club: 100 fly (50.61) – Grauslys won the 100 fly at the Seacoast Swimming Association New Year’s Classic Specialty Meet by 4.3 seconds. Although not his best time, it was still 2.3 seconds better than his time at the same meet last year. Grauslys also won the 100 back, 200 fly, 200 IM, 200 breast, and 200 free.
Mikey Moore, 11, 400 IM (4:45.67) – At the 2014 TAC Titans Distance Day, Moore swam his first 400 IM of the year and knocked it right out of the park. With that swim he jumped up to number five on the 2013-14 Top Ten list for 11-year-old boys.
Special thanks to Lyle Campbell for his assistance in putting this list together.
I find it funny how you mentioned Trey Freeman. Not that his 1000 wasn’t great, but he actually has broken 10 in his 1000 before. It was a split however. At the Minneapolis Grand Prix he went 16:12 in his 1650.
The Weekly Wonders column is a celebration of age-group swimming, where new champions are made every day. If we were only reporting on the week’s top swims we would feature the same kids every time. This is an opportunity to introduce the swimming community to kids who have done great things in the context of their respective worlds. By association, it also celebrates their coaches and their teams.
There are hundreds of kids you’ll never hear about who will have extraordinary, life-changing experiences because of this sport. This column amounts to a pat on the back for a job well done, and hopefully encourages swimmers of all levels to continue to reach from within to get to the next level.
Definitely not new. Just trying to figure out over the course of the year why some swims are featured and other faster swims are not. In fact, several of these highlights weren’t even best times for the age grouper.
Must be a conspiracy… 🙂 Congratulations to these swimmers on their performances and thanks to swim swam for all the great coverage at many levels in the sport.
It was swims of the week… probably a bit low on options as there usually aren’t many meets after the New Year, and a lot are impacted or cancelled by weather.
Sounds like you’re new to SwimSwam; it’s about way more than elite swimming. But also, if you look closely, this is a notch up from everyday swimming.
I’m trying to figure out what these articles are all about. Is it mommy and daddy sending in what little Johnny is doing? It doesn’t seem to highlight elite swimming. Just a general mix of your everyday age group swimming.
It was the first week of the year! I imagine there weren’t many meets. And you can’t have NAG records every week of the year!