SwimSwam’s The Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 7/2/2014

The long course season is heating up, and we had some terrific swims during the weekend of June 27-29, 2014. Read below to see who made our Daring Dozen:

Mason Gonzalez, 13, Allegheny North Swim Club: 50m free (26.08) – Gonzalez picked up a handful of new times at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Swim Meet Senior Circuit 3 hosted by Allegheny Mountain Swimming at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to the 50 free, he got PBs in the 200 free and 100 back. The previous weekend he’d gone best times in the 100 free, 200 back, 100/200 fly, and 200 IM.

Luke Hemmingsen, 14, Unattached /Greater Omaha Aquatics: 50m free (25.10) – Hemmingsen swam at the LSS Capital City Classic in Lincoln, Nebraska, where won four events and dropped time in each of them. His 50 and 100 (55.24) frees broke both the meet and and Midwestern Swimming LSC records and pushed him into the top 20 nationally. His 100 back (1:04.86) was a PB by 2.5 seconds, and his 200 free (2:05.52) was an improvement by almost 8 seconds.

Stanzi Moseley, 16, Roadrunner Aquatic: 100m free (56.41) – Moseley has had a breakout summer so far, and she topped it off with some great performances at the TYR Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions hosted by Mission Viejo Nadadores. In the 100 free, Moseley finished fourth in the “A” final (ahead of some big names) with her second-best time ever. She dropped 2 seconds and won the “B” 200 free in 2:02.65, and she scored a PB in the 100 back.

Ella Nelson, 12, Nashville Aquatic Club: 200m free (2:09.65) – Swimming at NAC’s Nike Summer Sizzler at The Ensworth Natatorium, Nelson knocked six seconds off her best time in the 200 free. She made the open finals in all six events she entered, including two “A” finals, and achieved PBs in five of them: 100/200 free, 50/100 breast, and 200 IM.

Shae Nicolaisen, 13, Arizona Gold Swimming: 400m free (4:20.07)/800m free (8:56.21) – The longer the distance, the better she did at the TYR Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions hosted by Mission Viejo Nadadores. Nicolaisen started the meet with a 20-second drop in the 800 which placed her 7th overall. She followed that up with a PB in the 200 free, 400 free (by 2.3s), and 400 IM (5.2s).

Matthew Lequang, 12, Princeton Tiger Aquatic Club: 1500m free (18:06.25) – Lequang took home 8 best times from the 24th Jeffrey S Mace Memorial Summer Sizzle hosted by Eastern Express Swim Team. Those include the 50/100/200/400/1500 free, 50 back, 200 breast, and 200 IM.

Camryn Forbes, 15 Butler Y Aquatic Club: 100m back (1:03.06) – Between prelims and finals, Forbes dropped almost 2 seconds in her 100 back at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Swim Meet Senior Circuit 3 at University of Pittsburgh. She also swam to best times in the 100 free, 200 back, and 200 IM.

Taylor Williams, 12, Collierville Swimming: 100m breast (1:15.76) – Williams won the boys 11-12 100 back, 50/100 breast, and 200 IM at the Richard Quick Invitational hosted by Auburn Aquatics. He finished the weekend with best times in the 50/100 free, 100 back, 50/100 breast, and 200 IM. In particular, he dropped 3.6 seconds in the 100 breast, 3 in the 100 back, and 3.8 in the 200 IM.

Kenzie Skaggs, 11, Northern KY Clippers Swimming: 100 fly (1:07.36) – Skaggs dropped a full second from her seed time and was 3 seconds ahead of last year’s early-summer pace in her 100 fly at Boiler Bash hosted by Boilermaker Aquatics at Purdue. The swim was good enough to propel her into the second position for 11-year-old girls in the country so far this season. Other PBs at the meet: 50/100/200 free, 50/100 back, 100 breast, and 200 IM.

Jay Baker, 11, YMCA of the Triangle Area Swim Team: 200m fly (2:32.43) – Swimming at the YOTA Summer Splash 2, Baker won the boys 12 & under 200 fly and catapulted right into the second spot for 11-year-old boys on the national top ten list. He also won the 100 fly and 200 IM.

Aldan Johnston, 13, Lakeside Swim Team: 200m IM (2:16.86) – Johnson dropped 2.5 en route to winning the boys 13-14 200 IM at NAC’s Nike Summer Sizzler at The Ensworth Natatorium. Other best times he took home from the meet were 50/100/200/400 free, and 50 breast.

Andrew Vorobev, 13, Highland Park Aquatics Club: 400m IM (4:53.95) – Vorobev went to a whole new level, dropping 14 seconds in the 400 IM at JAGS Summer Invite at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. In addition, he finished the meet with new PBs in the 50/100/200 free, 100/200 breast, 100/200 fly, and 200 IM.

Special thanks to Lyle Campbell for his assistance in putting this list together.