Top Age Group Stars Set to Collide at NCSA Championships (Psych Sheets)

2022 NCSA Junior National Championships

• March 15-19, 2022
• Rosen Aquatic and Fitness Center, Orlando, Florida
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets

The 2022 NCSA Junior National Championships kick off Tuesday morning in Orlando, Florida and will run through Saturday.

While not quite as deep as USA Swimming’s Junior National Championships, the meet still serves as one of the biggest and best in the country, with swimmers representing many of the best teams in the Eastern United States.

We’ve seen an incredible amount of fast age group swimming over the last few months, and there’s every reason to think there will be plenty more in Orlando this week.

With so much talent colliding here, it’s impossible to cover all of the big names and storylines in-depth, but here’s just a few of the things that stood out as we look at the psych sheet.

First, we’ll start with one swimmer who actually won’t be competing, and that’s Long Island Aquatic Club’s Cavan Gormsen. The 17 year-old’s name tops the psych sheet in the three longest freestyle events, but she is apparently sick and will not be competing this week.

But, another 17 year-old leads the psych sheet in a different set of freestyle events, and that’s NCAP’s Camille Spink. The Tennessee recruit is coming off of several wins at the Virginia Class 6 High School Championships, was part of a record-setting relay at the PVS Championships, and leads the field in the 50, 100, and 200 free.

TNT’s Levenia Sim also had a strong winter, and even though she’s only recently turned 15, she leads the 100 back field with a seed time of 51.03, a time that put her #1 all-time in the 13-14 age group. She’s also seeded in the top five in the 200 back, 100 fly, and the 200 fly.

Zoe Dixon of NOVA leads the IM psych sheets with times of 1:56.29 and 4:08.06, respectively, and the Gators commit has a wide margin over the rest of the field in the 400.

The breaststroke events are shaping up to be great battles. Elmbrook’s Lucy Thomas is seeded #1 in the 100 with a time of 59.32, but WILD’s Kaelyn Gridley is the only other woman seeded under a minute, with a 59.92. The situation is flipped in the 200, where Gridley leads with a 2:10.25 seed time, and Thomas is the only other woman under 2:12.6 with a 2:10.88.

On the men’s side, three swimmers hold top seeds in two events (not counting the 50 strokes, where seeding is based off 100 times).

Levi Sandidge of the City of Richardson swim team, is the only man seeded under nine minutes in the 1000 free (8:59.87), and he’s also the only man seeded under 15:00 in the 1650 (14:57.96). Sandidge, one of the top distance recruits in the high school class of 2022, is heading to Kentucky next year.

Sandidge’s teammate Giovanni Linscheer is seeded 2nd behind Sandige in the 1650, and he also holds the top seed in the 400 IM (3:48.08) and the 500 free (4:22.98). Sandidge is the #2 seed in the 500 free, so watch for the teammates to battle it out in a few evens this week.

On the shorter end of the spectrum, the Hurricanes’ Charlie Crosby leads the psych sheet in the 50 free (19.57) and the 100 back (46.41). Crosby. Those are the two same events Crosby, a Texas commit, won at the Minnesota High School Class A State Championship a couple weeks ago.

The men’s side will also feature some of the top high school recruits in the country in the form of guys like Nathaniel Germonprez, Josh Zuchowksi, Landon Gentry, and Toby Barnett, among plenty of others, setting up plenty of great races.