Tuggle Passes Ledecky In 13-14 200 Free Rankings At Day 3 NCSA Prelims

2018 NCSA JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (SCY)

13-year-old Claire Tuggle, representing the Clovis Swim Club, registered a personal best 1:46.61 in the prelims of the women’s 200 free at day 3 prelims of the NCSA Junior Championships, making her the top seed heading into tonight’s final. The swim moves her up from 75th to 14th on the all-time 13-14 rankings, one spot ahead of Katie Ledecky. Her previous best, the 11-12 National Age Group Record, is 1:47.71, done at this meet last year.

Morgan Tankersley of Greater Tampa, the top seed coming into the meet, was 2nd in prelims in 1:48.00, and Gator Swim Club’s Talia Bates (1:48.13) sits 3rd. Bates also topped the 50 fly prelims in 24.18, followed by Delta’s Grace Cooper (24.30) and Nation Capital’s Phoebe Bacon (24.43).

In the 400 IM, last night’s 200 fly champion Grace Shelbe of Nova of Virginia led the way in a time of 4:10.85, followed by Madison Homovich (4:12.32) from the Marlins of Raleigh, who was 5th in this event at the World Junior Championships in August.

On the men’s side Aitor Fungairino of Metro Aquatic Club led the 200 free in 1:36.49, with top seed coming in Jack Dolan 4th in 1:38.18.

OTHER EVENTS

  • Casey Storch of Machine Aquatics led the men’s 400 IM in 3:49.81, followed by Long Island’s Jason Louser (3:51.37).
  • Will Davis of Metro (21.51) and David Madej of SwimStrongsville (21.99) both ripped sub-22 50 fly’s for the top two seeds.
  • Charlie Scheinfeld, runner-up in the 100 breast last night, topped the men’s 50 breast heats in 24.88. 100 yard winner Eli Fouts (25.33) sits 3rd.
  • 17-year-olds Claire Grover (Scottsdale) and Kylie Powers (Swim Houston) posted the top two times in the women’s 50 breast in 28.38 and 28.44 respectively. 100 winner Abby Arens (28.67) was 5th.

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Pvdh
6 years ago

Ledecky wasn’t truly a 200m threat until after London when she was 16-17. I wouldn’t read much into this. But it does bode well for 400-800m improvements.

Yozhik
6 years ago

It’s not clear how to evaluate the improvement of 1 sec during one year when you are talking about 13 years old child. Next year in August she will be 15 and then the comparison with Ledecky who won at this age Olympic gold medal will be more informative.

James
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

Look at her performance in the 1000 free as well; and the 100. Pretty clear that the improvement is both in speed and endurance. I think the Ledecky comparison is warranted because Tuggle is showing a great versatility across multiple distances of Freestyle in particular. For now she is doing what she needs to do, getting faster each year and refining her racing technique.

Yozhik
Reply to  James
6 years ago

No doubts that time she showed are great. And American public (and not only American) is ready after six years for the new sensational swimmer. What I was trying to say is that without details of her physical development it is hard to say what this improvement has to be attributed to and what it indicates.

tooimpressed
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

Plus Claire just blasted a 1:44.96 in finals, bringing her to second all-time 13-14 as a 13 y/o

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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