2018 US WINTER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- November 28th-December 1st, 2018
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
- Psych Sheets
- Results
- Short Course Time Trial Info
- Live Stream
- Wednesday Finals Heat Sheet
- Prelims/Finals at 9 am / 6 pm ET
- LCM (50m)
The 2018 U.S. Winter National Championships kicked off in Greensboro Wednesday night with the men’s and women’s 800 freestyle. Watch below as Katie Ledecky and Jordan Wilimovsky lead the 14 total swimmers who clocked a 2020 Olympic Trials cut. You can watch all Wednesday night heats on USA Swimming’s YouTube channel.
Originally reported by James Sutherland.
WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE TIMED FINAL
- 2020 Olympic Trial Cut: 8:48.09
- Katie Ledecky, NCAP, 8:14.40
- Ashley Twichell, TAC, 8:28.16
- Erica Sullivan, SAND, 8:29.02
To no surprise Katie Ledecky led the first heat of the women’s 800 free wire-to-wire to win by almost 14 seconds in 8:14.40, negative-splitting the race 4:07.27/4:07.13. This is her 20th fastest swim ever, and makes her the first swimmer to hit a 2020 Olympic Trials cut.
Ashley Twichell had the 2nd fastest swim of her career to take 2nd, clocking 8:28.16, and Erica Sullivan had her 3rd fastest performance ever for 3rd in 8:29.02.
Along with those three, Kaersten Meitz (8:37.11), Chase Travis (8:38.84) and Emma Weyant(8:41.30) also made the Trials cut (8:48.09) from heat 1.
15-year-old Paige McKenna (8:46.76) put herself into 8th overall and under the Trials standard from the second fastest heat.
MEN’S 800 FREESTYLE TIMED FINAL
- 2020 Olympic Trial Cut: 8:12.99
- Jordan Wilimovsky, TSM, 7:56.88
- Brennan Gravley, SAND, 8:09.95
- Ross Dant, YSST, 8:10.99
Jordan Wilimovsky of Team Santa Monica was the lone man to break eight minutes as he won easily in 7:56.88, his 3rd fastest swim ever only trailing his performances this summer at Pan Pacs and US Nationals.
18-year-old Brennan Gravley chopped four-tenths off his best time to take 2nd in 8:09.95, while 17-year-old Ross Dant (8:10.99) and 16-year-old Lleyton Plattel (8:12.02) also got under the Trials cut of 8:12.99.
In the second fastest heat, Dare Rose (8:12.36), Calvin David (8:12.56) and Gordon Mason (8:12.87) also got under the cut.
Observations:
1. Twichell swam a gutsy race – Ledecky got ahead 2 seconds on the first 100, but then Twichell kept within “just” 5 seconds by 500m. Then, of course Ledecky did what she always does the last 300m.
2. Is it just the camera angle, or did Ledecky turn reallly close to the wall a bunch of times?