Watson Smashes 26.98 Fly, 16-Yr-Old Marshall Goes 55.58 Back in Geneva

2021 CENTRAL ZONE SPEEDO SECTIONALS 

• July 15-18, 2021
• SPIRE Institute, Geneva, OH
• Hosted by Blazing Barracudas and Hudson HEAT
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Results via Meet Mobile: “2021 Speedo Sectional Meet”
• Day One Recap
• Day Two Recap

The penultimate day of the Geneva Sectionals meet wrapped with a number of exceptional swims, including lifetime best performances from Canadian/Akron swimmer Sarah Watson and 16-year-old Jonathan Marshall of FAST.

Chopping 0.45s off her 50 fly lifetime best to break 27 seconds during the evening’s first final was FAST/Akron swimmer Sarah Watson of Canada, clocking in at 26.98. During Friday evening’s session, Watson put up a Canadian No. 7 time for the 2021 calendar year in the 100 fly at 59.85. Entering the meet at 27.43, Watson first put up 27.34 in prelims before shaving another 0.36s from the morning to go sub-27 for the first time.

Flirting with the 27-second barrier during prelims was OSU’s Katherine Zenick, who dropped 0.62s from her 27.66 entry time to go 27.04 leading prelims. In the final, Zenick held off FAST’s Rachel Schiffli by three one-hundredths for second, 27.13 to 27.17.

Compiling the fastest Canadian 50 fly’s this year, including off the first 50 of the 100 fly, Watson ranks 3rd in the nation. Last night, Watson split 28.09 off her opening 50 during her 100 fly final.

2021 Canadian Rankings – Women’s 50 FL LCM

1. Maggie MacNeil, 26.40^
2. Rebecca Smith, 26.63^
3. Sarah Watson, 26.98**
4. Katerine Savard, 27.17^
5. Kylie Masse, 27.61^

^first 50 splits

16-year-old Jonathon Marshall of FAST dominated the men’s 100 back, putting out 55.58/55.60 to lead both prelims and finals. Splitting 26.99/28.61 in the enough was enough for him to win the final and equally overwhelm his previous best of 56.23. Marshall now ranks No. 12 all-time in the 15-16 age group with his personal best, sitting right behind NCAA runner-up Destin Lasco (’18, 55.52) and jumping Pat Murphy (’08, 55.61), Jacob Pebley (’10, 55.61), and Aaron Peirsol (’00, 55.63).

All-Time U.S. Age Group Rankings – Boys 15-16 100 BK LCM

1. Ryan Murphy, 53.76 – 2012
2. Michael Taylor, 54.62 – 2015
3. Michael Andrew, 54.74 – 2015
4. Daniel Diehl, 54.90 – 2021
5. Logan McFadden, 55.01 – 2017
6. Jack Conger, 55.02 – 2011
7. Will Modglin, 55.04 – 2021
8. Carson Foster, 55.37 – 2018
9. Alex Boratto/Nick Simons, 55.51 – 2016/2020
10. –
11. Destin Lasco, 55.52 – 2018
12. Jonathon Marshall, 55.58 – 2021**
13. Pat Murphy/Jacob Pebley, 55.61 – 2008/2010
14. –
15. Aaron Peirsol, 55.63 – 2000

Settling for second place was OSU’s Thomas Watkins at 56.47, just off his 56.32 seed. In the race for third, OSU’s Colin McDermott (57.70) held off 17-year-old Eli Stoll of Greater Columbus (57.79) by nine one-hundredths.

More Day 3 Highlights

In the men’s 50 fly, Italian native Semuede Andreis of OSU hit a massive 23.41 lifetime best after hitting 24.03 in prelims with a 24.56 seed. Andreis’ swim puts him at No. 19 in the 2021 European rankings, tying with Frenchman Florent Manaudou. Canton City 19-year-old William Rose took a narrow second place at 24.42 over OSU teammates Justin Fleagle (24.56) and Lain Weaver (24.62).

Winning the women’s 100 back with a lifetime best was OSU’s Amy Fulmer, taking down her May personal best of 1:02.77 with a  1:01.40, which is 0.09s under the 2021 Wave II Trials cut. OSU teammates Morgan Kraus (1:03.43) and Kyra Sommerstad (1:03.51) rounded out the top three for an OSU 1-2-3 finish.

The OSU Buckeye men pulled off a 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the 200 free final as well as going 1-2-3-4 in the 100 breast final. Leading the 400 free final was Charlie Clark at 3:54.43, chopping a second off his 3:55.60 seed. Hitting second was Jonathan Edwards, who broke 4:00 for the first time at 3:59.48. Rounding out their dominant finish were teammates Jay Johnson (4:02.09), Matthew Magness (4:02.28), and John Sampson (4:04.72). In the 100 breast, Hudson McDaniel held off teammate William Regan by 0.29s, 1:03.45 to 1:03.74, followed by Richard Kurlich (1:04.40) and Ian Mikesell (1:04.52).

Even More Day 3 Highlights

• Trials semifinalist Hannah Bach of OSU won the women’s 100 breast with the only sub-1:10 effort at 1:09.25. Teammate Josie Panitz took second place at 1:11.98.
• It was tight races for both the women’s and men’s 200 fly finals. For the women, OSU’s Katherine Trace swam 2:16.40 to edge out 17-year-old Kaley Ream of Lake Erie Silver Dolphins (2:16.53). On the men’s side, OSU’s Ryan Trichler held off Club Wolverine’s Yugo Tsukikawa on the last 50, touching him out 2:04.95 to 2:05.11.
• 2019 Para World champion 17-year-old Liam Smith of North Kent (S7/SB7/SM7) swam personal bests in the 50 fly (32.74), 400 free (5:18.64), and 100 breast (1:24.89).
• OSU’s Maya Geringer won the women’s 400 free final by five seconds at 4:19.27, chopping time off her 4:21.00 seed. Taking second place was Club Wolverine’s Savanna Mouat, who improved from a 4:35.82 seed to 4:33.84 in prelims to 4:26.25 in the final, just holding off OSU’s Meredith Moellering (4:26.66).
• The B OSU men’s 800 free relay out-swam the A OSU relay to close the session, 7:34.17 to 7:38.79. The B relay was highlighted by Edwards (1:52.88) and anchor Sampson (1:52.64) while A relay featured lead-off Johnson (1:52.87) and anchor Watkins (1:53.61). Firestone Akron FAST’s Tyler Hong anchored his relay to a 1:56.81, aiding their third-place effort of 7:53.22.