Weyant Sisters Make Final Push Before Trials at SYS Memorial Meet

2021 FL SYS Memorial Meet

• May 21-23
• Sarasota, Florida
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results available on Meet Mobile under “2021 SYS Memorial Meet”

The Weyant sisters dominated at the Sarasota Sharks’ most recent Long Course meet, each taking swims in their own specialties. Both girls already had Olympic Trials cuts coming into the meet, and will head down to Omaha in June. So far, Gracie is set to attend Wave I of Trials, while her sister Emma has cuts for both waves.

Gracie Weyant, who is only 15 years old, opted to swim only the 200 breaststroke and 50 free. She was also entered in the 100 breast and 200 IM, but chose to scratch those events. She kicked off the meet with a 1.07 second drop in the 50 free, posting a time of 27.40. She took fifth in the event. Weyant currently holds Wave I Trials cuts in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Her best time in the 200 breaststroke is just over a half-second off of the Wave II Trials cut of 2:30.49. She is currently ranked fifth in the nation for her age in the 2020-2021 season.

On Saturday, Weyant earned her first and only win of the meet in the 200 breaststroke. She narrowly missed her best time of 2:31.15 (Wave I qualifying time) set at the SYS Summer Social Distance meet in July of 2020. Weyant touched in a 2:31.50, followed by Eliza Brown, who finished two seconds later in a 2:33.42. Brown’s time from Saturday finals fell just outside of the Wave I Trials qualifying range. 

On Sunday, Weyant and Brown dualed it out again in a 200 breaststroke time trial. Weyant took the win with a 2:31.61, but didn’t drop any time. Brown, on the other hand, scored her first Olympic Trials cut, finishing in a 2:32.02 and dipping under the Wave I Trials cut of 2:33.29. She was entered in the meet with a 2:35.58. Her time drop wasn’t completely unexpected, however. Brown is coming off of a successful short course season. Her 200 breaststroke improved by nearly four seconds over the course of the season, dropping from a 2:16.56 (February 2020) to a 2:12.97 (March 2021).

Emma Weyant took on a much bigger lineup than her sister. She swam the 400 free, 200 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 200 back, but scratched finals in the 200 fly and 200 breast. She swept the other three events by large margins. 

In the 400 free, Weyant swam to a time of 4:23.93 to win the event by nearly five seconds. Despite her impressive victory, she still gained nearly 14 seconds in the event. Her best time in the 400 is a Wave II qualifying time of 4:09.07, which ranks her eighth overall in the nation (during Olympic Trials qualifying period).

On Saturday night, Weyant captured her second victory of the meet in the 200 free. She touched in a 2:01.39, followed by 15-year-old Addie Sauickie who swam a 2:02.79. Again, Weyant was off of her best time, but only by a few seconds. Her entry time of 1:58.36 is a Wave II qualifying time, and would put her in the top-20 in the nation for the Trials qualifying period.

Her best event of the meet came from the 200 back during Sunday’s prelims session. Weyant posted a time of 2:13.56, which was five seconds faster than any other competitor in the field. It was within milliseconds of her best time of 2:13.77, which she set at the 2020 US Open in Sarasota. The time was a Wave I qualifying time. 

Weyant has spent the past season training with her club (Sarasota Sharks) after opting out of the collegiate season. Weyant was scheduled to join the Hoos for their 2020-2021 season, but chose to stay at home and continue training with her club leading up until Trials in order to maintain consistency.

On the men’s side, 16-year-old backstroker Amadeusz Knop made big strides to achieve his first ever Trials cut. He swam the 100 back on the first day of the meet and snagged a win in the event while coming within a tenth of his best time in the event (58.30) with his time of 58.39. On Sunday, Knop took his second victory in the 200 back and dipped under the Wave I Trials cut (2:02.99) with his time of 2:02.48. Before Saturday, his best time in the event was a 2:03.41 from the 2020 US Open in Sarasota.