KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, December 6. THE U.S. Winter Short Course Nationals witnessed a huge revision of the sprint freestyle meet records in both individual and relay events. Meanwhile, the relays also made a dent in the U.S. National Age Group record ledger.
Women's 200 free relay
First Colony's meet record of 1:32.06 set back in 2010 fell tonight as Kathleen Baker, Nora McCullagh, Caitlin Casazza and Lauren Rhodes claimed the title and record in 1:31.48. The squad, made up of 15 and 16 year olds, also broke the U.S. National Age Group record for the 15-16 division. Palo Alto Stanford previously owned that time with a 1:32.21 from 2009, which also stood as the 15-18 division relay record.
Palo Alto Stanford's Ally Howe, Carly Reid, Kindle Van Linge and Sarah Kaunitz took second-place honors with a 1:32.57, while Orange County Waves' Cheyenne Low, Emma Henderson, Margaret Burton and Lindsey Engel earned third in 1:32.91. Engel had the fastest split of the finale with a blistering 22.26 anchor leg.
Pacific Swim (1:33.93), Saint Andrew's (1:34.18), Bolles (1:34.46), Hershey (1:34.61) and Carmel (1:34.89) rounded out the top eight.
Men's 200 free relay
The Bolles School took down a pair of meet records in a single swim with the sprint free relay. Caeleb Dressel (19.82), Santo Condorelli (19.39), Emiro Goossen (20.26) and Joseph Schooling (19.56) downed the meet record with a 1:19.03. That swim bettered the 1:19.83 set by Bolles back in 2011 with Ryan Murphy on the relay. Dressel also shot down the 50 free meet record of 19.83 set by Vlad Morozov in 2009.
SwimMAC's Matt Josa, Michael Chadwick, John Manchester and Kyle Darmody took second in 1:20.44, while Phoenix Swim Club's JJ Osborn, Bradley Dorsey, Tucker Wells and Trent Godfrey finished third in 1:22.54. SwimMAC downed the 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record of 1:21.30 set previously by SwimMAC in 2011 as SwimMAC's swimmers were all 17. That time also stood as the 15-18 National Age Group record. Darmody had a special anchor leg with a 19.20.
Crow Canyon (1:22.93), Bolles B (1:23.91), Nashville (1:24.37), Michigan Lakeshore (1:24.41) and Dayton Raiders (1:24.54) placed fourth through eighth in the finale.
Women's 500 free
She was not able to reproduce her preliminary swim of 4:43.10 that dropped five seconds from her lifetime best, but Lakeside's Leah Stevens had enough in the tank to clip Area Tallahassee's Cecilia Williams, 4:43.25 to 4:43.61, at the wall. Mason Manta Rays' Zoe Thatcher rounded out the top three with a time of 4:44.72 to cut four seconds from her lifetime best.
Dayton Raiders' Sydney Lofquist (4:46.51), Loveland's Eryn Eddy (4:46.60), Crimson's Ashlee Korsberg (4:48.71), Raleigh's Hannah Moore (4:48.77) and Santa Clara's Sandra Soe (4:48.87) checked in with fourth through eighth-place finishes. Kingfish's Madison Wright jumped from 16th to a B final victory with a strong 4:46.75 in the consolation final. That time would have put her sixth overall in the championship heat. Amber McDermott's meet record of 4:38.89 from 2008 remained on the books.
Men's 500 free
North Texas Jonathan Roberts tracked down the junior national title in the middle-distance event with a time of 4:21.33. That swim cut two seconds from his previous personal record of 4:23.97 set during prelims this morning. Dayton Raider Brock Turner turned on the jets down the stretch to secure second-place honors with a 4:22.73, while Stingrays' James Yoder placed third in 4:23.12.
Swim Florida's Logan Samuelson (4:23.35), La Mirada Armada's Ryan Kao (4:23.45), Crimson's Josh Beals (4:25.11), Crimson's Liam Egan (4:26.56) and College Area's Thomas Anderson (4:27.73) completed the championship finale. Kingfish's Nick Arakelian put up a strong B final time with a 4:23.79 that would have placed him fourth overall.
Women's 200 IM
SwimMAC's Kathleen Baker put on a show in the finale, edging Ella Eastin, 1:56.53 to 1:56.93, at the wall. Both swimmers beat the meet record of 1:57.86 clocked by Hershey's Meaghan Raab this morning. Raab, meanwhile, wound up third overall with a 1:58.54. The time is not only the first sub 1:58 for Baker, it also represented her first sub 1:57 after clocking a 1:58.02 lifetime best during prelims. Eastin's best had been a 1:59.27 from sectionals a year ago, with Eastin dropping more than two seconds.
Firestone's Katelyn Miller (1:59.27), Ozaukee's Katherine Drabot (1:59.74), Palo Alto's Ally Howe (1:59.78), Lubbock's Madisyn Cox (2:00.39) and Franco's Fins' Kara Kopcsco (2:02.52) also vied for the junior national title.
Men's 200 IM
Orinda's Steven Stumph clipped Palo Alto Stanford's Curtis Ogren at the wall, 1:46.79 to 1:47.11, while Crescenta's Harrison Thai earned third in 1:47.65. The performance beat Stumph's personal best of 1:47.52 from May 2012, while Ogren led prelims with a 1:46.56.
Mobile's William lass (1:47.93), Mount Pleasant's Zachary Lierley (1:48.88), Panama City's Michael Duderstadt (1:49.10), Bolles' Caeleb Dressel (1:49.57) and Dads' Patrick Miller (1:50.91) touched fourth through eighth. College Area's Thomas Anderson led the way in the B final with a 1:48.61 to 1:48.63 touchout over Dayton Raider Patrick Mulcare. Kingfish's Nick Arakelian also had another strong swim, taking 11th overall in 1:48.87.
Women's 50 free
Orange County Waves' Lindsey Engel nearly beat Janet Hu's 15-16 U.S. National Age Group record time of 22.13 with a scorching time of 22.24 to win the finale. That effort blasted the previous meet record of 22.63 set by Faith Johnson in 2010, and represented a significant drop from Engel's previous best of 22.88 from prelims. Osprey's Linnea Mack also cleared the previous meet mark with a second-place 22.58, her personal best under a 22.81 from Sectionals a year ago. Baylor's Kristen Vredeveld turned in a third-place 23.11.
SwimMAC's Lauren Rhodes placed fourth in 23.14, while 14-year-old Keaton Blovad of Phoenix placed fifth in 23.19 after stunning the morning crowd with a 22.75 in prelims. Scottsdale's Victoria Toris (23.24), Highlands Ranch's Annie Ochitwa (23.25) and Mercy Healthplex's Temarie Tomley (23.39) made up the rest of the finale. SwimMAC's Nora McCullagh touched out Rancho San Diego's Rochelle Dong, 22.94 to 22.95, for the B final title, while North Mecklenburg's Emily Allen posted a 22.97.
Men's 50 free
North Texas' Brett Ringgold touched out SwimMAC's Kyle Darmody, 19.73 to 19.83, to capture the meet record in the splash-and-dash. Bolles' Caeleb Dressel had set the record earlier in the night as a relay leadoff with a 19.82. That's the second time today that Ringgold cleared 20 after doing so as a relay leadoff in prelims this morning. Davie Nadadores' Dylan Carter also beat 20 seconds with a third-place 19.94, while Hershey's Vincent Tafuto touched fourth in 20.25.
High Tide's Wesley Olmsted (20.46), FLA Aquatics' Jason McCormick (20.47), Northern Dutchess' Julian Mackrel (20.50) and Rose Bowl's Corey John (20.82) placed fifth through eighth. Bolles' Santo Condorelli put on the heat in the B final with a winning time of 19.93.
Women's 400 medley relay
Crow Canyon's Sidney Cooke, Heidi Poppe, Brittany Usinger and Madison White beat the meet record in the relay with a time of 3:40.15. That swim eclipsed the 3:41.67 set by Michigan Lakeshore last year. SwimMAC's Kathleen Baker, Caitlin Casazza, Alyssa Marsh and Lauren Rhodes earned second in 3:41.21, also under the previous record. SwimMAC's team, comprised of 15and 16 year olds, beat the 15-16 U.S. National Age Group record of 3:41.67 set by the Rachel Bootsma-powered Aquajets in 2009.
Orange County Waves' Lindsey Engel, Margaret Burton, Breanna Tran and Cheyenne Low picked up third in 3:43.17. Saint Andrew's (3:43.17), Carmel (3:43.83), Lakeside (3:44.05), Michigan Lakeshore (3:44.65) and Baylor (3:44.67) also made it into the top eight in the timed final.
Men's 400 medley relay
Bolles' Caeleb Dressel, Marijn Van Zundert, Joseph Schooling and Santo Condorelli cruised to victory in the relay with a 3:15.83, a second off Bolles' 2011 meet record of 3:14.92. SwimMAC's Kyle Darmody, Michael Chadwick, Matt Josa and John Manchester took second in 3:16.76, while Tide's Nathaniel Dacrzu, Austin Temple, Harrison Pierce and Jerry Burton finished third in 3:19.99. SwimMAC's squad smashed the 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record of 3:18.50 set by Nashville Aquatics in 2007, which also stood as the 15-18 record as well.
Baylor (3:20.77), Nashville (3:20.79), Mobile (3:20.98), CLASS (3:21.18) and North Texas (3:21.75) made up the rest of the top eight in the timed final event.
