Photo by Peter H. Bick
Editorial coverage for U.S. Junior Nationals proudly sponsored by Q Swimwear!
IRVINE, California, August 2. DURING time trials of the USA Swimming Junior Nationals, Canyons’ Abbey Weitzeil decided to get an early start on her weekend with a 50-meter freestyle time trial. Instead of swimming during the individual event tomorrow, she time trialed her way to a 17-18 national age group record tie.
Weitzeil raced to a 25.00, not only tying her with Kara Lynn Joyce’s 25.00 from 2004, but also moving her into a 20th-place tie in the SwimVortex top 20 world rankings. She matched the 25.00 set by Australia’s Emma McKeon at the Australian National Championships.
Although First Colony’s Simone Manuel will likely take this record to new heights during her first tapered meet, since she already set the 15-16 mark at 24.80 last year, it is still a significant swim for Weitzeil.
Weitzeil became the high school sprint queen this year by setting both the 50-yard free and 100-yard free high school records.
Weitzel blitzed the field with a 47.91 (22.95, 24.96), breaking the national high school record in the process. The time beat the overall and public school record of 48.15 set by Dagny Knutson while swimming prelims for Minot High in 2009.
Missy Franklin’s 48.39 on relay duty will stand as the independent school mark as she set for Regis Jesuit in 2010.
Weitzeil picked off the 100-yard free record for the second time in the session, when she lowered it even further as the 400 free relay leadoff for Saugus. She blasted her way to an unreal time of 47.82 (22.79, 25.03).
Meanwhile, Weitzeil also set the 50-yard free record with a 21.98 earlier in the evening. That effort beat the 21.99 set by Glenbrook South’s Olivia Smoliga in 2012. Maddy Schaefer’s 22.24 for St. Francis High in 2010 will remain the independent school mark.