Each week, USA Swimming releases their top 20 zone times. Swimming World will provide a unique analysis of one specific zone each week and a general recap of the remaining zones. Here, you’ll find the zones’ strengths, top athletes, and top times.
USA Swimming Central Zone
Girls: Scarlet Martin of Iowa Flyers Swim Club swam a 1:09.16 100-meter fly to raise the bar for the 11-year old girls in the event. In the next age group, new 12-year old Kate Morris busted out a 27.98 50-meter free to top the zone. Morris also added a 29.62 50-meter fly to add her name to another event in the zone. Sophia Tuinman popped off a 1:07.50 in the 12-year old girls’ 100-meter back to add her name to the list.
Karisa Franz (100-meter fly) and Lauren Payton (200-meter fly) are the new leaders in the fly events for the 13-year old girls age group. Meanwhile, Audrey Coffey stamped her name at the top of the 14-year old girls age group in 800-meter free and 200-meter fly.
Olivia Calegan, Skylar Fore, and Ruby Martin made claims at the top of the 15-year old girls age group in a number of events. The 17-year old girls times were topped by Katie Drabot (100-meter free), Tevyn Waddell (200-meter back), and Kelsey Drake (200-meter fly) this past weekend. A trio of 18-year olds – Miranda Tucker, Kennedy Goss, and Hannah Moore – recently swam zone-bests as well.
Boys: Adam McDonald posted two incredible times in the 50 and 100-meter breast to top the 11-year old boys in the Central Zone. The Cincinnati Marlin busted out a 36.16 in the 50 and a 1:18.87 in the 100. 12-year old Elmer Weng posted a 2:45.09 200-meter breast to reign in the event.
Despite just turning 13, Black Hawk Area Swim Team’s Dyland Moffatt added his name to the top of his new age group in the 200-meter free (2:03.30) and 800-meter free (8:49.87). Forrest Frazier also swam a new zone-best time in the 200-meter breast.
14-year old Andrew Trepanier added three new top times in the Eastern Zone with bests in the 50 and 100-meter free as well as the 100-meter fly. Shane Blinkman and William Kamps also topped the zone in the 200-meter back and 800-meter free, respectively.
New Central Zone top times didn’t stop in the age group ranks. Michael Andrew added three more zone-best times in the 100-meter back, 100-meter breast, and 200-meter IM in the 16-year old boys division. Mark McGlaughlin sprinted his way to the top of the 17-year old boys age group in the 50 and 100-meter free, and Club Wolverine’s distance specialist PJ Ransford is now tops in the zone in the 400 and 800-meter free for the 18-year old boys.
USA Swimming Eastern Zone
Girls: In an age group dominated by Meghan Lynch and Joy Jiang, Jiang swam yet another 11-year old girls’ top time with her 2:14.58 200-meter free. Ali Tyler (50 meter free), Phoebe Bacon (50 and 100-meter back), and Vanessa Chong (50-meter fly) all swam top times for the 12-year old girls age group.
Kerrigan Hemp of Nation’s Capital blazed a 1:05.77 100-meter back to top the 13-year old girls in the event. Isabel Gormley’s 400-meter IM also set a new mark for the 13-year old girls. Hemp’s teammate, Katie Mack swam her way to the top of the 14-year old girls’ 200-meter IM with a 2:21.62.
Erin Voss (100-meter back) of Great Holyoke YMCA and Megan Byrnes (400-meter IM) from National’s Capital added zone bests for the 16-year old girls. Meanwhile, North Baltimore’s Becca Mann rounded out the changes in the east with her 4:42.10 400-meter IM for the 17-ear old girls.
Boys: New Jersey swimmer Samuel de Leon was the lone change at the top for the 11-year old boys. His 1:10.76 100-meter back is now the best in the east. 12-year olds Brett Feyerick (50 and 100-meter back) and Dare Rose (50-meter fly and 200-meter IM) were also additions at the top of the Eastern Zone.
Kimani Gregory is the first 13-year old boy in the zone to break the one-minute barrier this season with his 59.49 last weekend.
Max Miranda blasted two new top times for 15-year old boys with his 1:54.21 200-meter free and 4:27.73 400-meter IM. Machine Aquatics’ Casey Storch was the only other change at the top of the Eastern Zone. He know leads all 16-year olds in the East in the 200-meter IM.
USA Swimming Western Zone
Girls: Amongst age group swimmers (11-14 years old), Zoe Bartel was the sole swimmer to hit a zone-best time this past week. Her 1:11.48 100-meter breast is now the best in the west for the 14-year old girls.
Taylor Ruck (1500-meter free) and Rhyan White (100 and 200-meter back) picked up the slack in the 15-year old girls age group with new top times. Chenoa Devine, 16, followed suit with a zone best 1500-meter free time of 16:55.25.
Stanford’s Simone Manuel lowered her 50-free mark to 24.75 this past weekend. She leads in the 50, 100, and 200-meter free for the 18-year old girls age group. Marie-Claire Schillinger also hit a zone best for the age group in the 200-meter breast.
Boys: Of all the 11 and 12-year old boys in the west, Kai Crews was the only swimmer to have a zone-best time with his 2:16.65. Crews, who swims for Hawaii Swimming Club, also leads the zone in the 12-year old boys’ 50 and 100-meter back.
Harrison Lierz is now the best in the west in the 13-year old boys 800-meter free and 200-meter back. Aside from Lierz and Crews, there were no other changes at the top of the zone for the age group swimmers.
There were a handful of changes in the older age groups where, due to the nature of the sport, change seldom occurs. Jared Graham, 16, added a top time in the 800-meter free, while ‘aukai Lileikis (100-meter free) and Maxime Rooney (200-meter free) posted zone bests for the 17-year old boys. Tommy Thach swam a 1:53.30 to sit atop the 18-year old boys age group in the 200-meter free. Jack Xie (200-meter breast) and Justin Lynch (100 and 200-meter fly) also swam zone bests in the age group.
USA Swimming Southern Zone
Girls: One day after hitting zone bests in the 400-meter free, Anna Auld of East Coast Aquatic Club topped the zone in the 200-meter free and 200-meter breast for the 11-year old girls. Tristen Ulett, 12, is now the fastest in her age group in the 200-meter free, 200-meter IM, and 100-meter back. Abigail Gibbons swam a 1:05.54 to etch her name at thetop of the 12-year old girls’ 100-meter fly.
Savanna Mitchell (800-meter free) and Elly Deas (100-meter back) became new leaders in the 13-year old girls age group. Ashley McCauley was the lone change at the top of the 14-year old girls age group with her 2:33.95 200-meter breast.
Vanessa Pearl swam to the top of both breast events for the 15-year old girls, while Logan Shiller topped the same age group in the 100-meter free. Lauren Case, 16, added her name to the top of three events this past weekend, busting out zone bests in the 200-meter free and the 100 and 200-meter fly. Rachel Ramey also stood out in the age group with her top 200-meter breast time.
There were no changes for the 17 and 18-year old girls.
Boys: East Coast Aquatic Club’s Josh Zuchowski hit the trifecta in the backstroke events (50, 100, and 200-meter back) to lead the Southern Zone’s 11-year old boys. Baylor Nelson also improved to a 1:07.11 to lead the 100-meter fly.
Connor Hughes’s 18:00.37 effort in the 1500-meter free has him sitting at the top of the zone for the 12-year old boys.
Meanwhile, in the 14-year old boys age group Zachary Hils of Kentucky’s Wildcat Aquatics now leads in the 100-meter free with a 53.43. He dethroned Aldan Johnston, who swims for in-state rival Lakeside Swim Team and set the zone-best time two weekends ago. Hils also added zone bests in the 200 and 400-meter IM. Liam Bell doubled up on the 100 and 200-meter breast to top the zone, while Mark Rotolo (200-meter fly) and Jason Park (100-meter back) also added their name to the apex of the zone.
Matthew Limbacher (100 breast) and Jeffrey Durmer (400-meter IM) put forth zone-best times for the 15-year old boys age group. Nicholas Sweester, 17, stormed to the top of the Southern Zone in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter free. In the 18-year old boys age group, Marcelo Acosta posted yet another zone best, this time in the 800-meter free.
LINKS: