Each week, USA Swimming releases their top 20 zone times. Swimming World will provide a unique analysis of the zones each week. Here, you’ll find the zones’ strengths, top athletes, and top times.
Note: There are a number of swims from various LSC championship meets not updated in time for this article. Those times will be included in next week’s edition.
USA Swimming Eastern Zone
Girls: Joy Jiang now owns two more top times for the 11-year old girls in the 200-meter back and 200-meter fly. She now holds six of the top times in the Eastern Zone. Amongst the 12-year olds, Vanessa Chong clocked zone bests in the 100 and 200-meter fly. Katie McClintock (200-meter IM and 100-meter breast), Phoebe Bacon (50-meter fly), and Anna Keating (100 breast) also added top times.
Madelyn Donohoe, 13, raked in three zone bests in the 200 and 400-meter free along with the 200-meter back. Also in the age group, Kate Douglass lowered the 100-meter breast mark to a 1:12.39, while Christiana Regenauer popped off a 58.97 top time in the 100-meter free.
North Baltimore’s Lara Bate was the lone 15-year old to swim a new top time with her 2:29.96 200-meter breast. Margaret Aroesty (100 and 200-meter breast) and Courtney Harnish (400 and 800-meter free) swam to the top of the 16-year old girls’ rankings.
Kaitlin Hardy doubled up on the backstroke events for the 17-year old girls age group. Meanwhile, Meghan Small pumped out a 2:31.35 200-meter breast and 2:11.26 200-meter IM to lead the age group. Isabel Reis was the only change atop the 18-year old girls’ rankings with her 200-meter fly.
Boys: The Eastern Zone 11-year old boys saw zone bests from Sean Santos (200-meter breast) and Justin Singletary (50-meter fly). Meanwhile, in the 12-year old boys age group Brett Feyerick added two top times in the 100 and 200-meter back. Ryan Hogan and Morgan Kim also swam zone bests in the 200-meter breast and 50-meter back, respectively.
The 14-year old boys saw new top times from Mason Gonzalez in the 50-meter free, River Wright in the 100-meter free and 200-meter IM, Adam Kapusta in the 1500-meter free, and John Clado in the 200-meter back. Clark Beach dropped the 200-meter back mark to 2:04.44 for the 16-year old boys, while Jack McIntyre gutted out a new top time for the 17-year old boys in the 800-meter free.
Townley Haas of NOVA churned out three top times for the 18-year old boys in the 200, 400, and 800-meter free.
USA Swimming Central Zone
Girls: Berit Quass busted out a 1:05.35 100-meter fly to top the 12-year old girls’ rankings in the Central Zone. The 13-year old girls age group saw a flurry of changes with Courtney Harris (50-meter free), Regan Smith (200-meter free and 200-meter fly), Bridget O’Leary (400-meter free), Hayley Pike (800 and 1500-meter free), and Kaylyn Schoof (400-meter IM) all swimming new top times.
Kaitlynn Wheeler clocked two solid distance swims in the 400 and 800-meter free to lead the 14-year old girls age group. Anya Goeders sprinted her way to the top with a 25.54 50-meter free. Maddy Potter also added top times to the age group in the 100 and 200-meter fly.
Amongst the 15-year old girls, Skylar Fore (100-meter free), Caroline Theil (200-meter breast), and Taylor Pike all submitted zone-best times. Audrey Guyett gutted out a 17:07.64 to top the 16-year old girls’ 1500-meter free, while Hannah Kukurugya added a top time in the 200-meter fly.
There were plenty of changes atop the 17-year old girls age group. Katie Drabot was responsible for three of the new top times in the 100, 200, and 400-meter free. Amy Bilquist of Indiana powerhouse Carmel Swim Club posted a 25.03 zone-best 50-meter free. Vanessa Krause (100 and 200-meter fly), Erin Falconer (200-meter back), and Kirsten Jacobsen (1500-meter free) also swam to the top of the rankings.
In the 18-year old girls’ age group, Kelly McNamara and Libby Walker swam zone bests in the 100 and 200-meter fly, respectively.
Boys: In the Central Zone, Ohio swimmers accounted for many of the new age group top times. Much of this can be attributed to their fast performance at the Ohio Junior Olympics. Adam McDonald, 11, of the Cincinnati Marlins cranked out zone bests in the 50 and 100-meter breast as well as the 200-meter IM. Michael Rine posted a 1:08.87 in the 100-meter back, while Andrew Lin also topped the age group in the 50-meter back.
All new top times in the 12-year old boys age group came from Northern Kentucky Clippers swimmers David Johnson and Seth Young. Johnson clocked a 1:06.69 100-meter back to lead the Central Zone, while Young swam zone bests in the 100-meter free, 50-meter breast, 50-meter fly, and 200-meter IM.
The Cincinnati Marlins loaded up on best times for the 13-year old boys. Carson Foster notched eight new zone bests in the 50, 100, and 200-meter free, 100 and 200-meter back, 100 and 200-meter fly, and both IMs. His teammate Ansel Froass topped the zone in the 100 and 200-meter breast. Sylvania Tsunami swimmer Isaac Grinberg bolted to a 24.90 50-meter free to lead the Central Zone.
Foster’s brother, Jake Foster provided new top times for the 14-yer old boys in the 200-meter free, 100 and 200-meter breast, 200-meter fly, and both IMs. Jack Dolan added three more zone bests in the 50 and 100-meter free and 100-meter fly. Peter Larson grabbed the top spot in the 200-meter back with a 2:08.35. In the 15-year old boys age group, Nolan Yorkman topped the zone in the 200-meter back.
Michael Andrew, 16, swam four new top times including a National Age Group record in the 100-meter breast (1:01.00). Andrew also lowered the mark in the 50-meter free, 100-meter back, and 200-meter IM. Sam Iida (400-meter free), Johnthomas Larson (800-meter free), and Mitch Gavars (1500-meter free) swam top times in the distance free events, while Chandler Bray added a zone best in the 200-meter breast.
In the 17-year old boys age group, Antonio Thomas of Razorback Aquatic Club raced to two new zone bests in the 800 and 1500-meter free. Kyle Ward and Nick Alexander also swam top times in the 100-meter fly and 200-meter IM, respectively. In the following age group, Kyle Decoursey now holds the top spot in the 50 and 100-meter free. Phillip Willett and Ian Finnerty also lead the age group in the 200-meter breast and 200-meter IM, respectively.
USA Swimming Southern Zone
Girls: In the 11-year old girls age group, Sara Stoler and Charlotte Hook each added multiple times to the top of the list. Stotler swam zone bests in the 200-meter free and 100-meter back, while Hook topped the zone in the 50-meter back and 400-meter IM.
Olivia McMurray led the flurry of changes for the 12-year old girls with three top times in the 200, 400, and 800-meter free. Abigail Gibbons cranked out zone bests in the 50 and 100-meter fly. Mary Kate Kelley (100-meter back), Ella Marlow (50-meter free), Sophia Woody (200-meter back), Amanda Ray (200-meter fly), and Samantha Mobley (400-meter IM) also swam top times.
Amongst the 14-year old girls, Isabel Ivey and Ashley McCauley were the only new top times in the 1500-meter free and 100-meter breast, respectively. Allie Raab pumped out a 1:10.49 to lead the 15-year old girls’ 100-meter breast, while Jessica Nava now leads the age group in the 100-meter fly.
Marta Ciesla, 16, tied Lauren Pitzer’s top time in the 50-meter free with her 25.62. In the next age group, Niki Urquidi busted out a top time in the 400-meter free. Sydney Pickrem put forth two top times in the IMs for the 18-year old girls age group.
Boys: Nathan Jin of Dynamo Swim Club swam four top times for the 11-year old boys in the 50 and 100-meter free along with the 50 and 100-meter breast. Also in his age group, Colton Frantz posted zone bests in the 400-meter free and 200-meter IM. Trey Carter and Blake Whiteley topped the 11-year old boys’ list in the 1500-meter free and 50-meter fly, respectively.
In the 12-year old boys age group, Braeden Knight, Wesley Barnett, and Brendan Hausdorf each swam multiple new top times. Knight set new marks in the 50-meter free and 50 and 100-meter fly. Hausdorf posted top times in the 100 and 200-meter free, while Barnett hit bests in the 100 and 200-meter back. Hayden Kwan also posted a top time in the 200-meter IM.
The 13-year old boys had plenty of changes beginning with Paul Degrado’s top times in the 100 and 200-meter breast. Arik Katz popped off bests in the 100-meter free and 200-meter fly, and Ross Valdez also swam two zone bests in the 200-meter free and 200-meter IM. Gabriel Bartolomei topped the zone with his 1:02.80 100-meter back.
Jack Walker (50-meter free), Liam Bell (100-meter breast), and Cothalee Watko (200-meter fly) knocked out three new zone bests for the 14-yrear old boys. Two 16-year old boys – Colin Bone (100-meter free) and Daniel Chang (100-meter breast) – contributed the final two changes the top of the Southern Zone.
USA Swimming Western Zone
Girls: Grace Monahan popped off two zone-best times in the 50 and 100-meter fly for the Western Zone’s 11-year old girls. Asia Minnes, 12, added four top times in her age group in the 50-meter back, 200-meter IM, and 100 and 200-meter breast. Ashley Strouse also put forth a top time in the 50-meter free.
Brooke Schaffer (50-meter free) and Makena Ditsworth (200-meter fly) set new marks for the 13-year old girls. Taylor Ruck tore through two new top times for the 15-year old girls in the 200-meter back and 200-meter IM. Kelly Huffer and Mara Newman also swam zone bests in the 200-meter fly and 100-meter back, respectively.
The final changes for the Western Zone came from the 16-year old girls age group. Nikol Popov lowered the 100-meter breast mark to a 1:10.58, while Kenisha Liu (200-meter IM) and Sandra Freeman (400-meter IM) busted out top times.
Boys: The 11-year old boys in the Western Zone provided new zone bests in the 400-meter free and 50-meter fly from Ronald Dalmacio and Max Kleinman, respectively. Keane Alejandro topped the zone in the 100 and 200-breast for the 12-year old boys.
Meanwhile, Scott Pekarske tore off four top times for the 13-year old boys. He swam zone bests in the 200, 400, 800, and 1500-meter free. Andrei Minakov topped the 100-meter fly for the age group with a 58.47. Jarod Arroyo busted out two top IM times for the 14-year old boys. Michael Klauss (200-meter back), Caspar Corbeau (100-meter breast), and Seth Chun (200-meter fly) also hit top times for the age group.
Christopher Jhong and Zander Minano posted top times in the 200-meter IM and 50-meter free for the 16-year old boys. Daniel Carr, 17, clocked four new zone bests in the 100 and 200-meter back along with both IMs. Aaron Apel also notched a zone best in the 800-meter free.