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ORLANDO – One national age group record was not enough for Nation’s Capital on the first day of the NCSA junior nationals. About a half hour after Matthew Hirschberger snuck into the top 10 all time in the 1000 free, NCAP tallied a national record in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the YMCA International Aquatic Center.
Led by a 20.25 from James Jones, Nation’s Capital had some catching up to do in order to challenge the 15-18 national age group record of 1:19.56 posted in 2013 by Scottsdale Aquatic Club, but a 19.41 by Andrew Seliskar put them back on track on the second leg. Grant Goddard (20.31) and John Shebat (19.58) got under the record by the slimmest of margins with a 1:19.55.
Comparative Splits
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Nation’s Capital also broke the record for the 17-18 age group, which was formerly a 1:20.44 by a foursome from SwimMAC Carolina back in 2012. That relay included Matt Josa, now a multiple NCAA Division II champion for Queens University of Charlotte, and Kyle Darmody, who won the 400 free relay at last year’s NCAA Division I meet for Auburn.
The swim by Nation’s Capital will be officially recorded as a national age group record, but it’s not the fastest time swum by four men aged 15 to 18 years old. In the same race as the Scottsdale swim at the 2013 junior nationals, Bolles posted a 1:19.27 to win the race. Their time is not the national age group record because one of the swimmers in that foursome is not American.
The Aquajets nearly gave the meet a third national age group record, but fell a bit short in the women’s 200 free relay. Rachel Wittmer (22.93), Carly Quast (22.96), Kaia Grobe (22.86) and Zoe Avestruz (21.85) posted a 1:30.60 to get within five tenths of the record of 1:30.12 swum by Carmel Swim Club just last month.
