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The first full morning of the 2019 Speedo Junior Nationals from Palo Alto, California had four events. There were some new Olympic Trials cuts on Tuesday and many swimmers had some huge drops. One in particular was Mason Laur, who dropped nearly four full seconds in the 200 fly to grab the top seed and also get under the Trials cut. He is going to be a junior this fall and swims for T2 Aquatics in Florida.
Grace Sheble swam a solid 2:11 in the 200 fly heats to grab the top seed as she will be swimming at the Junior World Championships later this month. Liam Bell also had a solid 1:01 in the 100 breast to get lane four for the final while Lydia Jacoby from Alaska will have lane four in the women’s 100 breast.
Women’s 200 Fly
Olympic Trials cut: 2:14.59
NOVA of Virginia’s Grace Sheble put up the top time in the women’s 200 fly to start of the 2019 Speedo Junior Nationals in Palo Alto, California. Sheble swam a 2:11.50 to lead the qualifiers ahead of Lucy Bell (2:12.82) and Justina Kozan (2:12.93). Kozan won the 200 fly at last year’s Juniors and will be looking to defend her title.
Tristen Ulett, who has committed to the University of Louisville, is seeded fourth at 2:13.49. Brynn Wright (2:13.85) and Tess Howley (2:14.06) also qualified for the A-Final along with Kate McCarville (2:14.19) and Rachel Klinker (2:14.31).
RESULTS:
- 2:11.50, Grace Sheble, NOVA-VA
- 2:12.82, Lucy Bell, FAST-CO
- 2:12.93, Justina Kozan, BREA-CA
- 2:13.49, Tristen Ulett, DYNA-GA
- 2:13.85, Brynn Wright, ABF-NE
- 2:14.06, Tess Howley, LIAC-MR
- 2:14.19, Kate McCarville, SPA-AR
- 2:14.31, Rachel Klinker, LEXD-LE
Men’s 200 Fly
Olympic Trials cut: 2:01.19
Mason Laur of T2 Aquatics had a tremendous morning swim on Tuesday at the Speedo Junior Nationals in Palo Alto with a 2:00.69, lowering his best time of 2:04.35 from earlier this summer. Laur swam out of lane 0 and got the top seed so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to such a big drop. He also got the Olympic Trials cut Ben Miller, who came in as the top seed into the meet, is seeded second at 2:00.94, only adding about a half second from his seed time.
Jace Crawford of the Episcopal Amberjax also had a monstrous drop with a 2:01.14 to lower his best from a 2:04.64 from earlier this summer as he just got under the Olympic Trial cut.
Mason Manta Ray’s Carl Bloebaum (2:01.39) is the fourth seed as he is ahead of a tight field with Matthew Fenlon (2:01.40) and Adam Mahler (2:01.50). Justin Hussong (2:02.34) and Stephen Jones (2:02.55) also qualified for the final.
RESULTS:
- 2:00.69, Mason Laur, T2-FL
- 2:00.94, Ben Miller, TTSC-OR
- 2:01.14, Jace Crawford, EAJ-FL
- 2:01.39, Carl Bloebaum, RAYS-OH
- 2:01.40, Matthew Fenlon, BAD-MR
- 2:01.50, Adam Mahler, UN-MA
- 2:02.34, Justin Hussong, AAA-CA
- 2:02.55, Stephen Jones, SST-GA
Women’s 100 Breast
Olympic Trial cuts: 1:10.99
The women’s 100 breast A-Final will be a very tight race with seven swimmers posting a 1:10 in the morning. Lydia Jacoby, who swims out of the Seward Tsunami Swim Club in Alaska, is the top seed at 1:10.03. Jacoby was a 1:08.81 last week at Nationals and placed 12th. She will be looking to win her first Junior National title at age 15.
Jacoby is ahead of a very tight field with Taylor Steele (1:10.27), Emma Webber (1:10.34) and Aubree Brouwer (1:10.38). The top four swimmers all come from non-swimming powerhouse states with Steele hailing from South Carolina, Webber coming from Colorado and Brouwer coming from Arkansas.
Sophia Zhang (1:10.45), Grace Rainey (1:10.60) and Janessa Mathews (1:10.90) also got under the Olympic Trials cut. Morganne Malloy (1:11.20) was the only one in the A-Final to not get under the Trials cut but she has already been under that this year.
RESULTS:
- 1:10.03, Lydia Jacoby, STSC-AK
- 1:10.27, Taylor Steele, CAC-SC
- 1:10.34, Emma Webber, TOPS-CO
- 1:10.38, Aubree Brouwer, SPA-AR
- 1:10.45, Sophia Zhang, AGUA-MR
- 1:10.60, Grace Rainey, MAC-NC
- 1:10.90, Janessa Mathews, OSSC-OH
- 1:11.20, Morganne Malloy, NOVA-CA
Men’s 100 Breast
Olympic Trial cuts: 1:03.29
Liam Bell, who has committed to the University of Alabama, put up the fastest 100 breast time on Tuesday at the Speedo Junior Nationals in Palo Alto, California. Bell was a 1:01.49 this morning, lowering his best time of 1:02.16 from earlier this year. Bell was one of the best 14-year-olds in the nation four years ago but had fallen off the map a little bit the last few years. He is back on the right track with a solid 1:01 this morning and will be looking to go even faster tonight.
Kevin Houseman is seeded second at 1:02.15 ahead of Hayden Zheng (1:02.32) and Maxwell Reich (1:02.49). Reich’s seed time was a 1:03.97 but he was a 1:02.80 at US Nationals last week. He was able to go even faster with a 1:02.4 this morning.
Tim Connery (1:02.74), Will Goodwin (1:03.10), Andrew Karpenko (1:03.22) and Ben Dillard (1:03.28) also qualified for the A-Final as all eight guys got under the Olympic Trials cut.
RESULTS:
- 1:01.49, Liam Bell, USAC-GA
- 1:02.15, Kevin Houseman, BISC-PN
- 1:02.32, Hayden Zheng, AQJT-MN
- 1:02.49, Maxwell Reich, PHX-NE
- 1:02.74, Tim Connery, MAC-NC
- 1:03.10, Will Goodwin, TOPS-CO
- 1:03.22, Andrew Karpenko, AQJT-MN
- 1:03.28, Ben Dillard, SMST-SN
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Liam Bell was out of the water for a year with a back injury. It’s great to see him making a comeback!
He beat me at Futures when he was 14 and I was 20. Glad to see him coming around!