Ashley Steenvoorden Repeats As 1000 Free Champ On Opening Day of Elite Pro-Am
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, December 19. THE Chesapeake Elite Pro-Am kicked off tonight with the 1000 freestyles, along with some relay action.
Ashley Steenvoorden, a postgrad from the University of Minnesota, dominated the women’s 1000 with a 9:42.28, well off the 9:33.45 she swam at last year’s meet to win the event. Brooke Lorentzen, representing Mission Viejo Nadadores, placed second with a 9:45.10, establishing a new lifetime best by four seconds. Her previous lifetime best, coincidentally, took place at last year’s Pro-Am meet, where she was second to Steenvoorden. Mission Viejo’s Amanda Barnes was a distant third with a 10:07.52.
In the men’s 1000 free, teenagers took the top spots. Mission Viejo’s Nicholas Norman, just 16 years old, won with an 8:57.68, breaking the nine-minute mark for the first time and dropping his lifetime best by 12 seconds, which he swam at last year’s meet. Gold Medal Swim Club’s Antonio Ramirez finished a distant second with a 9:20.19, with Mission Viejo’s Nicholas Brown finishing third with a 9:23.32.
In the women’s 200 medley relay, Boulder City Henderson Swim Team won with a 1:45.77, beating out Schroder YMCA’s 1:46.80 and Dallas Mustang’s 1:47.94. Schroeder easily won the men’s medley relay with a 1:32.48 on the strength of a 21.61 backstroke split from Adam Mania. Boulder City was second with a 1:35.60, and Mission Viejo placed third with a 1:36.68.
Boulder City and Mission Viejo waged battle in the women’s and men’s 800 freestyle relay. Boulder City got the win in the women’s event with a 7:28.20 to Mission Viejo’s 7:28.41. Mission Viejo got revenge in the men’s long relay, touching first with a 6:47.11 to Boulder City’s 6:47.71.