Bella Sims Crushes 500 Free Junior Nationals Meet Record in Race Against Katie Grimes; Leah Hayes Barely Misses 200 IM NAG
With remarkable performances at this summer’s Olympic Trials, Nevada teenagers Bella Sims and Katie Grimes both won unexpected spots at the Tokyo Games, Sims with a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle to earn a relay opportunity and Grimes finishing second in the 800 free to claim an individual spot. Sims won an Olympic silver medal as a prelims relay swimmer, while Grimes finished less than a second outside of the medals in the 800 free final. Now, the duo seems to be riding that momentum as they compete in their first championship meet since Tokyo.
In the women’s 500 free Thursday evening at Junior Nationals (west) in Austin, the Sandpipers of Nevada teammates faced off. Sims, 16, opened up a lead of over a second-and-a-half after 200 yards, but the 15-year-old Grimes closed the gap over the second half of the swim. In the end, Sims touched the wall in 4:32.28, followed by Grimes in 4:32.97. Both swimmers obliterated the meet record of 4:37.10 set by Regan Smith three years ago, and both were faster than the winning time from last season’s NCAA Championships, Paige Madden’s 4:33.61.
Sims actually missed her own lifetime best of 4:32.13 by 0.15. She swam that time last April to become the ninth-fastest performer in history. Grimes, meanwhile, beat her best time of 4:38.26 by more than five seconds and improved to No. 14 all-time. The two swimmers rank second and third all-time among 15-16 girls. Unsurprisingly, the only swimmer faster is Katie Ledecky at 4:28.71.
Sandpipers actually finished 1-2-3 here as Sims and Grimes’ teammate Claire Weinstein finished third in 4:38.46. Weinstein became the second-fastest 13-14 girl in history in the event, trailing only Ledecky (4:35.14).
1 Sims, Bella 16 Sandpipers Of Ne 4:39.47 4:32.28* 20
r:+0.55 24.23 50.78 (26.55)
1:18.22 (27.44) 1:46.31 (28.09)
2:14.45 (28.14) 2:42.51 (28.06)
3:10.52 (28.01) 3:38.22 (27.70)
4:05.65 (27.43) 4:32.28 (26.63)
2 Grimes, Katie 15 Sandpipers Of Ne 4:39.82 4:32.97* 17
r:+0.64 24.70 51.83 (27.13)
1:19.71 (27.88) 1:47.89 (28.18)
2:15.97 (28.08) 2:43.75 (27.78)
3:11.57 (27.82) 3:39.28 (27.71)
4:06.77 (27.49) 4:32.97 (26.20)
3 Weinstein, Claire 14 Sandpipers Of Ne 4:42.27 4:38.46 16
r:+0.79 26.16 53.89 (27.73)
1:21.85 (27.96) 1:50.24 (28.39)
2:18.10 (27.86) 2:45.85 (27.75)
3:13.90 (28.05) 3:42.28 (28.38)
4:10.56 (28.28) 4:38.46 (27.90)
4 Miller, Hayden 17 Cypress Fairbank 4:40.95 4:41.42 15
r:+0.81 25.86 53.58 (27.72)
1:21.78 (28.20) 1:50.43 (28.65)
2:19.03 (28.60) 2:47.47 (28.44)
3:16.05 (28.58) 3:44.46 (28.41)
4:13.02 (28.56) 4:41.42 (28.40)
5 Cox, Jillian 16 Una TXLA-ST 4:42.34 4:43.64 14
r:+0.70 25.53 53.05 (27.52)
1:21.22 (28.17) 1:49.86 (28.64)
2:18.53 (28.67) 2:47.26 (28.73)
3:16.62 (29.36) 3:45.98 (29.36)
4:15.36 (29.38) 4:43.64 (28.28)
6 Clift, Elise 15 Mansfield Aquati 4:45.68 4:45.42 13
r:+0.71 26.37 54.48 (28.11)
1:22.75 (28.27) 1:51.76 (29.01)
2:20.65 (28.89) 2:49.94 (29.29)
3:19.13 (29.19) 3:48.41 (29.28)
4:17.27 (28.86) 4:45.42 (28.15)
7 Kuwata, Paige 17 Sandpipers Of Ne 4:47.30 4:46.14 12
r:+0.66 26.27 54.19 (27.92)
1:22.68 (28.49) 1:51.36 (28.68)
2:20.26 (28.90) 2:49.36 (29.10)
3:18.65 (29.29) 3:48.09 (29.44)
4:17.47 (29.38) 4:46.14 (28.67)
8 Hazle, Kathryn 17 North Coast Aqua 4:47.82 4:46.87 11
r:+0.73 26.33 54.80 (28.47)
1:23.65 (28.85) 1:53.05 (29.40)
2:22.63 (29.58) 2:51.69 (29.06)
3:20.72 (29.03) 3:49.81 (29.09)
4:18.68 (28.87) 4:46.87 (28.19)
A National Age Group record nearly went down in the women’s 200 IM as Fox Valley’s Leah Hayes crushed a 1:54.09. Sims and Grimes actually competed returned to the pool to compete in the 200 IM, and Sims had the lead at the halfway point, 52.96 to 53.30, but Hayes crushed the field with a 33.66 breaststroke leg. She then finished strong and touched in 1:54.09. That just missed the National Age Group record of 1:54.02 set by Alex Walsh, now the Olympic silver medalist in the long course 200-meter IM, in 2017.
Hayes moved to third all-time among 15-16 girls behind Walsh and Dagny Knutson, while Sims finished second in 1:54.90 for eighth all-time in the age group. Third went to Irvine Novaquatics’ Teagan O’Dell in 1:56.11, not far ahead of Justina Kozan (1:56.44) and Grimes (1:56.67).
1 Hayes, Leah 16 Fox Valley Park- 1:56.39 1:54.09* 20
r:+0.79 25.05 53.30 (28.25)
1:26.96 (33.66) 1:54.09 (27.13)
2 Sims, Bella 16 Sandpipers Of Ne 1:56.94 1:54.90 17
r:+0.60 24.66 52.92 (28.26)
1:28.02 (35.10) 1:54.90 (26.88)
3 O'Dell, Teagan 15 Irvine Novaquati 1:56.88 1:56.11 16
r:+0.78 25.22 53.60 (28.38)
1:28.43 (34.83) 1:56.11 (27.68)
4 Kozan, Justina 17 Una SET-CA 1:58.50 1:56.44 15
r:+0.71 25.35 55.17 (29.82)
1:29.77 (34.60) 1:56.44 (26.67)
5 Grimes, Katie 15 Sandpipers Of Ne 1:57.97 1:56.67 14
r:+0.63 25.48 53.71 (28.23)
1:29.48 (35.77) 1:56.67 (27.19)
6 Noble, Kennedy 17 Phoenix Swim Clu 1:58.06 1:57.72 13
r:+0.69 25.60 54.63 (29.03)
1:29.62 (34.99) 1:57.72 (28.10)
7 Bell, Lucy 17 Fort Collins Are 1:57.65 1:58.34 12
r:+0.68 25.64 55.66 (30.02)
1:30.58 (34.92) 1:58.34 (27.76)
8 Enge, Piper 15 Bellevue Club Sw 1:59.35 1:58.44 11
r:+0.62 25.52 56.10 (30.58)
1:29.80 (33.70) 1:58.44 (28.64)
North Texas Nadadores’ Maximus Williamson dominated the men’s 200 IM by two seconds, finishing in 1:43.16. He, too, just missed a National Age Group record, as he was four tenths off Michael Andrew’s mark of 1:43.16 from 2015. Inspire’s Nate Germonprez finished second in 1:45.18, and Kyle Brill took third in 1:45.89.
1 Williamson, Maximus 15 North Texas Nada 1:44.75 1:43.16 20
r:+0.70 22.75 47.89 (25.14)
1:18.76 (30.87) 1:43.16 (24.40)
2 Germonprez, Nate 17 iNspire Swim Tea 1:45.94 1:45.18 17
r:+0.71 22.52 48.18 (25.66)
1:19.23 (31.05) 1:45.18 (25.95)
3 Brill, Kyle 18 Una CANY-CA 1:46.40 1:45.89 16
r:+0.74 23.57 49.60 (26.03)
1:19.71 (30.11) 1:45.89 (26.18)
4 Brown, Logan 16 First Colony Swi 1:46.94 1:46.42 15
r:+0.66 23.02 50.06 (27.04)
1:20.51 (30.45) 1:46.42 (25.91)
5 Smith, Holden 18 Una SET-CA 1:47.04 1:46.43 14
r:+0.63 22.30 48.74 (26.44)
1:20.12 (31.38) 1:46.43 (26.31)
6 Tan, Zachary 18 DART Swimming-SN 1:46.77 1:46.78 13
r:+0.68 22.66 49.80 (27.14)
1:20.58 (30.78) 1:46.78 (26.20)
7 Simons, Nick 17 Lake Oswego Swim 1:47.21 1:47.85 12
r:+0.67 22.74 49.33 (26.59)
1:21.37 (32.04) 1:47.85 (26.48)
8 Kleinman, Max 17 Swim Neptune-AZ 1:47.27 1:49.38 11
r:+0.72 22.57 49.34 (26.77)
1:22.15 (32.81) 1:49.38 (27.23)
Pikes Peak’s Quintin McCarthy won the men’s 50 free in 19.35, while Bend Swim Club’s Diggory Dillingham was second in 19.52. Third place went to Coronado Swim Association’s Lucius Brown in 19.82 as seven of the eight swimmers in the final broke 20 seconds.
1 McCarty, Quintin 18 Pikes Peak Athle 19.66 19.35 20
r:+0.69
2 Dillingham, Diggory 16 Bend Swim Club-O 19.83 19.52 17
r:+0.69
3 Brown, Lucius 17 Coronado Swim As 20.00 19.82 16
r:+0.57
4 McMahon, Alex 18 Aquawolves Swimm 19.93 19.84 15
r:+0.67
5 Elliott, Matthew 16 Quicksilver Swim 20.19 19.89 14
r:+0.68
6 Scholl, Ben 16 Cypress Fairbank 20.02 19.92 13
r:+0.62
7 Bork, Samuel 17 Mid Wisconsin Wa 20.14 19.95 12
r:+0.62
8 Anderson, Eric 18 Una NLSA-ND 20.09 20.03 11
r:+0.64
The men’s 500 free came down to the wire as Rose Bowl Aquatics’ Rex Maurer used a huge comeback to overtake swim Neptune’s Keaton Jones. Jones led by almost two seconds after 200 yards before Maurer finished fast and touched the wall first, 4:15.40 to 4:15.54. FAST Swim Team’s Matthew Chai finished third in 4:17.05.
1 Maurer, Rex 17 Rose Bowl Aquati 4:19.40 4:15.40 20
r:+0.73 23.17 48.52 (25.35)
1:14.34 (25.82) 1:40.39 (26.05)
2:06.55 (26.16) 2:32.54 (25.99)
2:58.62 (26.08) 3:24.80 (26.18)
3:50.56 (25.76) 4:15.40 (24.84)
2 Jones, Keaton 17 Swim Neptune-AZ 4:22.21 4:15.54 17
r:+0.80 22.83 47.55 (24.72)
1:12.82 (25.27) 1:38.50 (25.68)
2:04.64 (26.14) 2:31.06 (26.42)
2:57.85 (26.79) 3:24.48 (26.63)
3:50.72 (26.24) 4:15.54 (24.82)
3 Chai, Matthew 18 FAST Swim Team-C 4:18.42 4:17.05 16
r:+0.84 23.73 49.23 (25.50)
1:15.04 (25.81) 1:41.13 (26.09)
2:07.43 (26.30) 2:33.60 (26.17)
2:59.84 (26.24) 3:25.96 (26.12)
3:52.00 (26.04) 4:17.05 (25.05)
4 Lucas, Cooper 16 Lakeside Aquatic 4:20.60 4:18.65 15
r:+0.69 23.00 48.66 (25.66)
1:14.51 (25.85) 1:40.54 (26.03)
2:06.65 (26.11) 2:33.18 (26.53)
2:59.55 (26.37) 3:26.10 (26.55)
3:52.55 (26.45) 4:18.65 (26.10)
5 Enyeart, Alec 17 Tsunami Swim Tea 4:21.55 4:20.49 14
r:+0.77 23.37 48.74 (25.37)
1:14.65 (25.91) 1:40.80 (26.15)
2:07.17 (26.37) 2:33.77 (26.60)
3:00.54 (26.77) 3:27.54 (27.00)
3:54.54 (27.00) 4:20.49 (25.95)
6 Barrieault, Brice 17 Sandpipers Of Ne 4:24.28 4:24.45 13
r:+0.63 23.77 49.83 (26.06)
1:16.24 (26.41) 1:43.27 (27.03)
2:10.26 (26.99) 2:36.97 (26.71)
3:03.95 (26.98) 3:31.44 (27.49)
3:58.75 (27.31) 4:24.45 (25.70)
7 Armstrong, Truman 17 Una TXLA-ST 4:24.72 4:25.53 12
r:+0.76 23.75 49.47 (25.72)
1:16.09 (26.62) 1:43.40 (27.31)
2:10.86 (27.46) 2:37.94 (27.08)
3:04.94 (27.00) 3:32.01 (27.07)
3:58.81 (26.80) 4:25.53 (26.72)
8 Aistars, Anders 17 Irvine Novaquati 4:24.48 4:26.07 11
r:+0.69 23.58 49.04 (25.46)
1:15.09 (26.05) 1:41.56 (26.47)
2:08.58 (27.02) 2:35.97 (27.39)
3:03.35 (27.38) 3:31.20 (27.85)
3:58.71 (27.51) 4:26.07 (27.36)
Foxjets’ Carolina Larsen won the women’s 50 free in 22.50, while DART’s Charlotte Rosendale and Springfield’s Causandra Moses tied for second in 22.64.
1 Larsen, Caroline 15 Foxjets Swim Tea 22.69 22.50 20
r:+0.71
2 Rosendale, Charlotte 17 DART Swimming-SN 22.85 22.64 16.5
r:+0.66
2 Moses, Casaundra 18 Springfield Aqua 22.48 22.64 16.5
r:+0.65
4 Donald, Meghan 17 Ames Cyclone Aqu 22.75 22.74 15
r:+0.66
5 Brakebill, Sydney 17 North Bay Aquati 22.67 22.80 14
r:+0.61
6 Yu, Audrey 17 Sandpipers Of Ne 22.89 22.86 13
r:+0.68
7 Driscoll, Tyler 16 Flying Fish Ariz 22.85 22.89 12
r:+0.68
8 Kern, Emma 16 Aquajets Swim Te 22.86 23.03 11
r:+0.57
