Daniel Diehl, Anna Moesch to Highlight YMCA Long Course Nationals in Greensboro
For the first time since 2019, the top YMCA swim teams in the country will meet for a long course national championships. After the meet was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021, the five-day YMCA Long Course Nationals will be held in Greensboro from July 19 to July 23. Highlighting this meet will be 16-year-old Daniel Diehl of Cumberland YMCA in Maryland, while Anna Moesch of Greater Somerset YMCA, the team that captured the title at the Short Course YMCA Nationals this spring, will be the top swimmer to watch in the women’s competition.
Diehl, 16, was a finalist in the 100 backstroke at the U.S. International Team Trials in April. He has been as fast as 53.59 in the event, and he broke the 15-16 National Age Group record earlier this year, a mark previously belonging to Ryan Murphy. Diehl was also a B-finalist in the 200 back and C-finalist in the 50 freestyle at Trials, and this week in Greensboro, he will be the top seed in all five of his events, with the 100 and 200 free on his slate along with all three backstroke events.
Moesch, the winner of the 50, 100 and 200 free at the short course meet, is the top seed in the 50, 100, 200 and 400 free and 400 IM, and she is also entered in the 200 IM (seeded second) and 100 back (seeded fourth). The 16-year-old was 11th in the 100 free and 12th in the 50 free at the International Team Trials in April, and she has been as fast as 54.84 in the 100 free and 25.29 in the 50 free. Emily Thompson, Moesch’s Greater Somerset teammate, could rack up wins as well as she enters with the top time in the 100 back, 200 fly and 200 IM along with second-place times in the 200 back and 100 fly.
Notably, 15-year-old Thomas Heilman, who won four individual titles at the short course meet for Piedmont YMCA, will not be in attendance at the long course event.
The full psych sheet for the meet is available here, and full meet information can be accessed here.