Daniel Diehl Scares Peirsol’s 200 Back NAG Record at YMCA Nationals, Also Wins 200 Free
Over the last few months, Daniel Diehl has emerged as the country’s top teenage men’s backstroker. He broke Ryan Murphy’s National Age Group record in the 100 back this spring before qualifying for the final in the event at the U.S. International Team Trials, and he is showing improvement in the 200-meter distance as well.
At the YMCA Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., Diehl swam a mark of 1:57.62, crushing his previous lifetime best of 1:59.52 by almost two seconds. Representing Cumberland YMCA in Maryland, Diehl was out in 56.22 at the halfway point and 1:26.13 at the 150-meter mark before fading on the last 50, but he is getting closer to putting together the full four lengths for an elite performance. Diehl’s time was just a half-second off the 15-16 National Age Group record of 1:57.03 set by Aaron Peirsol in 2000, just six months before he won silver at the Sydney Olympics. Peirsol went on to win gold in the 200 back at the 2004 Olympics, and he still holds the world record. The only other 15-16 swimmer to ever swim faster than Diehl was Murphy, who also went on to become Olympic champion.
Diehl’s win in the 200 back was his second of the evening after he posted a time of 1:50.13 in the 200 freestyle, just one hundredth off his personal best, to win the event by more than three seconds. He also was victorious in the 100 free Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, Anna Moesch of Greater Somerset County YMCA continued her blistering meet with a win in the women’s 200 free. After posting a time of 54.34 in the 100 free and a 24.46 50 free relay split Tuesday evening, Moesch clocked 1:59.59 to win the 200 free Wednesday. She knocked more than 3.5 seconds off her best time. Moesch is primarily a sprint specialist, but when she represents the U.S. at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships next month, she has a very good chance at getting the call for relay action in the 800 free relay.
At the end of the session, Moesch anchored Greater Somerset to a win in the women’s 200 free relay. She entered the water in third place, but she split 24.76 to overtake Upper Main Line and Spartanburg and win by more than a second in 1:44.57. Emily Thompson, Caitlyn Hughes and Zoe Arakelian provided the first three legs of the winning relay.
Butler’s Giona Lavorini won the women’s 200 breaststroke in 2:40.31, while North Jersey’s Sarah Rodrigues recorded a mark of 2:14.95 to win the women’s 200 back. On the men’s side, Greater Monmouth’s Gregory Lin won the 200 breast (2:20.41), and in an extremely tight finish in the men’s 200 free relay, the Western Branch Team of Liam Simmons, Zachary Redding, Alek Elder and Tommy Janton got the win in 1:35.00. Ridley Area (1:35.05), Fanwood Scotch (1:35.10) and Greater Monmouth (1:35.14) all finished within two tenths of first place.