By Kevin Donnelly, Swimming World College Intern.
Action continued today at the 2018 Cary Futures Championships, with the women’s and men’s 200 free, 100 breast, 100 fly, 400 IM, and 400 free relays. Lots of incredible time drops and gutsy swims lit up the pool in Cary tonight.
Women’s 200 Free
Addison Smith of the Baylor Swim Club came into the meet with the top seed time of 2:03.87 and rode the momentum she gained from yesterday’s victory in the 800 free right to the top of the podium again, with a new best time of 2:02.76. Smith took the race out strong but smart, swimming a 1:00.33 over the first 100 meters, followed by a 1:02.43 on the second 100.
Abigail Pilkenton of Dynamo Swim Club claimed second place, dropping from her seed time of 2:04.30 all the way to a 2:03.01 to claim a new Summer Junior Nationals time standard. Pilkenton held a slight lead at the 100 mark (1:00.23) but got caught over the final 50 meters, settling for second.
The Marlins Of Raleigh took third and fourth, with Madison Duracinsky claiming the third spot with her first-ever Summer Junior Nationals time standard in a time of 2:03.65. Duracinsky entered the meet with a best time of 2:06.84, and dropped that more than three seconds over the course of the day. MOR’s Adrianna Cera took fourth, with a new Winter Junior Nationals time standard of 2:05.02.
Men’s 200 Free
Matthew Nutter of the Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team entered the meet as the second seed with a 1:53.34, but busted through that time by over a second with his final time of 1:52.18. Nutter stayed up in a tight race at the 100 mark (he was third at 54.94), but split 28.78/28.46 over the final 100 meters to close down and win the heat by over a second.
John Vandeusen of the Bolles School Sharks took second, finishing with a time of 1:53.26. Vandeusen entered the day with a best time of 1:55.57, so a big two-second drop for the 16-year-old brought him down all the way to second overall. Tate Callahan of North Florida Swimming was third, at 1:53.83, narrowly off his prelims time of 1:53.66.
Women’s 100 Breast
14-year-old Alicia Henry of the Dynamo Swim Club entered the day as the fifth seed, at 1:12.84, and after 50 meters of the women’s 100 breast was running in fifth place, at 34.99. But Henry was able to close down the field in style, splitting an incredibly fast 36.46 over the last 50 meters – over 1.3 seconds faster than the next-closest last 50 – to finish victorious in a time of 1:11.45.
Cecilia Porter of the Baylor Swim Club took second, dropping from her seed time of 1:11.78 with a final time of 1:11.47. Erin Szara of South Lyon Aquatics took third, joining Henry and Porter under the 1:12 barrier with a time of 1:11.92.
Men’s 100 Breast
Jacob Rauch of Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg took authority of the men’s 100 breast immediately, splitting 30.07 over the first 50 meters and closing with a 34.11 to come in with a new personal-best time of 1:04.18. Rauch entered the day with a best time of 1:04.41.
Rauch won the race by nearly eight tenths of a second, with Jacob Queen of Catawba Valley Aquatic Club touching second at 1:04.97. Queen had the fastest second 50 in the field, at 33.83, after going out to the 50 wall in seventh. Ryaan Hatoum of the Berkeley Barracudas took third, dropping nearly two seconds from his entry time of 1:07.14 down to a best time of 1:05.21.
Women’s 100 Fly
Madison Cummings of East Coast Aquatic Club entered as the second seed in the women’s 100 fly, but blasted her way out to the early lead at 28.40 and never looked back, finishing with a 32.99 to swim a best time of 1:01.39. Cummings outpaced her old best time of 1:01.84 by nearly a half a second.
Addison Smith of the Baylor Swim Club returned to the pool after her victory in the 200 free to claim second in the 100 fly, narrowly missing her best time of 1:01.90 with a time of 1:02.01. Katie Mitchell, swimming unattached for the Marlins Of Raleigh, dropped over a second on the day down to her first-ever Winter Senior Nationals and Summer Junior Nationals time standard with a time of 1:02.08.
Picking up fourth place overall was 13-year-old Athena Meneses Kovacs of Eagle Aquatics. Kovacs entered the meet with the top seed time of 1:01.61, and finished with a strong time of 1:02.62.
Men’s 100 Fly
After some complications that included a re-swim, Dynamo Swim Club fought through with a 1-2 punch in the men’s 100 fly. Campbell Auerbach and Kamal Muhammad took first and second for Dynamo, swimming times of 55.02 and 55.46, respectively. Auerbach was just off his seed time of 54.74 in his victory; Muhammad busted through his seed of 56.45 all the way down to 55.46.
Ryan Pilkington, swimming unattached, dipped under 56 seconds for the first time with his effort of 55.65. Wen Zhang of the Dothan Dolphins and William Watson of Star Aquatics picked up their first-ever Summer Junior Nationals time standards, swimming times of 55.95 and 56.34, respectively, to claim fourth and fifth.
Women’s 400 IM
Alixandra Roy of Highlander Aquatic Club swam a smart, conservative race the first 200 meters, and blasted by the field over the final 200 to claim victory in the women’s 400 IM with a time of 4:54.34. Roy entered the day with a best time of 4:56.50. Roy’s 100 splits were 1:07.04 for fly, 1:16.68 for back, 1:25.93 for breast, and 1:04.69 for free; the freestyle split was the fastest in the field by well over a second.
Brooke Zettel of the TAC Titans took authority and held a strong lead over 1.5 seconds at the 300 turn, but was outsplit by over three seconds over the final 100 meters by Roy to finish second. Zettel finished with a best time of 4:56.06, under her seed time of 4:56.32.
Keri Golden, one of three Team Greenville swimmers in the A final (joined by teammates Audra McSharry and Cara Bognar), took third with a 4:57.57, a two-second drop from her seed time of 4:59.44.
Men’s 400 IM
John Vandeusen of the Bolles School Sharks, coming off his second-place finish in the 200 free, returned to the pool and lit the entire heat up in the men’s 400 IM, claiming victory with a six-second drop down to a 4:27.19. Vandeusen split 59.73/1:09.95/1:18.11/59.40 to win the heat by nearly two seconds. His best time entering the meet was a 4:33.86.
Tyler Watson of North Florida Swimming took second, dipping under 4:30 for the second time (his prelims time was also under 4:30) with a final time of 4:28.93. Scott Piper of Mid-Michigan Aquatics claimed third, at 4:33.31.
Women’s 400 Free Relay
SwimMAC Carolina fought with neighboring rivals Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg in the women’s 400 free relay, with SwimMAC taking first with a final time of 3:53.18 to ATOM’s 3:53.45. Janie Smith led SwimMAC off in 58.02, followed by Allyson Accordino (58.95), Sophie Francis (58.46), and Chloe Harris (57.75). Harris’s split time was the third-fastest in the field.
Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg settled for second. Eliza Whitmire (58.42) and Ellie Marquardt (58.54) led ATOM through the first 200. Katie Rauch had the second-fastest overall split in the field, at 57.63, and Anneliese Hohm anchored them home in a 58.86.
Cardinal Aquatics took third overall, with a final time of 3:54.32. Anchor leg Ella Welch had the fastest overall split in the field, coming home with a 57.65 for her team.
Men’s 400 Free Relay
In a rematch from last night’s 800 free relay, Dynamo Swim Club and the TAC Titans fought a close battle with one another for victory in the men’s 400 free relay. This time, however, Dynamo was victorious, swimming a 3:29.11 to outpace TAC’s 3:30.70.
Dynamo was led out by Kamal Muhammad, fresh off his re-swim of the 100 fly, in a 52.44. Jonathan Vater (52.79) and Campbell Auerbach (51.56) gave Dynamo a little less than a one-second lead over TAC at the 300 wall (2:36.79 to 2:37.67). Brooks Curry anchored Dynamo home with a time of 52.32 to give his team the win.
TAC was led off by Kevin Plewniak, who achieved his first-ever Summer Junior Nationals time standard with his effort of 51.80, the fastest lead-off split in the field. Davis Payne also split under 52 seconds for TAC, swimming the third leg in a 51.86.
The fastest split in the field, however, belonged to 200 free champ Matthew Nutter of Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team. Nutter anchored Sarasota home with an extremely fast 50.78, giving his team third place overall with a time of 3:31.76.
Team Scores
Through two nights of finals sessions at Cary Futures, Dynamo Swim Club has broken out to a solid lead, at 396 points. The Marlins Of Raleigh are sitting in second, at 297 points, with Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg in third at 227 points. TAC Titans (198) and SwimMAC Carolina (195) have a bit of a battle emerging between one another for fourth and fifth.
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