By Nick Pecoraro, Swimming World College Intern.
Dominance was the theme of day three of the Rochester Futures. Five swimmers won their second victories of the meet. These five swimmers’ performances moved them into contention for the individual high point awards. The swimmers and their respective winning events include:
- Haley Downey (Splash Club): 100 Breast, 200 Breast
- Charles Bennett (Power For Life): 100 Breast, 200 Breast
- Riley Tapley (Jeffco Hurricanes): 400 IM, 100 Back
- Ana Herceg (Nitro Swimming): 200 Free, 400 Free
- Trent Frandson (Central Iowa): 200 Free, 400 Free
Both the men of Lakeside Aquatics Club and the ladies of Jeffco Hurricanes maintain their lead for the team points standings with 280 points and 221.50 points, respectively.
Results can be found on Meet Mobile under “2018 USA Swimming Futures Championship RSC” or by clicking here to view full day three results.
Women’s 200 Fly
With six women almost dead even on the last turn, it was 14-year-old Addisyn Donfris of Barrington who broke from the crowd to win the 200 fly at 2:18.78.
Runner-up went to Highland Park’s Abigail Smith (2:20.00) and third place went to Riptide’s Lucia Rizzo (2:20.19).
Men’s 200 Fly
Majority of the championship finalists took the first 100 out in 1:00/1:01, however Lance Godard of Empire KC had the stronger second 100 to win at 2:06.05.
Lakeside’s Spencer Woodward (2:07.63) took second place and in third place went to another Empire KC swimmer, Harold Tjaden (2:07.95).
Women’s 50 Free
Carly Novelline of Nasa Wildcat won the women’s splash-and-dash with a time of 26.64. Coming in second was Sierra Smith of Life Time Minnesota at 26.79.
Coming in third was North Suburban’s Pyper Doo at 26.82. Just two one-hundredths behind Doo tying for fourth were High Tides’s Grace Hanson and Cypress Fairbanks’s Sydney Stanford, both clocking a 26.84.
Men’s 50 Free
In one of the tightest races so far this meet, only two one-hundredths separated the top three in the men’s 50 free. Taking the title was Club North’s Grant Sloan at 24.00.
Finishing off the tight top three were Alamo’s Aaron Bruns (24.01) and Cypress Fairbanks’s Alexander Ellison (24.02).
Women’s 200 Breast
Splash’s Downey took the win to sweep both breaststroke events at 2:35.01. Coming in second to complete a Splash Club 1-2 finish was teammate Katharine Steward at 2:35.58.
Rice’s Ella Flowers took third with a time of 2:37.97. Yesterday’s 100 fly champion Greater Nebraska’s Caroline Theil took fourth at 2:38.41.
Men’s 200 Breast
Taking another Power For Life 1-2 breaststroke sweep was Bennett (2:18.30) and teammate Jacob Shababerle (2:18.53), finishing five seconds ahead of the field. Rounding off the top three was Riptide’s Quenton Steffen (2:23.65).
Women’s 100 Back
Tapley of Jeffco Hurricanes took her second victory of the meet by winning the 100 back with a time of 1:04.77. Just four one-hundredths behind Tapley was Club Husker’s Jessica Pentlarge clocking in a 1:04.81. Capping off the top three was Empire KC’s Abigail Karl at 1:04.90.
Men’s 100 Back
With the entire championship final breaking one minute, Mansfield’s Eric Stelmar stood out to win with a time of 57.86. Just behind Stelmar was Cypress Fairbanks’s Elliott Jones at 57.92 and Highland Park’s Andrew Vorobev at 58.71.
Women’s 400 Free
Also taking her second victory of the meet was Nitro’s Herceg, finishing by a two second margin at 4:20.10. Unattached Christine Blomquist finished in second at 4:22.23. Rounding out the top three was Cypress Fairbanks’s Carson Kaufmann at 4:24.71.
Taking fourth was 12-year-old Leah Hayes of Fox Valley with a personal best of 4:24.80. This time bumped Hayes from 35th to 14th all-time in the girls 11-12 LCM 400 free nationally.
Men’s 400 Free
Frandson of Central Iowa swam his most dominating race of the meet so far by not only winning by seven seconds but also breaking four minutes with a time of 3:58.41.
The race for second was on as Magnolia’s Tobin Hickman-Chow took runner-up with a time of 4:05.85. Topping off the top three was American Energy’s Hunter Denison at 4:06.70.
The dominating swims pick up tomorrow for the last day of the Rochester Futures featuring the 100 Free, Men’s 800 Free, 200 Back, Women’s 1500 Free, 200 IM, and the 400 Medley Relay.
Tatjana Ujcic Herceg Boris Herceg
Thanks, Mario Ribeiro! Or should I say Rye-beer-o, like that announcer…;)
Boris Herceg I.K.R!! He always pauses at the last name and has pronounced it 7 different ways in 4 days!