By Claire Russell, a Swimming World College Intern.
Two of the most competitive LSCs joined forces recently to host the first ever “Duel in the Pool”: a meet that brings together the top age group swimmers from two rival states to compete. The athletes can represent their home states rather than their respective club teams. This long course meet was modeled after the USA Swimming Mutual Omaha’s Duel in the pool events.
Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @INSwimming
The Format
Age group swimmers from Illinois and Indiana ranging in age from 11 to 16 struck the water at IUPUI on May 11 and 12 ready to compete. The 24 swimmers on each team – 12 females and 12 males – were carefully selected by the team coaches as the dominant swimmers to represent their state. Illinois and Indiana have been home to some impressive Olympians such as Lily King, Olivia Smoliga, Matt Grevers, and Kevin Cordes. These opposing state teams include top nationally ranked swimmers in their respective age group, making this meet highly competitive.
The Results
Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @INSwimming
The Duel kicked off Saturday morning with the 400 IM. Angela Coe from Illinois won the 13-14 400 IM by over five seconds with the time of 5:05.70. Illinois swept all six 200 freestyle relays that morning, demonstrating a dominance in freestyle events.
Later Saturday evening, Team Indiana brought the fire and won the gold in the 13-14 Mixed 200 Medley relay. Illinois finished first in the 11-12 and 15-16 mixed 200 medley relays.
Sunday morning, Illinois continued to prevail with the medley relays, taking first in four of the six that day. Indiana men triumphed in the 13-14 and 15-16 200 medley relays.
The final score of the first Age Group Duel in the Pool was Team Illinois with 745.5 points and Team Indiana with a close 626.5 points. Both teams had numerous strong swims. The top scorers that led to Illinois’ victory were Sophia Szymanski, Renee Tan, and Nina Mollin. For the men, Jaden Heinlein, Jaeddan Gamilla, and Rex Maurer were the standouts. Illinois also won 12 out of the 15 relays, which proved to be key in their overall win.
Indiana had a few key scorers on the men’s side that heavily impacted their team score. Alejandro Kincaid made the largest impact by winning the 100 backstroke and 200 butterfly. He was also a part of the Mixed 13-14 200 Medley relay and the Men’s 13-14 200 Medley Relay. Brandy Beyer and Seth Cannon also contributed high point totals that help contribute to Team Indiana. On the women’s side, Mary Pruitt and Josephine Ramey scored the highest points.
The Takeaway
Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @INSwimming
However, this meet’s sole purpose was not just another opportunity for the fastest kids in the state to compete against one another. Duel In The Pool provides a chance for star swimmers to be part of something unique and possibly more meaningful. The head coach of Team Illinois and Co-Head Coach of the St. Charles swim team, Jon Cabel, confirmed the meet was an overall success. He states:
“The interaction of the athletes in and out of the pool was positive. Illinois Swimming made the focus of the meet about getting a hand on the wall before the competition and not about achieving best times. This was fun for the younger swimmers not yet competing in high school swimming. Our athletes are still talking about the meet.”
The coaching staff and environment of the meet are setting up rising stars to perform at their highest potential. No goal is off the table, and anything is possible with hard work and confidence. This meet potentially included some of the future Lily Kings and Matt Grevers’ of the swimming world, and it definitely helped prepare these young swimmers for the increasingly competitive swimming landscape. The feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself and your home team is an invaluable part of USA Swimming.
-All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Sounds like a fun meet! Go Team Illinois!!
Was this long course or short course? I know the OG duel in the pool is SCM?
Wow some fast swimmers!
Fantastic article. It’s so cool that they get to swim together with other (usual) competitors to swim against another state. Love this!