Kate Douglass Blasts 21.67 50 Free on Day Three of 2019 Ithaca Speedo Sectionals

Editorial Content for Speedo Sectional Series is sponsored by Speedo. Visit Speedo Today

Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club’s Kate Douglass moved from seventh to third on the the USA Swimming All-Time Top 100 Rankings in the 50 Freestyle on the third night of competition at the 2019 Ithaca Speedo Sectionals. She also broke the meet record previously held by Jenny Thompson since 2003.

Her time of 21.67 is now only behind Abbey Weitzeil (21.49) and Simone Manuel (21.32) in the 17-18 Rankings. With still a year to go in this age bracket, Douglass would have also earned a spot in the coveted A final at last week’s Division I NCAA Championships with this swim.

Teammate Maxine Parker had a great swim of her own, coming in second at 22.20. The time moved her up from thirty-first to tied for eleventh in the All-Time 15-16 rankings. Bridget Semenuk helped complete the CP-AC sweep in 22.57.

Other top competitors in the event were Annaliesa Moesch (STAC-23.11), Isabella Fountain (COND-23.23), Alexandra Stevens (MCSC-23.61), Caroline Mahoney (CMA-23.67) and Charlotte Proceller (WEST-23.73).

Semenuk also picked up a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM (4:26.09). She was preceded by New York Sharks’ Jessica Pyrne (4:20.50), Three Village’s Kyra Sommerstad (4:20.76) and Crimson’s Victoria Ambrose (4:24.49). Three Village and Crimson both had two swimmers in the top eight with effort from Riley Gavigan (4:26.44) and Alexandra Robertson (4:27.32). SCHE’s Isabel Bushway (4:26.79) and GRIT’s Tylor Mathieu (4:28.06) took sixth and eighth, respectively.

Gavigan also had multiple top finishes with her 2:17.27 in the 200 Breaststroke for fourth. The event was led by Asphalt Green’s Sophia Zhang, who swept the breaststroke events with her 2:12.88. Three Village’s Angelina Harris took second in 2:15.61 with Weston’s Samantha Kim right behind in 2:16.50.

Rounding out the heat were Isabella Gary (WEST-2:17.55), Gillian Burch (ALBS-2:19.37), Kaitlyn Holmes (CPAC-2:20.13) and Jessica Whang (2:20.44).

In the 200 Butterfly, LIE’s Morgan Rinn dipped under the two-minute mark at 1:59.14 for the win. Laguardia’s Vanessa Chong went under the barrier for the first time with a 1:59.96. 15-year-old Joy Jiang of the New York Sharks was third in 2:00.94 and was followed by WAC’s Sierra Cripps (2:01.24), Kingfish’s Katherine Connolly (2:01.60), CAC’s Nell Chidley (2:01.94), CPAC’s Siera Daly (2:02.11) and Crimson’s Anna Feng (2:02.69).

The ladies also raced the 1000 Freestyle on night three. Mathieu (9:58.21) and Connors (10:02.09) both posted lifetime bests to finish third and fourth. The event was won by CP-AC’s Elizabeth Boeckman in 9:53.78. LIE’s Mary McKenna was second in 9:55.95.

Douglass, Semenuk, Sophia Moore and Kelly Dolce also combined for CP-AC for a new Eastern Zone Sectional Record in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Douglass led off in a personal best 47.98, while Dolce also posted a quick split of 50.45. Their overall time was 3:22.02.

The men’s 50 Freestyle was the race of the night as only one-one-hundredth of a second separated the top two finishers. HAWK’s Leo Kuyl had the edge over WAC’s Arsenio Bustos 20.58 to 20.59. Laguardia’s Andy Lee was also in the mix at 20.85.

WAC teammate Thomas Milnar was fourth in 21.04 and was followed by New York Sharks’ Timothy Park (21.07), Queens’ Sandon Karinsky (21.21), ALBS’ Bryan Liu (21.25) and CAC’s John Marcolina (21.32).

Unlike the 50, WCS’ Nicholas Vance dominated the 400 IM final by eight seconds. His overall time was 3:48.67, ahead of New York Sharks’ Matthew Styczen in 3:56.85 and UVAC’s Jack Wadsworth in 3:56.99. Eight different teams were represented in the final with efforts from Justin Whang (LIE-4:00.01), Mcallistar Milne (GRIT-4:01.87), James Plage (BEAR-4:02.14), Connor Hunt (RAC-4:02.29) and Benjamin Ludlow (MERC-4:04.24).

Park (1:50.11), Ludlow (1:50.74) and Hunt (1:51.02) also placed second, fifth and seventh, respectively in the 200 Butterfly. The race was won by CP-AC’s Tyler Sicignano in a quick 1:46.70. His teammate Connor Martin was third in 1:50.36. CJAC’s Patrick Idank was fourth in 1:50.47 while Three Village’s Jake Vecchio (1:50.81) and Shoonhsin Li (1:53.46) were sixth and eighth.

Bustos (2:00.51) and Lee (2:00.80) also placed second and third in the 200 Breaststroke. They were out-touched by CP-AC’s Connor Morikawa in 2:00.03. Lee’s Laguardia teammate Xiao Lin was fourth in 2:02.15. Freedom’s Oleksandr Bezuglyy was fifth in 2:02.71 and was followed by Henry Shemet (Three Village-2:06.11), Michael Krigeris (2:06.12) and Jakob Kaminsky (2:07.91).

The WAC team of Milnar, Bustos, Jack Crocamo and Edward Platonov took the 400 Freestyle Relay title in 3:03.78. Bustos led the splitting with his 44.21 anchor leg.

Heat sheets for the final day of competition are available here. Results can be found on Meet Mobile: 2019 EZ North Speedo Short Course Sectionals.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use