Thomas Heilman Lowers His 200 IM NAG, Ties 50 Free Mark at Speedo East Winter Juniors
Thomas Heilmann lowered his 15-16-year-old national age-group record in the 200 individual medley and tied Michael Andrew’s mark in the 50 freestyle at the Speedo East Winter Junior Championships Thursday night.
Heilman dominated the field in the 200 IM, winning in 1:41.41. That clips a clean three tenths off his record from last year. It also brings him within .02 of the 17-18 NAG record, held since 2011 by David Nolan at 1:41.39.
Charlotte Crush finished the night by taking down the 100 backstroke NAG in 15-16 leading off Lakeside’s 400 medley relay.
- Speedo East Winter Juniors Results
- Winter Junior Nationals: Thomas Heilman, Maximus Williamson Put on 200 Free Show at Separate Sites, Both Set NAG Records
Heilman came back the next event to finish second in the 50 free. His time of 19.24 is level with Andrew’s best time from 2015. That’s a fourth NAG record for Heilman, to go with the 100 fly and 200 fly (notwithstanding his brief possession of the 200 free mark a night ago.) He also split 44.20 in fly on Cavalier Aquatics’ winning 400 medley relay.
Carmel’s Gregg Enoch won the 500 free on the boys side, in a time of 4:14.36. Luke Whitlock was second in 4:15.76 with David King third.
The win in the 50 free went to Lucca Battaglini, the 18-year-old from East Carolina Aquatics clocking in at 19.06. Devin Digler finished third in 19.69, one of six swimmers – including B final winner Johnny Crush – to break 20 seconds.
Behind Heilman in the IM was Drew Hitchcock, who took second place in 1:43.48 for Baylor Swim Club. Another Baylor, Baylor Stanton of Gwinnett Aquatic, was third in 1:44.04, edging Thomas Mercer by .01. Enoch finished fifth in an impressive double.
Carmel showed its depth in the 500 free on the girls side, with five A finalists. Kayla Han got the win in 4:38.12, the 15-year-old followed by Lynsey Bowen, just 16. Bowen went 4:39.51. That speed dropped Alex Shackell, who had been the second seed out of prelims, to fourth, though she sped up by more than two seconds from the morning to 4:40.16. In between was Florida Gator Swim Club’s Lillie Nesty in 4:39.55.
Molly Sweeney put a brief scare into Teagan O’Dell’s 15-16 NAG in the 200 IM, but it survived with just over a second to spare. Carmel’s Sweeney won the event in 1:54.58, more than 1.5 seconds clear of the field. Katie Christopherson of SwimAtlanta was second in 1:56.27, followed by Emily Thompson.
In fourth place was Audrey Derivaux, a 14-year-old from Jersey Wahoos. Her time of 1:56.73 buzzed within .53 seconds of Alex Walsh’s 13-14 NAG.
Julie Mishler of Fishers Area Swim Club won the 50 free in 21.87. That just edged out Katie Belle Sikes of East Carolina Aquatics, who went 21.95. Third was Lily Christianson of Irish Aquatics, though B final winner Charlotte Crush was quicker in 22.02.
Fourth place went to Tennessee-bound Jillian Crooks, while Nesty finished eighth, with a best time of 22.46 from the morning.
Carmel’s girls lowered the meet record in the 400 medley relay, a sensational race with Lakeside in which Carmel won in 3:32.28, a margin of 05 seconds. Both teams were more than a second under Carmel’s record time of 3:33.48 from a year ago.
Ellie Clarke, Sweeney, Shackell and Han comprised the relay. Lakeside’s Crush, Georgia Kahler, Sydney Brager and Haley McDonald were second. Sweeney went 59.92 on the breaststroke leg (Elle Scott of SwimMac also broke a minute for the third-place finisher). Shackell split 49.25 on fly, and McDonald nearly rallied Lakeside back into it with a 47.83 off the end.
But the standout swim was Crush, who went 49.53 off the front. That’s the first sub-50 swim for a 15-16 American girl, routing the time of 50.03 that Claire Curzan set in 2021.
Heilman helped Cavalier set a meet record in the 400 medley relay. They skipped 3:09 altogether, going from Rose Bowl Aquatics’ 2022 time of 3:10.77 to 3:08.95. King led off in 46.9, followed by Max Moore, Heilman and Will Brown. Lakeside finished second, with Johnny Crush leading off in 45.76 and Alex Thiesing coming home in 43.12. They clocked in at 3:10.88. Wilson York, just 14, swam 55.11 on the breaststroke leg.