By Nick Pecoraro, College Swimming Intern.
The Rochester Futures Championship Series will take place August 2-5 in Rochester, MN. The meet features many young talents from 16 states in the central United States. Taking a peek at the psych sheet, this edition of the Futures meet reveals many battles amongst event titles, team titles, and even high point contenders. Here’s some battles to watch out for:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL PSYCH SHEET
Women’s Team: Cypress Fairbank Versus Splash Club
In the race for women’s team title, both Cypress Fairbanks and Splash Club have equal number of top eight appearances on the psych sheet. Both clubs also highlight different strengths.
| Women's Teams | Top 8 Seeds | Number 1 Seeds |
|---|---|---|
| Cypress Fairbanks | 8 | 4 |
| Splash Club | 8 | 2 |
Cypress Fairbanks’s Sydney Stanford is seen topping the 100 free and the 200 free while teammate Carson Kaufmann is number one in the 400 free and 800 free. On the other hand, Splash Club is seen at the top of the breaststroke events. Katherine Steward is seeded first in the 100 breast and teammate Haley Downey is first in the 200 breast.
While the Splash women only have two top seeds, both Steward and Downey are entered in four events each while Stanford and Kaufman only have three events each. Another note, both of the Cypress Fairbanks freestyle relays are also seeded number one. The Splash women are only seeded at 13th in the 400 free relay. Yet, the Splash women are seeded fifth in the 400 medley relay while the Cypress Fairbanks women are seeded sixth.
These two different yet equally strong clubs could present a thrilling four-day battle to top of the women’s team scores.
Men’s Team: Nitro Swimming Versus Central Iowa Aquatics
| Men's Teams | Top 8 Seeds | Number 1 Seeds |
|---|---|---|
| Nitro Swimming | 17 | 3 |
| Central Iowa Aquatics | 8 | 4 |
When looking at top eight appearances, Nitro Swimming shows double the count in comparison to Central Iowa Aquatics. When comparing relays, Nitro Swimming is seeded first in all three relays while Central Iowa Aquatics is second in the 400 free relay, sixth in the medley, and 12th in the 800 free relay (entered as a SCY time). While Nitro presents itself with more showings at the top, Central Iowa has strong swimmers to fight to the top.
Nitro’s Corby Furrer is entered in the 50 free, 100 free, and 400 free, showcasing his sprint and distance versatility. However, Central Iowa has two strong freestylers who could potentially top this deadly Nitro freestyler. Furrer has top seed in the 200 free with Central Iowa’s Trent Fandson seeded in third. Fandson’s distance free strength has him seeded number one in both the 800 free and 400 free. Fandson is seeded at 4:01.61 while Furrer is seeded three seconds behind at 4:04.60. Central Iowa’s Zach Linder is also top competitor in both the 50 and 100 free. Furrer is seeded third and fourth in the 50 and 100 free respectively.
While this battle does not appear particularly close, both men’s teams carry different strengths on their sides that could make this a close race in the end.
Women’s High Point: Downey Versus Theil Versus Pearson
These women are at an advantage in comparison to other strong competitors as they are featured with four scoring entries. With assumptions that top 16 score with points going 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and the women swim all their events, the race for high point could be nasty.
| Women's High Point | Number 1 Seeds | Other Top 16 Seeds | Potential Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haley Downey CFSC | 200 BR | 100 BR #2, 400 IM #2, 200 IM #4 | 69 |
| Caroline Theil GNST | 100 FL | 200 IM #2, 200 BR #6, 100 BR #7 | 62 |
| Josie Pearson UN | 400 IM, 200 FL, 200 IM | 100 BR #16 | 61 |
However, unattached Josie Pearson is at three number one seeds, potentially contending to sweep the medley events. If things go as planned, Pearson could become the silent knight and ghost out 20 points from Theil and Downey in the medley events.Both Splash’s Downey and Greater Nebraska’s Caroline Theil are presented with equally strong stroke diversities. While only seven points behind, Theil could be a really threat to steal points from Downey and the Splash women.
Men’s High Point: Furrer Versus Jones
On the men’s side, two different types of swimmers are put head to head to the race of men’s high point of the meet. Furrer’s freestyle array is put to the test against Cypress Fairbanks’s Elliot Jones with his backstroke and medley dominance. The same rule is applied with the top 16 scoring pattern and that the men do not scratch any finals.
Men's High Point Number 1 Seed Other Top 16 Seeds Potential Points
Corby Furrer NTRO 200 FR
400 FR #2, 50 FR #3, 100 FR #4
68
Elliot Jones CFSC 100 BK
400 IM #2, 200 BK #2, 200 IM #9
63
Although Jones is seeded only ninth in the 200 IM, his energy from his stronger three events should propel him to score top eight and close the gap from him and Furrer.
Clash for Men’s Backstroke Sweep: Jones Versus Cheng
Along with battle for high point, Jones is also put head-to-head for the title of sweeping the men’s backstroke events against Lakeside’s Stephen Cheng. Both Jones and Cheng occupy the top two spots in both backstroke events. Only two one-hundredths of a second separate the duo in both events. Jones is seeded first in the 100 back at 58.40 while Cheng is behind at 58.42. Cheng is also at first in the 200 back at 2:05.45, Jones is narrowly behind at 2:05.47.
With a race as close as it is in the psych sheet, Jones and Cheng could potentially fight in the highlight races of the meet.
Sprint Queen Face-Off: Doo VS Stanford
While Stanford is in the running with her fellow Cypress Fairbanks teammates for women’s title, she is also apart of another battle for a very prestigious title – Sprint Queen. Stanford and North Suburban’s Pyper Doo are found at the top of the psych sheets in the 50, 100, and 200 free. Stanford is found number one in the 200 free while Doo is number one in the 50 free. Both contenders are seeded out of the top eight in the opposite event.
However, the real showdown between Doo and Stanford will be the 100 free. Stanford is seeded first at 57.37, while Doo is followed closely behind at 57.89.
The first day of many battles at the Rochester Futures begins tomorrow at 4 pm CDT with the women’s 800 free, men’s 1500 free, and the 800 free relay.
