13-Year-Old Charlotte Crush Posts 1:57.71 200 Fly, 20th All-Time for 13-14

2022 SOUTHERN PREMIER MEET

• March 4-6, 2022
• Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, University of Tennessee
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

13-year-old Charlotte Crush posted another strong day of performances at the Southern Premier Meet, demolishing her best time in the 200 butterfly. 

Entering the meet, Crush held a best time of 2:00.74. The phenom from Lakeside Swim Club immediately lowered that in prelims, posting a 2:00.43 to take the second seed for finals. In finals, Crush slashed over 3 seconds off of that time, dropping a time of 1:57.71 to place second. 

With her performance, Crush now ranks 20th all-time in the 13-14 age group, with over a year left in the age group to improve her ranking. The current 13-14 NAG record stands at a 1:55.29 from Tess Howley in 2019. 

Just before the 200 fly finals, Crush put up a split of 22.96 swimming the butterfly leg of Lakeside’s 200 medley relay, which finished 4th in 1:41.96. 

Crush also posted a second place finish in the 50 freestyle shortly after the 200 butterfly, dropping a time of 22.54, which was off her personal best of 22.14 from Friday night. 

She then led-off Lakeside’s 400 freestyle relay with a split of 49.75, which was just a tenth off of her best time of 49.66. 

Crush is the youngest of the four Crush swimmers, after Annabel, Charlie, and Johnny. Annabel is a freshman at NC State and was the 2021 Kentucky State Champion in the 100 back and 200 IM. Charlie, the defending Kentucky State Champion in the 100 back and 100 fly, is a high school senior committed to Louisville. Charlie won the men’s 50 freestyle tonight in a time of 20.04, cutting .3 off of his best time. Johnny, like his younger sister, also swam the 200 butterfly tonight, posting a personal best of 1:50.76 to take 14th overall. 

They are all the children of Chip Crush and Mimi Bowen Crush, who met while on the swim team at Auburn. Father Chip was a National High School Record breaker, 3-time SEC Champion, and CSCAA All-American, while Mimi was an NCAA Champion in the 100 fly and 200 medley relay in 1997.

In the women’s 200 butterfly, 17-year-old Grace Rainey had a strong performance to overtake Crush and win the event. Rainey swam a personal best of 1:57.39 to cut almost 4 seconds off of her best time. Rainey already saw a big drop in the 100 breaststroke on Friday as well. 

On the men’s side, the 200 butterfly also proved to be one of the most exciting races of the night, as 18-year-old Carl Bloebaum, Avery Clapp, and Baylor Nelson battled it out. Bloebaum ultimately touched 1st in a time of 1:43.57, just off of his best time. Clapp produced a huge PB to take second, dropping a time of 1:44.80, which ranks him 85th all time in the 17-18 age group. Nelson finished just behind in a PB of 1:44.81, ranking him 86th all time. 

Other Highlights: 

• 18-year-old Ella Welch from Cardinal Aquatics won the women’s 50 freestyle in a time of 22.35, cutting .009 off of her best time. 
• 15-year-old Haley McDonald out-touched 14-year-old Avery Klamfoth in the women’s 200 IM, posting times of 1:59.62 and 1:59.76, respectively. For Klamfoth, her time ranks her 25th all time in the 13-14 age group. 
• Nelson won the men’s 200 IM with a dominating performance of 1:45.72, beating runner up Owen Mcdonald (1:46.58) by almost a second. 
• 17-year-old Julia Burroughs won the women’s 500 freestyle in a time of 4:52.44, besting the field by 3 seconds. 19-year-old Zac Ward won the men’s event in a time of 4:25.33, dropping 2 seconds off of his personal best. 
• The Dynamo men and the Mason Manta Rays women won the 400 freestyle relays with times of 2:57.14 and 3:23.56, respectively. 
• The Mason Manta Rays also won the women’s 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.51, while the SwimMAC men won with a time of 1:27.90.