HS Junior Scotty Buff Hits 200 Back 1:44.0 Nationals Cut at MAKO Senior Invite

2022 Ohio MAKO Senior Invitational

• March 4-6, 2022
• Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Full Results (PDF)

Scotty Buff of the Greater Toledo Aquatic Club swam new personal best in four events and picked up a new qualifying time for this summer’s US National Championships at the Miami Valley Aquatic Club’s MAKO Senior Invitational last weekend.

The meet, for high school swimmers and older, drew huge fields (over 200 swimmers in many events) of senior swimmers from most of the state’s top clubs a few weeks after the state’s high school state championship meet.

Among those was Scotty Buff, who was 2nd in both the 100 back and 100 fly at the Ohio Division I High School State Championships at the end of February.

He didn’t swim either of those races at this meet, but instead focused on events that weren’t in his high school repertoire – and seemed to have no issue carrying his taper forward from the state meet.

That included a 1:44.05 in the 200 yard backstroke that was a four-and-a-half second drop from his previous lifetime best.

Previously a more sprint-oriented swimmer, that’s only his fourth 200 backstroke since pandemic restrictions began to lift.

Besides a new best time of 19.90 in the 50 free, his first time under 20 seconds, Buff really went after the 200 yard races at this meet. That included a win in the 200 fly in 1:47.34 and a prelims swim of 1:50.30 in the 200 IM before scratching the final.

Buff, a high school junior, was already rated as the #4 recruit in the class of 2023 when he committed to Florida in October. He’s had big drops across a broad event schedule since then, which will benefit him at Florida where almost everyone has to swim a 200 at one time or another.

Scotty Buff Time Progression, Yards, Since Verbal Commitment:

Buff wasn’t the only swimmer at this meet to rewrite their own personal record books. The star of the women’s meet was Emily Brown of the Dublin Community Swim Team, a high school sophomore, won 4 events and swam lifetime bests in 5 over the weekend.

Brown’s Results:

• 200 back – 1:56.08
• 100 fly – 54.26
• 200 fly – 2:03.02 (2nd place)
• 200 IM – 1:57.96
• 400 IM – 4:18.01

Among the biggest drops were the 100 fly, where her previous best time of 59.53 was done in 2019; the 200 fly, where her previous best time of 2:09.00 was done in November; and the 200 back, where her previous best time of 2:01.42 was done in December at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships – East meet.

Two weeks ago, Brown was the Ohio Division I State Champion in both the 200 free (1:46.91) and 500 free (4:45.47) for Coffman High School, and she too opted to focus on other events this week.

Other Highlight performances

• Senior and Notre Dame commit Dillon Edge of the Dayton Raiders served as Buff’s foil for much of the weekend, pulling off two wins of his own. He topped the field in the 200 breast in 2:01.96 and won the Buff-less 100 fly in 48.64 (after a 48.61 best time in prelims). While he scratched a lot of finals, he still went lifetime bests in 4 different events.
• 15-year old Cameron Frazier, who didn’t swim at the Ohio High School State Championship meet, swam best times in both the 100 breaststroke (57.73) and 200 breaststroke (2:03.03). That 200 breast time ranks him 15th in the country so far this season among 15-year olds.
• Lainy Kruger of the Northern Kentucky Clippers, another 2023 University of Florida commit, only swam one best time, in the 200 IM. She dropped a 1:58.46, which takes over a second off her previous best of 1:59.61 set in December. Ironically, that 200 IM (2nd place) was the only of her three finals that she didn’t win, placing 2nd to Brown.
• Kelsey Cooper of the Dublin Community Swim Team, a Purdue commit, won the 100 backstroke in 55.69 after finishing 3rd in that event in 55.07 at the Ohio State Meet in February. While she was 2nd in the 200 back this weekend, she did swim a new personal best time of 1:58.28 – her first time under 2:01 in that race.
• Zach Stump of the Westerville Aquatic Club won both the 100 back (50.31) and 500 free (4:30.12). While neither of those were lifetime bests, he did swim best times en route to non-winning results in the 200 free (1:40.97 in prelims), 100 fly (50.90), and 200 fly (1:54.66). Stump is committed to Navy (not to be confused with the Zach Stump who swam for Notre Dame through 2019).