Meet records were falling like snowflakes at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday at the 34th Annual A+ meet.
Friday recap
Greater Nebraska Swim Team’s Caroline Theil owned the women’s 14&U 400 IM in 4:23.28, a new meet record. 15-year-old Beata Nelson comfortably won the women’s 15&Over 400 IM in 4:20.82. She took the butterfly leg out in 56.63, which is not terribly fast for her considering that she holds the 15-16 NAG record in the 100 yard fly at 52.06.
Wisconsin swimming fans are already well aware of the name Ruby Martin. She’s the Wisconsin Badger sprint free specialist who earned NCAA All-America honors as part of the team’s 6th place 200 free relay team in 2012. But there’s a new Ruby Martin in Wisconsin this weekend, a 14-year-old Iowan who won the 13-14 500 free in 4:54.47, a new meet record by two seconds.
Michael Andrew narrowly missed a 13-14 NAG record in the 14&U 400 IM with a time of 3:54.30. That’s only seven one hundredths off of the current standard of 3:54.23 set by Curtis Ogren. Andrew’s time was a new meet record. Second place finisher JohnThomas Larson of Edina, Minnesota was also under the previous meet record mark with a 3:58.27.
Saturday recap
2013-14 National Junior Team member and Schroeder native Alex Meyers won the women’s 100 free in 50.14. “I was happy with the race,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to go that fast.” Meyers and fellow Wisconsinite Beata Nelson were neck-and-neck coming down the home stretch and Nelson finished second in 50.64.
Distance star Ashley Steenvorden set another meet record in the 500 free with a time of 4:43.66 even though she is fighting an illness.
Adam Mania, one of Schroeder’s own pro swimmers, and his torpedo-esque underwater kicking led him to win the 100 back in 47.37. “It’s pretty good, not bad,” Mania said about his time. “I’m about where I was at this time last year.”
By now everyone knows that the men’s 14&U events belonged to Indie Swimming’s Michael Andrew. He set new 13-14 NAG records in the 100 free, 100 breast, and 200 IM, raising an excited fist to the sky after racking up the third record of the night.
The night ended with another Schroeder pro, Hannah Saiz, winning the 100 fly in 54.33, pulling ahead of Beata Nelson on the final 25. Nelson touched the wall in 54.45. Saiz was happy with her time, saying that she has been pretty consistent with 54’s since moving to Milwaukee to train at Schroeder.
Congratulations Ruby!!
You make us all so proud!!
“Before you can win you must know you are worthy..” M.D.
As the person who counted for Ruby Martin’s 500 Free, that was a freaking fast swim. She also swam a 2:02.73 in the 200 IM (beating the previous meet record by 8 tenths of a second) and a 2:02.62 in the 200 Fly (beating the previous meet record by 1.6 seconds) and she only turned 14 in December. Swimming this fast before taper has begun, there is much more fast swimming to come from Ruby in the near future.
Dang! He is huge