AgonSwim Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 6/29/2016

There were quite a few age group meets all over the country during the first of the two weekends of Olympic Trials. Here are some of the swims we noticed during the weekend of June 24-26, 2016:

Millie Young, 11, Omaha Swim Federation: 50m free (29.67) – While 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials were going on in her hometown, Young was in Lincoln swimming at the 6th Annual LSS Capital City Classic, where she broke 30 for the first time in prelims of the girls’ 11-12 50 free. Young is now 2.8 seconds faster than she was at the same meet last year. She also earned PBs in the 100/200 free, 50/100 back, and 200 IM.

Michael Linnihan, 13, Elmbrook Swim Club: 200m free (2:00.53) – Linnihan improved his seed time by 4.6 seconds and won the boys’ 13-14 200 free at the TYR Sport Summer Classic hosted by the Cincinnati Marlins. He also won the 100 fly with a best time, and took home new times in the 50/400 free, 100 back, 200 breast, and 400 IM as well.

Katharine Berkoff, 15, Missoula Aquatic Club: 100m back (1:02.18) – One of the younger swimmers at U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Berkoff was among the minority of athletes to notch a best time in her prelims swim, going 1:02.18 for a best time in the 100 back by .83. Berkoff was 1.5 seconds faster than last summer, and she finished 36th overall. She was the third-youngest to place in the top 40 of the women’s 100 back.

Jack Dolan, 15, Rockwood Swim Club: 100m back (57.26) – Also swimming at U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Dolan was one of the youngest entrants in the men’s meet. While he didn’t quite hit his best time, achieved just ten days earlier, Dolan swam his second-best lifetime 100 back and finished 108th of 183 swimmers. His best time last summer was 59.36.

Maile Lawson, 14, Kona Aquatics: 200m breast (2:39.38) – Lawson dropped 3.6 seconds from her previous PB and finished fourth in the women’s 200 breast while representing Hawaii Swimming at the 11th Oceania Swimming Championships in Suva, Fiji. She picked up a new time in the 50 breast, as well.

Cade Branum, 12, Loveland Swim Club: 100m fly (1:05.78) – Swimming at the LSS Capital City Classic, Branum took 5.7 off his seed time and won the boys’ 11-12 100 fly, 20 seconds ahead of where he was last summer at this time. He also won the 50/100/400 free and 50 fly, and finished the weekend with new PBs in the 50/100/200/400 free, 100 back, and 50/100 fly.

Chip Roberts, 14, Lincoln Select Swimming: 200m fly (2:15.81) – Roberts won both the boys’ 13-14 100 fly and 200 fly at the LSS Capital City Classic, the latter with a PB by 2 seconds. Roberts was more than 13 seconds ahead of where he’d been last year at this meet in the 200 fly, and he finished the weekend with new times in the 50/200/400/800 free and 100/200 fly.

Sophia Ribeiro, 11, El Paso Aqua Posse: 200m IM (2:39.89) – At the Annual Father’s Day Invitational Meet hosted by Desert Sharks Swim Club Ribeiro dropped 2.6 seconds from her PB in the 200 IM, which was only 2 weeks old and 10.5 seconds faster than her previous PB, established a month earlier. Ribeiro came home from the meet with new times in the 400 free, 100 back, and 200 IM.

Matthew Tannenberger, 13, Swim Streamline at Northampton: 400m IM (4:56.76) – Tannenberger cracked the 5:00 barrier for the first time, improving his seed time by 4.4 seconds and winning the boys’ 13-14 400 IM at the LSS Capital City Classic. Tannenberger has now dropped 25 seconds in a year in the 400 IM. Other personal bests over the weekend included the 200/400/800 free, 200 breast, and 200 IM.

Reminder: The Weekly Wonders column is a celebration of age-group swimming, where new champions are made every day. Anyone can look up the top swims of the week. That’s not what we’re doing here. If we were only reporting on the week’s top swims we would feature the same handful of athletes every Wednesday. Instead, this is an opportunity to introduce the swimming community to athletes who have made great strides in the context of their own particular swimming worlds. By association, it also celebrates their coaches and their teams. The Weekly Wonders column, therefore, amounts to a pat on the back for a job well done, and hopefully encourages swimmers of all levels to continue to reach from within to get to that next level.

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