2016 U.S. WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS- EAST
- Wednesday, December 7th – Saturday, December 10th
- Columbus, OH (Ohio State University)
- Psych sheets
- Meet information
- Live results
Carmel Swim Club’s Drew Kibler, a teenage sprint freestyler on a sharp rise over the last couple of seasons, has put down the fastest 200 free in American 15-16 age group history by far. Leading off Carmel’s 800 free relay at Winter Jr Champs – East, Kibler posted a 1:33.36 for a huge new national age group record. His previous best time was a 1:35.33, which means he just erased nearly two full seconds from his old best. He also took over a full second off of the old NAG, set in 2014 by Maxime Rooney.
Comparative splits
- Rooney, 2014
- By 50: 21.55 – 23.84 – 24.24 – 24.94 (1:34.57)
- By 100: 45.39 – 49.18
- Kibler, tonight
- By 50: 21.58 – 23.53 – 24.17 – 24.08 (1:33.36)
- By 100: 45.11 – 48.25
Kibler and Rooney had very similar first 100’s but the Indiana native Kibler absolutely crushed his back half. While both swimmers had strong 50’s in their respective races, it was Kibler who kicked it into overdrive for a very strong 24.0 final 50. Fun fact: Kibler, at 16 years of age, would’ve nearly qualified for the 200 free A final at the 2016 NCAA Men’s Championships.
U.S. 15-16 Top Performers 200 Free (Boys)
- Drew Kibler 1:33.36
- Maxime Rooney 1:34.57
- Dylan Carter 1:35.29
- Andrew Seliskar 1:35.34
- Michael Domagala 1:35.49
Kibler will be swimming the individual 200 free later in this meet, giving him another chance to improve upon his record here. He’s also swimming the 100 back, 50 free, 100 free, and 500 free this weekend in Columbus. Based on how incredible his swim was in the 200 tonight, we could be in for some more outstanding swims from him later on in the meet.
Insane time. But not surprising considering his swims last summer in long course. That kid is special. Perfect mix of speed and endurance. I’ve remarked that he’s used to finishing like a bullet his races. I wonder what will be his best event in the years to come. 100 free or 200 free?
Congrats to him and his coach. They are really doing a great job in that club of Carmel.
That’s insane. Hopefully this progression continues 🙂
Kibler is a fantastic swimmer and he gets stronger by every month. A fun one to watch. He seems to have his act together. Go Kibler! I will be watching!
I need some help doing some research here (I’m looking at you Bobo). I was looking splits for the West conference and Ryan Hoffer split a 21.08 50 back leading off the medley relay. That’s fast…that’s really fast…I was curious if that was a record for the 17-18 age group, but there’s no official record for 50’s of stroke. Murphy has the 100 back record from 2012…probably a safe bet that he’s got the fastest 50 back split and the fastest record I can find was a 21.09 he did in 2012 leading off the Bolles high school relay. Can anybody find a record of a faster split in the 17-18 age group by either him or somebody else? Was… Read more »
Michael – the SWIMS database shows Murphy leading off a relay in 20.8 at NCAA’s while still 18.
So 17-18 record no but HS record yes…but I guess that’s kindof stretching the spirit of what a record is
Murphy’s 20.90 at 2014 NCAAs is the fastest backstroke split I’ve found by a 17/18 boy.
I believe that Murphy’s 21.09 while still in high school is the fastest ever done (up until today) by a high schooler.
Hoffer lead off in 21.04
Kibler is a special talent with an amazing work ethic. 1:33 at 16 is insane, and he still has about a few months to go even faster (1:32?). Kibler will be far better than any 200 swimmer ever if he keeps up this kind of progression.
So very proud of my nephew!
Kyle Gornay lead off his 800 free relay with a 1:34.99 at 16 making him the 3rd fastest all time.
Hopefully Kibler’s cal career doesn’t end up like Gornay’s
Gornay peaked his junior year of high school and then quit college swimming after one year; definitely an anomalous career, and who knows if he would’ve been successful anywhere. Silverthorn from that class also had a weird trajectory where he was a super fast breaststroker his junior year and hasn’t touched those times since (though he is still swimming).
Hopefully Kibler has a more standard progression.
Does anyone know where live results are posted for both of the East and West meets? I looked around but could only find the live stream on usaswimming.org
Also just out of curiosity, does anyone think Ryan Hoffer will lower his 100 free record that he set last year? Afterwards he seemed pretty surprised by the swim himself, and I can’t help but think it was one of those semi-rare perfect swims. I’d also be impressed if he gets under 19 in the 50 this weekend.