There were only a handful of meets this past weekend, but they were all championship meets. Here are the Weekly Wonders for the weekend of March 30-April 1, 2018:
Joseph Carranza, 13, Scarlet Aquatics: 500y free (4:52.87) – Carranza took another 9/10 off a 2-month-old PB in the 500 free, going 11.9 seconds faster than he’d been at this time last year, to take fourth in the boys 13-14 event at Eastern Zone Short Course Age Group Championships hosted by the Fairport Area Swim Team. Carranza also competed in the 50/100 free and 200 fly, and went home with a new PB in the 50 free.
Liv Chow, 12, Berkeley Aquatic Club: 200y back (2:06.51) – Chow won the girls 11-12 100 back and 200 back, and was runner-up in the 50 back, at the Eastern Zone Short Course Age Group Championships. She dropped 3 seconds in the 200 back, from a time that was only 3 weeks old, and finished 16.6 seconds faster than where she was a year ago. Chow earned new PBs in all three backstrokes.
Brayden Henkel, 12, Albany Starfish: 100y breast (1:03.24) – Also competing at the Eastern Zone Age Group meet, Henkel placed second in the boys 11-12 100 breast, improving his time by 1.4 seconds and dropping 7.4 seconds since this time last year. Henkel left the meet with new times in the 100 free, 50/100/200 breast and 100 IM. Two weeks earlier he had earned PBs in the 200 free and 50/100/200 back.
Ryan Pirrung, 16, Delaware Swim Team: 200y breast (2:03.57) – Pirrung scored his first Winter Juniors cut in the 200 breast with a 2.2-second drop at the Middle Atlantic Short Course Senior Championships at the Graham Aquatic Center in York, PA. He won the event and posted the #1 time for 18-and-under boys for the weekend. Pirrung is now 6.7 seconds faster than he was a year ago. He also went best times in the 100/500 free, 100/200 back, 100 breast, 100 fly, and 400 IM.
Sally Foley, 16, Penn Charter Aquatic Club: 200y breast (2:14.42) – Foley was runner-up in both the 100 breast and 200 breast at the Middle Atlantic Senior Championships. She picked up her first US Open cut in the 200, improving her time by 7.8 seconds to notch the #2 18-and-under 200 breast in the U.S. for the weekend. Foley left the meet with new times in the 50 free, 200 back, 100/200 breast, and 100 fly.
Megan Sicinski, 18, Parkland Swimming Club: 200y breast (2:16.67) – Two weeks after finishing high school season with a new PB and Winter Juniors cut in the 100 breast, Sicinski was at it again, this time with the 200 breast. Swimming at the Middle Atlantic Senior Championships in York, the Drexel commit improved her 200 breast time by 2.3 seconds, going 5.7 seconds faster than she’d been a year ago. Sicinski also improved her times in the 100/500/1000 free and 400 IM in York.
Josh Noll, 13, Peoria Area Water Wizards: 100y fly (54.92) – Swimming at the 2018 ISCA/NASA TYR Elite Showcase Classic, Noll dropped 1.8 seconds to finish fourth in the boys 13-14 100 fly with a time that was 3.4 seconds faster than last year at this time. He also placed 4th in the 100 free, 2nd in the 200 free, 7th in the 500 free, 5th in the 200 back, 10th in the 50 fly, and 9th in the 200 IM. Noll took home new times in the 100/200/500 free, 50/200 back, 50/100 fly, and 200 IM.
Erika Pelaez, 11, Eagle Aquatics: 200y IM (2:10.42) – Pelaez took 4/10 off a 10-day-old PB in the 200 IM to notch an 8.1-second improvement over her time from a year ago and win the girls 11-year-old 200 IM at the ISCA/NASA TYR Elite Showcase Classic. She also won the 50/100/200 free, 50/100/200 back, 50 fly, and 100 IM, and was runner-up in the 400 IM. Pelaez finished the weekend with PBs in the 50 free, 100 back, 50 fly, and 100/200/400 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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There were many outstanding swimmers at the Eastern Zones Short Course Age Group Championships in the 11-12 age group from NJ. Also, Scarlet Aquatics came home with four NJ state records, the boys 11-12 year old 200 and 400 free relays and girls 11-12 year old 200 and 400 free relays. Kudos to all the swimmers, coaches, and parents for a fantastic meet. And congrats to NJ on the new state records and to all swimmers at the Eastern Zones.