Nashville Girls Win 4 More to Close Southern Premier Meet

2019 SPEEDO SOUTHERN PREMIER MEET

• March 1st-3rd, 2019
• Alan Jones Aquatic Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
• 25y, prelims/finals
• Real-Time Results
• Psych Sheets

The Walsh sisters were back at it again on Sunday to close the 2019 Southern Premier Meet. Gretchen and Alex each took out an individual record on the day to go with their relay record relay record set earlier in the meet.

First, Gretchen swam a 47.49 to take out the old 15-16 record set by Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel in 2013. Manuel’s record was 47.73. (Read more about that record-setting swim here). 32-year old Amanda Weir, a 3-time US Olympian and 4-time Olympic medalist who is twice Gretchen’s age, took 2nd in 48.85, while Gabi Albiero took 3rd in 49.70. Showing off the insane depth at this meet, it almost took a Futures cut to make any final at this meet.

Not long after, the older Walsh sister Alex broke the 17-18 National Age Group Record in the 200 breaststroke. She swam a 2:05.87 that broke Annie Zhu’s record of 2:05.99. (Read more about that record-setting swim here).

Her teammates Ella Nelson (2:07.59) and Meaghan Raab (2:13.30) went 2-3 in that final for a Nashville sweep of the podium.

Alex Walsh came back in the very-next girls’ open race and won the 100 fly in 51.31. Her previous best in that event was 54.15, and that swim now vaults her up to 8th in the all-time 17-18 age group rankings (even as just a 17-year old), passing the likes of Kendyl Stewart, Misty Hyman, Elaine Breeden, and Kelsi Dahlia.

The relay of Alex Walsh, Ella Nelson, Jordan Hurt, and Gretchen Walsh then finished the meet with a win in the 400 medley relay in 3:37.76 – which was 4-and-a-half seconds shy of their seed time.

Other Day 4 Winners:

• Lakeside 16-year old Annabel Crush won the 100 backstroke in 53.11, using a big back-half split of 27.42 to pull away from the field (nobody else closed in faster than 28 seconds, though Crush had the fastest opening 50 too). Her fellow Kentuckian Krista Wheeler took 2nd in 54.63.
• The Foster brothers went head-to-head in the 200 breaststroke, and older brother Jake came out victorious. He won in 1:55.27 (after a 1:54.27 in prelims), while Carson swam a 1:56.63 for 2nd place. Jake’s prelims swim ranks him 11th all-time in 17-18 age group history in the event.
• That was the only win by a Foster brother on Sunday, though they swam half of the winning 400 medley relay (Carson swam a 46.43 backstroke, Jake swam a 53.15 breaststroke). Their teammate Adam Chaney, who is 16, also added a win to his meet in the 100 backstroke. He swam a 47.10 for his first individual win of the meet.
• Winning the B Final in that 100 back was Jean-Pierre Khouzam in 49.93. Later in the session, in the 100 fly, he grabbed a win in 47.26. That beat out Nashville Aquatic Club 22-year old, and former UMBC Retriever, Philip Adejumo, who was 2nd in 47.93. Adam Chaney took 3rd in 48.14, tied with 25-year old Erik Risolvato. Khouzam also won the 200 fly earlier in the meet.
• SwimAtlanta’s Dillon Downing picked up his first win of the meet, topping the 100 free in 43.91 after placing 2nd in the 50 in 19.68. Downing missed his lifetime best in the event by about 3-tenths of a second, but his Sunday 43.91 still would have been fast enough to rank 2nd on the team this season at the University of Georgia, where he’ll swim starting in the fall.
• Jami Rzepecki, a Yale commit, knocked a quarter-of-a-second off his best time to win the boys’ mile in 15:30.91. He was locked in a big battle throughout the race, overcoming a 6-tenths deficit to Swim Atlanta’s Dylan Scott going into the final 150, but pulling past him for the win. Scott took 2nd in 15:31.36, while 3rd-place Logan Zucker was 5 seconds behind that lead pack before closing like a freight train to finish 3rd in 15:32.73. For Zucker, that was a best time by 20 seconds. He’s only 15 years old, and combined with that time drop, he’s probably still learning how to pace this swim.

Final Team Scores

Boys’ Top 5

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 2154.5
2. Dynamo Swim Club – 1158.5
3. Nashville Aquatic Club – 1137.5
4. Lakeside Swim Team – 849.5
5. Aquatic Team of Mecklenburg – 846

Girls’ Top 5

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 2778
2. Dynamo Swim Club – 1576
3. Nashville Aquatic Club – 1123
4. Lakeside Swim Team – 629
5. Aquatic Team of Mecklenburg – 588.5