Sebastien Sergile Drops 1:45.0 200 Fly For 10th All-Time In 15-16 Age Group

PEACH STATE 18 AND UNDER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 10-13, 2020
• Freeman Aquatic Center
• Norcross, Georgia
• SCY (25 yards)
• Psych Sheets (PDF)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Peach State 18 and Under Championships”
• Live Stream (Spartans YouTube channel)
• USA Swimming 18 & Under Winter National Results Tool

After the Spartans Aquatic Club boys kicked off the Peach State 18 and Under Championships with a bang on Thursday night, setting a new National Age Group Record in the 15-18 and 17-18 200 medley relay, several more standout swims were produced on the first full day of events Friday.

Highlighting the action during finals was 16-year-old Sebastien Sergile, who dropped over four seconds from his lifetime best to win the men’s 200 butterfly in a time of 1:45.01, well under his 1:49.15 from last December.

With this performance, the SwimAtlanta member jumps up into 10th all-time in the 15-16 age group. His previous best didn’t even have him ranked inside the top-100.

Sergile also sets a new Georgia Swimming LSC record, lowering Gunnar Bentz‘s previous 15-16 mark of 1:45.66 from 2012.

You can watch Sergile’s 200 fly race video here.

Also putting up a historically significant swim in the U.S. age group ranks was Sergile’s SwimAtlanta teammate Jack Aikins, who dropped a scintillating 1:40.92 in the boys’ 200 backstroke.

The time for Aikins, 18, improves on his previous best of 1:41.73 and moves him up from 27th to 15th all-time in the 17-18 age group. He also fell just .03 shy of Ian Grum‘s LSC record.

Prior to the beginning of this weekend’s meets, Aikins’ swim takes over the top spot in USA Swimming’s Virtual 18 & Under Winter Championships by well over a second. Sergile’s 200 fly would be fourth, though we won’t no where the two officially sit until the virtual meet wraps up on Sunday.

You can watch the 200 back race video here.

Aikins also topped the 100 free field in 43.51, just off his best of 43.27 which ranks him 40th among 17-18s.

Two members of the Spartans NAG relay on Thursday, Nate Stoffle and Kamal Muhammad, took second in the two respective events, with Stoffle clocking 1:46.55 in the 200 back and Muhammad going 44.33 in the 100 free.

Another SA swimmer, Gigi Johnson, was the lone female to win two individual events on Friday, as the 16-year-old came out on top in the girls’ 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.

In the 200 IM, Johnson put up a time of 1:59.90, just shy of her 1:59.87 PB set in February of 2019 (a time that ranks her 24th all-time in the 13-14 age group). Her 17-year-old teammate Lily Burke was the runner-up in 2:03.98.

In the 100 breast, Johnson clocked 1:02.76 to lead another SwimAtlanta member, June Phang (1:04.47), to finish just over four-tenths off her personal best of 1:02.33 set last year (which ranks her 53rd among 15-16s).

On the boys’ side, Carpet Capital Aquatics Club’s Henry Bethel won the same two events, clocking 1:46.15 in the 200 IM and 54.12 in the 100 breast. The 200 IM time improved on his previous best of 1:47.00, with Sergile dropping another PB to take second in 1:47.71, while Bethel’s 100 breast swim bettered his 54.31 from February.

Spartans swimmer Preston Lin, who swam breast on the NAG record-breaking medley relay, took second in the 100 breast in 54.92.

During the prelims, the Spartans Aquatic Club boys took another run at a NAG in the 200 free relay, with 17-year-olds Muhammad (20.03), Josh Beamon (20.03), Stoffle (19.84) and Peter Sacca (20.29) finishing in a time of 1:20.19, just over six-tenths off the 17-18 record of 1:19.55 set by Nation’s Capital in 2015. The 15-18 relay NAG stands at 1:19.29 from the Scottsdale Aquatic Club in 2019.

In the girls’ 200 free relay, Spartans and the Athens Bulldogs Swim Club tied in 1:36.33, with Carson Schiller leading off the Spartans in 23.99 and Mitsue Ostapiuk anchoring in 23.70. For Athens, Karen Zhao had the lone sub-24 split with a 23.70 anchor.

OTHER EVENTS

• 17-year-old Abigail McCulloh dropped a new personal best to win the girls’ 200 fly, clocking 2:00.30 to improve on her previous PB of 2:00.87 set in March. Her SwimAtlanta teammate Mia Walters took second in 2:02.77, her fastest swim since setting a lifetime best of 2:02.08 in December 2018.
• Carpet Capital’s Payton Woodring won the girls’ 200 back by over three seconds in 1:59.01, marking her first time sub-2:00 after entering the meet with a best of 2:01.68. She had lowered that down to 2:01.02 in the heats.
• 15-year-old Gaby Van Brunt of the Georgia Coastal Aquatic Team topped the girls’ 100 free field in a time of 50.02, narrowly missing her best of 49.89 done just prior to the pandemic. That swim in February ranks her 46th all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group. Shortly before taking second in the 200 IM, SwimAtlanta’s Burke was also the runner-up here, equalling her best time in 50.70.

FULL FINALS SESSION REPLAY

To watch the full session on YouTube, click here.