Though there was a bit of confusion with a lot of new competitors at this year’s meet on the format, the 50 free shootout on Saturday night at the 2013 Chesapeake Swim Club in Oklahoma City brought its usual thrills.
Editor’s note: (Brett Ringgold’s 19.19 is a typo – he was still a very good 19.99).
The top 8 swimmers from prelims were paired off, 1 v. 8, 2 v. 7, 3 v. 6, and 4 v. 5; and then the winners of each of those races advanced to head vs. head semi-finals, and then the winners of those two races advanced to the final.
When it came down to the final, Josh Schneider shown where he’s best. Rolling into the final against Stanford post-grad Aaron Wayne, Schneider swam an 18.96, which was the second-fastest time of his career. Schneider shows up at every single one of these multi-round shootout-format meets, and he’s gotten really, really good at them, always seeming to save his best for the final round where the big money is won.
In the women’s final, it was SwimMAC pro Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace against Stanford post-grad Andi Murez in the finals, and the fans in Oklahoma City were treated to a double sprint splash. Vanderpool-Wallace was a 21.85 for the win, which means that many of the swimmers and fans in attendance likely saw their first sub-19 men’s 50 free, and sub-22 women’s 50 free.
That wasn’t all of the excitement in those sprint races, either. Michael Andrew went the second-fastest 50 yard free by a 13-14 with a 20.16, after breaking the National Age Group Record in the 100 free in a time trial a few hours earlier.
Aside from those swims, Katie Meili was a 1:56.47 to win the women’s 200 IM by over 6 seconds (she’s the only pro in the field). Top amateur honors went to Rylee Lindhart of the host team in 2:03.02, with 15-year old Abigail Richter of the Boulder City Henderson Swim Team touching 3rd in 2:03.21 at just 14 years old. That moves her into the top 100 on the all-time age group list.
The men’s 200 IM went to Darian Townsend in 1:41.79, beating Sean Mahoney in 1:49.25. Nicholas Petersen of the Schroeder YMCA was the top amateur in 1:50.19.
Haley Spencer picked up some cash in the 200 yard breaststroke with a 2:08.24, which beat Meili’s 2:09.35. Whereas this 200 is Spencer’s specialty, Meili is much better in the 100 breast and 200 IM.
16-year old Destiny Nelson of Frisco Aquatics took 3rd in 2:15.61.
BJ Johnson won the men’s 200 breaststroke by the narrowest of fingertips in 1:53.06; Naoya Tomita of the Lobo Aquatic Club was 2nd in 1:53.06, and MIke Alexandrov was 3rd in 1:55.08.
There were only two non-pros in this field, and Liam Holt of the Jasper County Killer Whales was 7th in 2:03.02, and Christopher Heye from the Arkansas Dolphins was 8th in 2:03.71.
Murez recovered from the defeat to Vanderpool-Wallace in the 50 to swim a very nice 53.78 in the 100 yard backstroke, and the seemingly ageless Adam Mania was a 46.34 to win the men’s 100 back.
Bobby Bollier won the men’s 500 free in 4:22.48, beating Nick Norman from Mission Viejo in 4:23.88. Norman has been cracking through the elite ceiling for the last 18 months, but at this meet he’s had a true breakthrough while battling with pros and top amateurs alike.
The women’s 500 free went to Ashley Steenvoorden in 4:47.12. She’s now won the 500 and the 1000 freestyles, and seems a good bet for the big-money mile on Sunday.
Come on! A sub 19 isn’t a big deal anymore for a veteran swimmer like Schneider! 🙂
Same about a sub 22 for the veteran girls.
Thanks to a better training, the video, a better nutrition or better suits, swimming is faster and faster all over the world.
We see youngsters swim under 20. We see a junior swimmer under 19.
With all the crazy times we see every week from crazy fast young swimmers, I think we must reconsider our analyses with new barriers in mind.
A sub 10 in the 100 meters on track was still amazing 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. Today it’s absolutely common.
A sub 2h05 in… Read more »
I know you are more of a meters guy but the big SCY barrier that will go down in the next 5 years will be 40 seconds 100 free. Vlad had the right idea at NCAA’s last year, by going out in a 19.1 but died the second 50 somewhat. It will be a 19.2 split followed by the standard 1.5 second drop for the second 50 that will do it. 19.2 + 20.7 = 39.9.
Michael Andrew with a 20.16
I think he will be going 19’s before he reaches his 15th birthday. How cool would that be?
50 free 13/14 NAG record is 20.02 by Ryan Hoffer.
Mr Andrew will probably break it in the next few months.