National Club Swimming Association Junior Nationals: Katie Ledecky Earns Another Victory; Max Williamson Cruises to Personal Best

ORLANDO, Florida, March 22. THE fast swimming kept on rolling at the National Club Swimming Association Junior Nationals, as evidenced by the short course yard prelims and long course meter finals times that continued to be posted on the scoreboard. The meet is being broadcast LIVE via pay per view by SwimmingWorld.TV. For more on ordering the stream, click here.

The sprint 50s opened up the evening with Academy Bullets' Mary Schneider upsetting Aquajets' Rachel Bootsma, 26.94 to 27.41, for the women's 50 fly triumph. Curl Burke's Janet Hu finished third in 27.59. Lahaina's Renny Richmond followed with a 24.07 for the win in the men's 50 fly. New Trier's Reed Malone touched second in 24.92, while City of Mobile's William Glass placed third in 25.06.

Rockville Montgomery's Sarah Haase continued to be the class of the women's breaststroke at the meet, winning the 50 in 32.00 after topping the 100 breast last night in 1:09.42. Aquajets' Olivia Anderson, 14, finished second in 32.36, while Stingrays' Kayla Brumbaum took third in 32.68.

City of Mobile's Marlin Brutkiewicz checked in with a 29.55 to win the men's 50 breast, while Blue Dolfins' Jason Coombs took second in 29.66. Haden Calegan completed the podium with a third-place 29.70.

Curl Burke's Katie Ledecky, who set a pair of 15-16 U.S. National Age Group records on the first night, captured the women's 200 free in 2:00.46. She hasn't been much faster, with a lifetime best of 2:00.01 at the 2012 Missouri Grand Prix. Topeka's Haley Molden placed a distant second in 2:03.73, while Daytona Beach's Kendal Casey finished third in 2:04.05. Bootsma fell back to fourth in 2:04.16 in what is typically an off event for the backstroker. Other notable final swims were a 2:03.71 by Megan Rankin to win the B final and a 2:04.55 to win the C final by Quest's Kaitlin Jones.

Another near lifetime best occurred in the men's 200 free when New Trier's Reed Malone won in 1:50.97. That swim just missed his 1:50.74 from the 2012 Columbus Grand Prix. Highlander's Sean Duggan placed second in 1:53.28, while Rockville Montgomery's Jack Conger took third in 1:53.31.

Rankin returned in the women's 400 IM with a 4:47.34 for the win. She cut three seconds from her personal best of 4:50.77 set at 2011 USA Swimming Nationals last summer. Verona's Sierra Kuhn finished second in 4:48.71, while Lancaster's Emily Cameron earned third in 4:49.02.

Northern Kentucky Clippers' Max Williamson downed his personal best in the men's 400 IM with a 4:22.42 for the win. That effort proved to be the first time Williamson has cracked 4:23, as his previous best had been a 4:23.05 from last summer's USA Swimming Nationals. Aquazot's Corey Okubo took second in 4:24.43, while YMCA Hub Fins' Tynan Stewart touched third in 4:27.80.

Short course yard prelims
Today featured plenty of sprints with the 50 fly and 50 breast titles both on offer. Aquajets' Rachel Bootsma turned in a 23.73 to win the 50 fly, while Academy Bullets' Mary Schneider, 15, placed second in 23.95. Curl Burke's Janet Hu finished third in 24.70. Bootsma doubled up in the morning with a lifetime best 1:47.22 in the women's 200 free. That swim bettered her previous best of 1:47.64 set at the 2011 NCSA Juniors. Curl Burke's Katie Ledecky placed second in 1:47.41, while Saint Andrew's Tasija Karosas finished third in 1:48.59.

Lahaina's Renny Richmond, who turned in a strong outing at his high school meet in Hawaii earlier this year, won the men's 50 fly in 21.95. NASA Wildcat's Andrew Jovanovic took second in 22.20, while Penn Charter's Joseph Maginnis earned third in 22.29. Rockville Montgomery's Jack Conger easily won the men's 200 free in 1:35.78, while Highlander's Sean Duggan placed second in 1:37.57. New Trier's Reed Malone touched third in 1:37.72. Conger came up just a bit shy of his personal best of 1:35.25 set as a relay leadoff at the Tom Dolan Invitational in December.

Jack Conger's Personal Best 200 Free via SwimmingWorld.TV

Rockville Montgomery's Sarah Haase, who broke 1:00 in the 100-yard breast yesterday, topped the women's 50 breast in 28.31. Stingrays' Kayla Brumbaum took second in 28.89, while Lancaster's Emily Cameron wound up third in 29.12. Blue Dolfins' Jason Coombs touched in 26.02 to win the men's 50 breast. City of Mobile's Marlin Brutkiewicz (26.19) and Rockville Montgomery's Austin Dickey (26.30) completed the top three.

Cameron bounced in the women's 400 IM for the victory with a 4:12.35, cutting a second from her personal best of 4:13.34 set in March 2010 on the USA Swimming Sectionals circuit. Verona's Sierra Kuhn took second in 4:15.18, while Megan Rankin placed third in 4:16.41.

Northern Kentucky Clippers' Maxwell Williamson won the men's 400 IM in 3:49.19, besting his personal best of 3:49.73 from last year's NCSA Juniors. Blue Tide's Jordan Jones placed second in 3:50.66, while Aquazot's Corey Okubo took third in 3:51.59.

In relay action, Curl Burke won the women's 400 free relay in 3:21.23, while the New Trier foursome of Sam Skinner, Reed Malone, Jack Mangan and Max Grodecki posted a 2:58.20 in today's race. Full coverage of that swim, including interviews and race footage is available here.

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