Speedo Winter Juniors East: Thomas Heilman Drops 100 Fly NAG to 43.86
Thomas Heilman twice lowered the national-age group record in his signature 100 butterfly Friday at the Speedo Winter Juniors East meet.
Heilman went 44.55 in the morning at Greensboro Aquatic Club. That eased the 17-18 NAG held by Aiden Hayes at 44.75. Heilman’s 15-16 NAG of 44.67, which was the Speedo Juniors meet record, was quicker than the 17-18 mark.
At night, Heilman went faster than all of them, blasting a time of 43.86. The Paris Olympian won the race by just shy of three seconds, with Austin Carpenter of Central Ohio Aquatics closest in 46.79. Max Buff went 46.97.
Plenty of big names were in action in the penultimate day at the GAC. Audrey Derivaux started with a victory in the girls 400 individual medley, the Jersey Wahoo clocking in at 4:06.11. She was 2.5 seconds quicker than in prelims and had enough on the final leg to hold off a charge by Quest Swimming’s Emerson Callis. Callis went 4:06.52. Chloe Kim was third in 4:07.11.
Charlotte Crush got a fight in the 100 fly but came out on top. The Lakeside Swim Club 16-year-old got to the wall first in 50.13 seconds. That’s within a shout of Claire Curzan’s NAG of 49.51. Second was Upper Dublin Aquatic Club’s Annie Jia in 50.35. She came home quicker than Crush, in 26.43. Third was Molly Sweeney of Carmel in 52.10, a tenth up on Mena Boardman.
Crush, who lowered the meet record and the 15-16 NAG record in the 100 back to 49.46 off the front of the medley relay Thursday, didn’t improve that in the individual event, but was still impressive. She posted matching 50.01s in prelims and finals, good enough to win by more than a second. Rylee Erisman finished second in 51.36, with Reina Liu of the TAC Titans third in 51.86 as just a 14-year-old. (Crush holds that NAG at 50.44.)
The Sarasota Sharks went 1-2 in the girls 200 free, Brynn Lavigueur getting the win in 1:45.82. She bested teammate Maeve Eckerman, who went 1:46.69. That left the top seed from prelims, Sidney Arcella, in third, the Metro Area Life Time swimmer .03 slower than in the morning for bronze in 1:46.81. Six swimmers were in the 1:47s.
SwimMACs Elle Scott led three sub-minute swims to win the 100 breast. The only swimmer under a minute in the morning, Scott was quicker in 59.13 at night. That left her three tenths up on Eliza Wallace of Mecklenburg Swim Club with her 59.49. Addie Robillard of the Mason Manta Rays went 59.77 for third place ahead of Sweeney, on the back half of a tight double.
On the boys side, Baylor Stanton kicked off the night with a win in the 400 IM in 3:41.50. The top seed in the morning, he was nearly 4.5 seconds clear of the field. Mack Schumann of Nashville Aquatics took home second in 3:45.98, dropping more than two seconds from the morning to go from the sixth seed to silver medal. Noah Cakir went 3:46.29, edging Ryan Erisman by .06 for third.
Stanton pulled off the double by winning the 100 back to end the session. He went 47.07 in that race, were the top 10 all posted times of 47.74 or under. Second was Thomas Mercer in 47.27, ahead of Ethan Guo’s 47.32 and matching 47.33s from Jack Troy, Andrew Chou and B final winner Elliott Rijnovean.
Canadian Ethan Ekk, swimming for Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club, won the 200 free in 1:33.92. He used a fast front half, out in 45.92, to edge out Jason Zhao of Mason Manta Rays. Zhao was second in 1:34.22, with Xavier Sohovich and Alex Thiesing also in the 1:34s.
Josh Bey dropped nearly a second from prelims to finals to separate from a tight pack in the 100 breast. His time of 52.68 won by three tenths over Gabe Nunziata. Bey also pushed Michael Andrew’s 2015 meet record of 52.21. Guilian Martin was third in 53.34, places three through eight separated by .67 seconds.
The TAC Titans took home the girls 20 free relay. Caden Martin, Reina Liu, Mere Whelehan and Sloane Whelehan went 1:30.49, all clustered from 22.47 to 22.85 in their splits. SwimMAC Carolina was second in 1:31.16, followed by Lakeside Swim Team in 1:32.18. None of the top three teams included an 18-year-old.
Bolles School picked up another win on the boys side in 1:19.44, buzzing within .41 of the now 12-year-old meet record set by the Sharks with a couple of guys named Dressel and Schooling. Andy Kravchenko, Antonie Destang, Xavier Sohovich and Charlie Zuhoski – that is, two 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds – went 1:19.44. Kravchenko led off in 19.94, Destang split 19.69.
Mason Mata Rays were second in 1:20.52 with Jason Zhao’s 19.47 anchor leg. Alex Thiesing helped Lakeside finish second with a 19.59 split. The best individual swim, though, was Norvin Clontz’s 18.79 for seventh-placed Mecklenburg Swim Club.