2024 Winter Junior Championships – West
The third day of the annual Winter Junior Nationwide Championships has wrapped up, showcasing numerous quick swimming. On the West website, standout performances got here from names like Teagan Odell, Kayla Han, and Madi Mintenko on the women’ aspect, whereas Maximus Williamson and Campbell McKean led the cost for the boys.
Nevertheless, at high-profile meets like this, the highlight usually shines on the large names, and plenty of spectacular swims can go unnoticed. To make sure these efforts don’t get ignored, SwimSwam has compiled a listing of sturdy performances which may have in any other case flown beneath the radar.
The ladies’ 400 IM kicked off the session with a noteworthy efficiency by 15-year-old Emma Hussein of Canyons Aquatic Membership. After coming into the meet with a private better of 4:19.52, Hussein improved to 4:18.35 in prelims, qualifying for finals in eleventh. She then delivered an excellent stronger efficiency in finals, clocking a 4:13.88. Though Hussein didn’t begin out the quickest of subject, she used sturdy breast (1:11.36) and free (57.80) splits to take the lead by the 300 mark. With that swim, Hussein dominated the comfort closing by over 2 seconds.
Olympus Aquatics’ Abe Astle got here in 4th within the mens’ 400 IM, swimming a 3:50.05 to drop 4.31 seconds on the day. Astle, a BYU commit, entered with a finest of three:54.36, which he lowered to three:51.30 in prelims, earlier than shaving one other second off in finals. One other stellar efficiency within the 400 IM got here out of the ‘C’ closing, the place Tsunami Swim Crew’s Whitaker Steward swam a 3:50.20 to take the win. Steward, a junior who’s dedicated to Tennessee, was seeded with a 3:55.37 — a private finest that he swam on the 2023 version of this meet.
Within the 100 fly, 16-year-old Emma Bronson got here in seventh within the championship closing after being seeded 63rd with a protracted course time of 1:02.60. With Bronson’s earlier finest SCY time being a 55.00, she dropped almost 2 seconds on the day.
Within the males’s version of the occasion, Air Power commit Evan Witte swam a 47.25 to win the comfort closing. He dropped 2.86 seconds in a single day, as he entered this meet with a PB of fifty.11—a time he swam at Winter Junior’s final yr in a time trial. He first lower 2.37 seconds, clocking a 47.74 in prelims, earlier than shaving one other half second off in finals to retain the highest seed of the ‘B’ closing.
The 200 free noticed Liberty Clark, and Indiana commit, drop 1.99 seconds off her earlier better of 1:47.75. With a closing time of 1:45.76, Clark positioned 4th general. Two different spectacular swims got here out of the ‘C’ closing, as Avery Dillon took the win in 1:47.86 to interrupt each the 1:48 and 1:49 barrier for the primary time. She entered this meet with a finest time of 1:49.40, matched that to the hundredth in prelims, then cut up 53.21/54.65 to set an enormous private finest. Second in that very same closing was 15-year-old Stella Canoles, who had a PB of 1:50.02 earlier than in the present day. She lowered that to a 1:49.20 in prelims, then lowered it once more in finals for a 1:48.68.
ASU commit Noah Mudadu took 4th within the comfort closing for the 200 free, and he broke a number of obstacles within the course of. Heading into Winter Juniors Madadu had a better of 1:38.18, a time he had simply established final month on the Nevada State Championships, and his PB earlier than this season was 1:42.66. Tonight, the Sandpipers of Nevada swimmer swam to a 1:36.95 to drop over 5 seconds simply this season.
15-year-old Mia Su made waves within the comfort closing for the 100 breast, the place she broke the 1:01 barrier for the primary time in her profession. After reducing her 1:01.50 PB to a 1:01.23 in prelims, Su swam a 1:00.86 in finals for third within the ‘B’ closing.
Badger Aquatics’ Sam Wolf hit a brand new PB in his 100 breast by over a second to win the comfort closing. He introduced his 54.80 PB to a 54.34 in prelims, then lowered it even additional in finals—by almost a full second—to a 53.42.
Kamryn Meskill, a UNC commit, swam an enormous better of 53.14 within the ‘B’ closing to safe the runner-up place. She dropped over 2 seconds from her 55.30 finest set final March at a sectionals meet. One other fast swim within the 100 again got here from 14-year-old Daniela Linares Danzos within the Championship closing, the place with a time of 53.64, she got here in seventh general. This was almost a second drop from her earlier better of 54.56, which was set simply final month.
Donqi Yu of the Palo Alto Swim Membership additionally had a robust exhibiting in his 100 again, as he swam a 47.66 to win the ‘B’ closing. This was over a one second enchancment from the 48.86 that he swam finally yr’s version of this meet. There, he positioned sixteenth in ‘B’ closing.
Tonight’s relay was the 4×50 free relay. Palo Alto’s Allison Liu, a 16-year-old, anchored her crew to a seventh place end with 22.44; this was over a second quicker than her finest flat begin within the 50 free, which is a 23.53. With that swim, Liu was the second quickest anchor of the sector.
Within the males’s relay, Quicksilver swimming broke the Boys’ 15-16 NAG. That swim was highlighted by Isaac Litwiller‘s anchor cut up, a 19.95, which was almost a second quicker than his flat begin better of 20.70. He was the quickest anchor in your entire subject. One other sturdy exhibiting got here from Caleb Rohacs of Pikes Peak Athletics. His cut up of 20.17 was amongst the quickest of the sector, and considerably quicker than his flat begin better of 20.73. He helped his crew to a 14th place end general.
