By Cathleen Pruden, Swimming World College Intern
2016 Speedo Sectionals action will continue in Jenks, Oklahoma beginning Thursday. The four day, prelims and finals meet will be a busy one, with at least 100 entrants in the majority of events. The long course meters meet may be the first long course opportunity of the season for many, and will be a great opportunity for swimmers to chase Olympic Trials cuts.
Laura Galazara, an unattached 22 year old, is one of those swimmers clearly in the hunt for her ticket to Omaha. She is the top seed in the 100 freestyle (57.22), and is one of three swimmers within one second of that cut. Her second seeded 50 freestyle (26.38), could be her best shot at the 26.19 qualifying time, a race in which she will also have competition from top seed, 16 year old Bailey Grinter (26.05).
There are a few women in striking distance of the 400 freestyle Trials cut of 4:17.99. Jordan Stout, Genevieve Pfeifer, Taylor Pike, and Christine Blomquist are all under 4:20. With four women so close, multiple swimmers could see success when they all race in finals. Pike, who set an Arkansas high school state record in the 100 butterfly last weekend, will also race the 200 fly, an event in which she is already four seconds under the qualification standard.
Missouri State’s Lauren Pavel is incredibly close to the 100 breaststroke cut, entered with a 1:11.53, just four hundredths away from the 1:11.49.
On the men’s side, there are a number of swimmers seeking their trip to Omaha, as well.
In the 100 butterfly, four swimmers are nearing the 54.79 qualification time. 2012 Kuwait Olympian Yousef Alaskari leads the way in 54.93, followed by Kyle Ward (55.03), Martin Wallace (55.14), and Magnus Poulsen (55.15). In the longer butterfly race, Wallace is seeded in 2:02.05, just a hair off the 2:01.99 Trials mark.
Seth Musser (57.26) is less than a tenth from the 100 backstroke Trials cut of 57.19. With two swimmers in the race (Paul Le, and Sean Feher) who have already achieved the time standard, Musser should hopefully have good competition.
Two 50 freestylers, Logan Lassley and Le, are already Trials qualifiers in the event, but Feher (23.56) and Mitchell Forde (23.69) are certainly aiming to join them under the 23.29 mark.
Full psych sheet available here: 2016 Speedo Sectionals: Jenks Psych Sheet – Results
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