It was a fast second night of swimming at the Southern Zone Speedo Sectional Series in Austin, Texas. The meet, which runs July 7 – 10, 2016 is a preliminary/final event hosted by Longhorn Aquatics.
Tonight’s main highlight was that Sydney Pickrem racked up two wins in a very strenuous double: the 200 breaststroke and 400 IM.
Women’s 200 Meter Breaststroke:
Kicking off the first event of the session was the women’s 200 breast. Sydney Pickrem (AGS) was the only swimmer to break the 2:30 mark, for a winning 2:29.25 time. Second went to Franko Jonker at a 2:32.16. Lillian Benwell (ASC) took third and seven tenths off her time with a 2:38.45.
Men’s 200 Meter Breaststroke:
Mauro Castillo Luna (AGS) lead the field in the finals of the men’s 200 breast, touching the wall over three seconds ahead of his competition in a 2:17.45. David Moore (SASA) posted a respectable 2:20.55 for second, while Tristen Disibio (LAC) cut a half-second from his entry time for third in a 2:22.05.
Women’s 200 Meter Freestyle:
Haley Yelle (MAC) overcame Ellery Parish (SASA) for the women’s 200 free win. Yelle touched the wall first in a 2:03.19, while Parish faded the second half of the race and touched second in a 2:03.71. 15-year-old Ella Collins (ASC) took a second and a half off her entry time for third in a 2:04.69. Fourth-place Hannah Feng also clocked a second and a half drop with a final 2:05.19 time.
Men’s 200 Meter Freestyle:
Winning the finals heat by over a second was LCA’s Nicholas Carlson in a 1:52.85. Grant Reed (TXLA) touched second in a 1:53.89 after a very evenly split 55-58 race. Third went to Alexander Zettle (LAC) in a 1:54.19. Alamo’s Zachary Yeadon took a half second off his entry time for fourth in a 1:55.06.
Women’s 400 Meter IM:
Sydney Pickrem (AGS) blew away the field, winning the A-finals by over ten seconds in a 4:45.16. Although the time is seven seconds over her 4:38.03 entry time, she was still nine seconds under the Olympic Trials cut (4:54.99), and the only one under the time standard in her field. Second in the race went to RICE’s Kaitlyn Swinney in a 4:55.78, who took the race out with Pickrem in the butterfly. Third went to last night’s 200 butterfly champion Dakota Luther in a very impressive 4:57.21 time. Luther took 18.73 seconds off her entry time for the placing.
Men’s 400 Meter IM:
4:32.11 was the time to beat in the men’s 400 IM finals. It came down to a touch, but Beau Fusilier took the title, just 6 one-hundredths ahead of Matthew Willenbring (ASC), who touched second in a 4:32.17. Willenbring cut 6.23 seconds off his entry time for silver. Third went to Grant Thompson in a 4:36.69, over a second off his entry time.
Women’s 200 Meter Medley Relay:
The Austin Swim Club A- team of Kendall Shields, Lillian Benwell, Dakota Luther and Ella Collins took the win in a 1:58.94. They were the only team to break the two-minute mark, cutting 3.80 seconds off their entry time. Second place went to the Lakeside Aquatic Club’s A-team in a 2:00.32, while third went to Texas Ford Aquatics’ A-team in a 2:01.15. Texas took an impressive 3.27 seconds off their entry time to place.
Men’s 200 Meter Medley Relay:
The Lakeside Aquatic Club (LAC) A- team of Ethan Kramer, Tristen Disibio, Alvin Jiang and Alexander Zettle took the win in a 1:46.22, just ahead of the North Texas Nadadores’ A- team. The Nadadores were just a few tenths off the winning team, touching second in a 1:46.63. Third went to Streamline Aquatics’ A-team in a 1:48.56.
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