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By David Rieder
ORLANDO, Florida, March 18. AQUAJETS' Rachel Bootsma put on a show during the fourth night of short course yards racing at the NCSA Junior Nationals. All finals were streamed LIVE on SwimmingWorld.TV.
Bootsma posted a 50.76 in the women's 100 back to win and move to third all-time in the event. She trails only Natalie Coughlin (49.99) and Gemma Spofforth (50.46). Blue Tide's Jillian Vitarius took second in 53.43, while Northern Kentucky's Ellen Williamson finished third in 53.57. Bootsma returned later on to win the 100 fly in 52.64. Highlander's Angela Algee grabbed second in 53.97, and Issaquah's Kathy Kinnear took third in 54.13.
Peoria Area's Matt Elliott avenged two breaststroke losses to Fox Valley's Kevin Cordes with a touch out victory in the men's 200 breast. Elliott used a 29.30 final 50 to overhaul Cordes, who split 30.01. Elliott clocked 1:56.04, to Cordes' 1:56.18, and Curl Burke's Charles Katis rounded out the sub-2:00 swims to finish third, posting a 1:59.96.
Rockville Montgomery's Jack Conger took the win in the men's 100 back in 48.40, defeating The Woodland's Gray Umbach, who took second in 48.82. Highlander's Michael Curley finished a close third in 48.86. Umbach returned later in the 100 fly take his first win of the week. Umbach clocked 47.99, while Lakeview's Clay Youngquist, a Swimming World six star recruit who had previously won the 100 free, 200 free, and 200 fly, took second in 48.47. The Woodland's Tripp Cooper finished third in 48.62, while Conger ended up fourth in 48.98.
Nova of Virginia's Rebecca Rainer took the win in the women's 200 breast over Aquajets' Abigail Duncan, clocking 2:09.99. Duncan, who earlier won both the 50 and 100 breast, led at the halfway point but faded to second in 2:11.35, ahead of Rockville Montgomery's Sarah Haase, who took third in 2:12.08. The Woodlands' Kelsey Leneave won the women's 500 free in 4:44.29. Meanwhile, Nicole Chang touched out Monocacy's Hanna Borgersen for second, 4:45.11 to 4:45.47.
Hinsdale's Daniel Thompson held off PASA's Adam Hinshaw for the win in the men's 500 free. Thompson, already the winner of the 1000 free, took the win in 4:21.98, and Thompson will seek a third win tomorrow in the 1650. Hinshaw grabbed second in 4:22.36, and Fast Lane's Justin Kaisrlik posted a 4:25.74 for third.
The Aquajets won the women's 200 free relay in 1:32.27. Heather Arseth, Duncan, and Chandra Yueh swam the first three legs, and Rachel Bootsma used a powerful 22.18 anchor split to give her team the win. On the men's side, Curl Burke's team of Sean Sullivan, Ryan Dunne, John Germanis, and Cyrus Hashemi won the 200 free relay in 1:22.99.
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