Speedo Winter Juniors West: Maximus Williamson, Teagan O’Dell Add More Victories on Final Day
The Winter Junior Nationals careers for Maximus Williamson and Teagan O’Dell concluded Saturday evening in Austin, Texas, with both swimmers adding their fourth wins of the competition while Williamson later claimed a fifth. Campbell McKean won his third event while Kayla Han, Gabriel Mauteufel, Madi Mintenko and Piper Enge each picked up their second wins.
Williamson triumphed in the 100 freestyle, arguably his best event. The Lakeside Aquatic Club swimmer came into the wall in 41.96, just 12-hundredths off his best time of 41.84, after previously winning the 50 and 200 free plus the 100 back. Nu Wave’s Enzo Solitario (43.12) and Alpha Aquatics’ Miles Blackson-Dunbar (43.71) rounding out the top-three.
Williamson was back for the 200 butterfly, and despite fading down the stretch, he held on for a win in 1:42.17, dropping an astounding three seconds off his best time. Santa Clara’s Shareef Elaydi placed second in 1:42.86, with Alejandro Michelena third (1:43.82).
And in one emphatic swim to conclude the meet, Williamson anchored Lakeside Aquatic Club’s 400 free relay in 40.96 to secure a win and a meet record. Lakeside already had the lead after 300 yards courtesy of Maxwell Stanislaus, Luke Garrett and Aubrey Jaya, but Williamson built his team’s lead to more than four-and-a-half seconds over Scottsdale Aquatic Club (2:58.84) and Irvine Novaquatics (2:58.90).
In the women’s 200 backstroke, Mission Viejo’s O’Dell chopped more than two seconds off her best time. Fresh off wins in the 200 IM, 200 free and 100 back, O’Dell clocked 1:49.16, a time which would have placed fourth behind Phoebe Bacon, Kennedy Noble and Bella Sims at last year’s NCAA Championships, although she was slower than Charlotte Crush (1:48.69) at the East Juniors meet. Longhorn’s Grace Rabb (1:54.12) and Palatine Park District’s Vera Coni (1:54.47) took second and third, respectively.
McKean previously had a dominant performance in the 200 IM and a tight 100 breast triumph. The Bend Swim Club swimmer was back to the big win in the 200 breast as he touched in 1:53.54, ahead of Texas Ford’s Jack Armour (1:55.18) and The Dolphins’ Andrew Eubanks (1:55.73).
In the women’s 1650 free, a pair of distance freestyle winners from the Junior Pan Pacific Championships faced off. Han, representing La Mirada Armada, finished 10 seconds ahead of Gold Medal Swim’s Paige Downey, clocking a best time of 15:56.07 in the process. Downey took second (16:06.16), with Tyler Rose Aquatics’ Madalyn Petty third (16:20.70).
Mauteufel completed the distance double with a commanding win in the 1650 free, posting a time of 14:45.58 to win the event by six seconds. Tsunami’s Whitaker Steward took second (14:51.94), and Aquajets’ Jiarui Xue placed third (15:06.71).
Pikes Peak’s Mintenko took down O’Dell to win the 100 free by a comfortable half-second margin. She clocked 47.58, just off a 47.47 prelims time that was her lifetime best by an incredible two-and-a-half seconds. O’Dell came in second (48.09), and Crow Canyon’s Liberty Clark took third (48.48).
Next up, Enge uncorked a stunning 33.39 closing split to win the 200 breaststroke by one hundredth over Beach Cities’ Bella Brito, 2:08.71 to 2:08.72. Third place went to 14-year-old Mikayla Tan of Crown Canyon, who clocked 2:09.58 to smash a 12-year-old National Age Group record previously held by Allie Szekely (2:10.22).
Palo Alto’s Kelsey Zhang concluded the women’s individual racing with a strong time of 1:54.16 in the 200 butterfly, leaving Han in second place in 1:55.89 while Alamo Area’s Montse Spielmann placed third (1:57.00).
Flatiron’s Gavin Keough dominated the men’s 200 back in 1:40.53, ahead of Terrapins’ Diego Castaneda (1:43.86) and Olympus’ Abe Astle (1:44.41).
Bellevue won the women’s 400 free relay in 3:16.84 with a team of Kamryn Meskill, Heather White, Sophia Sunwoo and Alex McDevitt. Mission Viejo, with O’Dell leading off in 47.74, took second in 3:17.15, followed by Lakeside Aquatic Club (3:17.15). The