Thursday, August 5, 2021
Elevation Athletics Sets NAG Record, Young Talents Displayed in Greensboro at Speedo Summer Champs Night Two
The 2021 Speedo Summer Championships rolled into its second day between Greensboro and Irvine, and saw yet another National Age Group Record fall, multiple U.S. National Team members win races and more.
More from a fast second night:
Another Relay National Age Group Record Goes Down (Irvine)
For the second-consecutive time in as many days, a National Age Group record went down in a relay event at the Speedo Summer Championships. While yesterday’s record-breaking swim came in the men’s 4x100m freestyle, today’s came in Irvine in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Elevation Athletics’ team of Indigo Armon, Morgan Lukinac, Karolina Bank and Mary Codevilla teamed up to go a 3:47.82, breaking the previous 17-18 National Age Group record previously set by Dynamo Swim Club in 2013.
“They all swam awesome,” said Elevation Aquatics coach, Eric Stefanski. “It (NAG record) was something we have been shooting for since Sectionals when they put up a great time, and we knew with a little bit extra rest and being more fresh than we were at Sectionals that this was something we could get for sure. They put it all together and swam awesome tonight.”
Men’s National Teamers Stand Atop Podium (Greensboro)
A pair of U.S. National Team members earned wins at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, as Charlie Swanson (Richmond, Va./Club Wolverine) won the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:09.85 and Sam Stewart (Hattiesburg, Miss./YMCA Hub Fins) won the 200m backstroke in 1:59.52.
“It felt really good, I wanted to go faster than I did at Trials,” Swanson said. “I was able to go better times, so it feels good to have a first swim and best time by almost a second. I didn’t go a best time at Trials so hopefully I can do that again in my other events.”
“It was really important race for me,” Stewart said. “I haven’t gotten the chance to do a 200 back this season so I just wanted to come here and swim a tapered race and have fun.”
Kozan Opens Competition with a Win… Again (Irvine)
U.S. National Junior Team member Justina Kozan (Brea, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores) is now 2/2 on wins in the opening event of the session. After touching first in the inaugural event of yesterday’s session (women’s 200m butterfly), Kozan opened today’s session with another win in the first event, the women’s 200m freestyle.
Kozan’s 1:58.14 performance in the 200m freestyle this evening was nearly three seconds ahead of the Irvine field and was four one-hundredths off her personal best.
“I thought it was a really good race,” she said. “I was around my best time. I liked how I swam it, and I went out fast and I did what my coach wanted me to.”
Ramey Continues to Drop Time (Greensboro)
Jo Jo Ramey, the 16-year-old from Fishers Area Swimming Tigers, continues to wow audiences with her times in the pool, this time by posting a 2:09.34 to finish first in the women’s 200m backstroke. She was nearly two seconds ahead the rest of the Greensboro field and posted the third 2:09 swim of her young career.
“Honestly, I was just trying to stick to my race strategy,” Ramey said. “It hurt a little more than this morning, but we’ve been working towards it all season so I’m glad the time finally came."
Ramey was the youngest swimmer in the A Final of the event at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming back in June and is continuing to showcase her bright future in the event.
14-Year-Old Surges Past Field (Irvine)
After Ramey won the women’s 200m backstroke in Greensboro, Teagan O’Dell (West Covina, Calif./Irvine Novaquatics) claimed the event in Irvine in 2:09.57. The blistering speed is good for the second-fastest swim ever in the 13-14 age group.
“I was really trying to go for the Missy Franklin NAG 2:09.1,” O’Dell said. “Unfortunately, I missed it – but hey, I mean I still dropped. It was a great swim, it felt good. I had the girls next to me pushing me so that was nice.”
Young Swimmers Shine in the East (Greensboro)
After winning yesterday’s 800-meter freestyle, Claire Weinstein (White Plains, N.Y./Westchester Aquatic Club) recorded another first-place finish today, this time coming in the 200m freestyle. Her time of 1:59.56 was the only swim in the Greensboro field under 2:00, marking the sixth time she has gone sub-2:00 in her career.
“It’s pretty cool to get the second win,” Weinstein said. “There are a lot of fast people at this meet so it’s nice to place. But I had more of a plan going into this one, usually I like to go out and really build each 50 but I wanted to take it out faster. I haven’t seen my splits so I don’t know what I did but it was just nice to have all these fast people to race.”
Weinstein’s performance wasn’t the only strong showing from emerging athletes in Greensboro, as the winning women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team (Long Island Aquatic Club) featured two 16-year-olds (Tess Howley and Cavan Gormsen), an 18-year-old (Joanie Cash) and a 19-year-old (Chloe Stepanek). The team went 3:43.59 to touch first by over half a second.
Competition resumes tomorrow, all information can be found here.
More from a fast second night:
Another Relay National Age Group Record Goes Down (Irvine)
For the second-consecutive time in as many days, a National Age Group record went down in a relay event at the Speedo Summer Championships. While yesterday’s record-breaking swim came in the men’s 4x100m freestyle, today’s came in Irvine in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Elevation Athletics’ team of Indigo Armon, Morgan Lukinac, Karolina Bank and Mary Codevilla teamed up to go a 3:47.82, breaking the previous 17-18 National Age Group record previously set by Dynamo Swim Club in 2013.
“They all swam awesome,” said Elevation Aquatics coach, Eric Stefanski. “It (NAG record) was something we have been shooting for since Sectionals when they put up a great time, and we knew with a little bit extra rest and being more fresh than we were at Sectionals that this was something we could get for sure. They put it all together and swam awesome tonight.”
Men’s National Teamers Stand Atop Podium (Greensboro)
A pair of U.S. National Team members earned wins at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, as Charlie Swanson (Richmond, Va./Club Wolverine) won the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:09.85 and Sam Stewart (Hattiesburg, Miss./YMCA Hub Fins) won the 200m backstroke in 1:59.52.
“It felt really good, I wanted to go faster than I did at Trials,” Swanson said. “I was able to go better times, so it feels good to have a first swim and best time by almost a second. I didn’t go a best time at Trials so hopefully I can do that again in my other events.”
“It was really important race for me,” Stewart said. “I haven’t gotten the chance to do a 200 back this season so I just wanted to come here and swim a tapered race and have fun.”
Kozan Opens Competition with a Win… Again (Irvine)
U.S. National Junior Team member Justina Kozan (Brea, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores) is now 2/2 on wins in the opening event of the session. After touching first in the inaugural event of yesterday’s session (women’s 200m butterfly), Kozan opened today’s session with another win in the first event, the women’s 200m freestyle.
Kozan’s 1:58.14 performance in the 200m freestyle this evening was nearly three seconds ahead of the Irvine field and was four one-hundredths off her personal best.
“I thought it was a really good race,” she said. “I was around my best time. I liked how I swam it, and I went out fast and I did what my coach wanted me to.”
Ramey Continues to Drop Time (Greensboro)
Jo Jo Ramey, the 16-year-old from Fishers Area Swimming Tigers, continues to wow audiences with her times in the pool, this time by posting a 2:09.34 to finish first in the women’s 200m backstroke. She was nearly two seconds ahead the rest of the Greensboro field and posted the third 2:09 swim of her young career.
“Honestly, I was just trying to stick to my race strategy,” Ramey said. “It hurt a little more than this morning, but we’ve been working towards it all season so I’m glad the time finally came."
Ramey was the youngest swimmer in the A Final of the event at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming back in June and is continuing to showcase her bright future in the event.
14-Year-Old Surges Past Field (Irvine)
After Ramey won the women’s 200m backstroke in Greensboro, Teagan O’Dell (West Covina, Calif./Irvine Novaquatics) claimed the event in Irvine in 2:09.57. The blistering speed is good for the second-fastest swim ever in the 13-14 age group.
“I was really trying to go for the Missy Franklin NAG 2:09.1,” O’Dell said. “Unfortunately, I missed it – but hey, I mean I still dropped. It was a great swim, it felt good. I had the girls next to me pushing me so that was nice.”
Young Swimmers Shine in the East (Greensboro)
After winning yesterday’s 800-meter freestyle, Claire Weinstein (White Plains, N.Y./Westchester Aquatic Club) recorded another first-place finish today, this time coming in the 200m freestyle. Her time of 1:59.56 was the only swim in the Greensboro field under 2:00, marking the sixth time she has gone sub-2:00 in her career.
“It’s pretty cool to get the second win,” Weinstein said. “There are a lot of fast people at this meet so it’s nice to place. But I had more of a plan going into this one, usually I like to go out and really build each 50 but I wanted to take it out faster. I haven’t seen my splits so I don’t know what I did but it was just nice to have all these fast people to race.”
Weinstein’s performance wasn’t the only strong showing from emerging athletes in Greensboro, as the winning women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team (Long Island Aquatic Club) featured two 16-year-olds (Tess Howley and Cavan Gormsen), an 18-year-old (Joanie Cash) and a 19-year-old (Chloe Stepanek). The team went 3:43.59 to touch first by over half a second.
Competition resumes tomorrow, all information can be found here.