Saturday, August 7, 2021
National Age Group Record Streak Continues at Speedo Summer Championships
The fourth of five days at the Speedo Summer Championships again featured a National Age Group relay record, stroke sweeps and more.
Highlights from the fourth day:
National Age Group Relay Streak Stays Intact (Greensboro)
Every day this meet, a National Age Group record has been broken in a relay event. Today’s was courtesy of a 7:22.13 set by SwimMAC Carolina in the men’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay. The team was comprised of Tim Connery, Logan Zucker, Jacob Wimberly and Baylor Nelson.
“This record is great,” Connery said. “It’s great to do it with these guys, especially a young guy (Jacob Wimberly). I remember when I was the youngest in the group and just being on these relays meant tons to me. I really wanted to do it for him too.”
“We just really wanted to go after that record,” Nelson added. “We knew we could do it. We just trusted our training and our swims. I am really proud of it and proud of these guys. We got one more to do tomorrow so we’re not done yet. I’m really proud of all of them.”
The previous record was 7:24.52, set by Mason Manta Rays in July 2019.
Outside Smoke (Irvine)
In the first men’s event of the night, the 400m freestyle, David Johnston (Dallas, Texas/University of Texas) won from lane eight in a time of 3:52.17. Johnston shaved six seconds off his prelims time this morning.
Highlights from the fourth day:
National Age Group Relay Streak Stays Intact (Greensboro)
Every day this meet, a National Age Group record has been broken in a relay event. Today’s was courtesy of a 7:22.13 set by SwimMAC Carolina in the men’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay. The team was comprised of Tim Connery, Logan Zucker, Jacob Wimberly and Baylor Nelson.
“This record is great,” Connery said. “It’s great to do it with these guys, especially a young guy (Jacob Wimberly). I remember when I was the youngest in the group and just being on these relays meant tons to me. I really wanted to do it for him too.”
“We just really wanted to go after that record,” Nelson added. “We knew we could do it. We just trusted our training and our swims. I am really proud of it and proud of these guys. We got one more to do tomorrow so we’re not done yet. I’m really proud of all of them.”
The previous record was 7:24.52, set by Mason Manta Rays in July 2019.
Outside Smoke (Irvine)
In the first men’s event of the night, the 400m freestyle, David Johnston (Dallas, Texas/University of Texas) won from lane eight in a time of 3:52.17. Johnston shaved six seconds off his prelims time this morning.
“I wanted to be a little bit faster than that,” Johnston said of his finals time. “But of course, the win was cool. Plus, seeing my future teammate Luke Hobson get second, at (University of) Texas, is awesome. Looking forward to the 800 (freestyle) tomorrow and finishing this meet strong. It’s been a lot of fun out here.”
The time is a new personal best for Johnston by more than two seconds.
Pittsburgh and Michigan Swimmers Duke it Out in 100m Breaststroke (Greensboro)
The men’s 100m breaststroke came down to a razor’s edge finish, with two Pittsburgh-area swimmers and two Club Wolverine (Michigan) finishing inside the top four. The quartet of athletes were separated by just four tenths and saw Cooper Van der Laan’s (Australia/University of Pittsburgh) 1:00.20 out-touch Tommy Cope (Dayton, Ohio/Club Wolverine), Charlie Swanson (Richmond, Va./Club Wolverine) and Josh Matheny (Pittsburgh, Pa./Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics).
“I think this win is huge (for the University of Pittsburgh),” Van der Laan said. “We’ve put in a lot of work over the last year and starting to gain some momentum. I’m very happy with where we’re heading.
Dobler Continues to Build (Irvine)
After a fifth-place finish in the 100m breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, 19-year-old Kaitlyn Dobler continued to showcase her emerging talents by winning the west’s 100m breaststroke final in Irvine. Dobler swum a time of 1:07.46 to earn the victory.
“I wasn’t really sure where I could be at because I competed at Trials earlier this summer, and I took two weeks off after,” Dobler said. “So, getting back into it was hard, but I’m glad I had this meet as motivation. I just came here to see what I could do, and I was really happy with the results and I’m glad I made the decision to swim.”
Looze For the Wins (Greensboro)
Mackenzie Looze (Bloomington, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), daughter of Indiana Swim Club head coach and 2020 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team assistant coach Ray Looze, continues to swim on a mission in Greensboro. Today, Looze won the women’s 100m breaststroke, giving her the third win of the meet.
“That was the most fun (race) I’ve had all weekend,” Looze said. “I was just talking to Hannah (Bach, Ohio State University) and Josie (Panitz, Ohio State University) back there and talking up a storm and just hanging out. The ready room is always exciting when you have friends in there and it gets you hyped up.”
Looze has now touched first in both breaststroke events and the women’s 400m I.M. in Greensboro.
AJ Pouch Completes Breaststroke Sweep (Irvine)
After winning the west men’s 200m breaststroke yesterday, AJ Pouch (Henderson, Nev./Team Rebel Aquatics) completed the breaststroke sweep today by winning the 100m event in 1:00.63. Pouch’s time was the only swim in the west A Final who was under the 1:01 mark and gave him the third-fastest swim of his career.
“It was good,” Pouch said of his swim. “I definitely fixed some things from this morning. You know, trying to keep my head down and trying to attack the first 25 and bring it home as strong as I could — also by keeping as good of body position as I could.”
1-2 Finish for DeLoof Sisters (Greensboro)
In the A Final of the women’s 100m backstroke, sisters Ali DeLoof (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Tennessee Aquatics) and Gabby DeLoof (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Club Wolverine) posted a 1-2 finish, respectively.
“Before prelims and even tonight, I told myself to have a great start, a good breakout, a good turn and a great finish,” Ali DeLoof said. “So that’s what I was thinking the whole time. I feel like I executed that really well, so it’s super exciting.”
The two are also sisters to Catie DeLoof, who captured a silver medal as part of the U.S. women’s 4x100m freestyle relay prelim team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Competition from Greensboro and Irvine concludes tomorrow.
The men’s 100m breaststroke came down to a razor’s edge finish, with two Pittsburgh-area swimmers and two Club Wolverine (Michigan) finishing inside the top four. The quartet of athletes were separated by just four tenths and saw Cooper Van der Laan’s (Australia/University of Pittsburgh) 1:00.20 out-touch Tommy Cope (Dayton, Ohio/Club Wolverine), Charlie Swanson (Richmond, Va./Club Wolverine) and Josh Matheny (Pittsburgh, Pa./Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics).
“I think this win is huge (for the University of Pittsburgh),” Van der Laan said. “We’ve put in a lot of work over the last year and starting to gain some momentum. I’m very happy with where we’re heading.
Dobler Continues to Build (Irvine)
After a fifth-place finish in the 100m breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, 19-year-old Kaitlyn Dobler continued to showcase her emerging talents by winning the west’s 100m breaststroke final in Irvine. Dobler swum a time of 1:07.46 to earn the victory.
“I wasn’t really sure where I could be at because I competed at Trials earlier this summer, and I took two weeks off after,” Dobler said. “So, getting back into it was hard, but I’m glad I had this meet as motivation. I just came here to see what I could do, and I was really happy with the results and I’m glad I made the decision to swim.”
Looze For the Wins (Greensboro)
Mackenzie Looze (Bloomington, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), daughter of Indiana Swim Club head coach and 2020 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team assistant coach Ray Looze, continues to swim on a mission in Greensboro. Today, Looze won the women’s 100m breaststroke, giving her the third win of the meet.
“That was the most fun (race) I’ve had all weekend,” Looze said. “I was just talking to Hannah (Bach, Ohio State University) and Josie (Panitz, Ohio State University) back there and talking up a storm and just hanging out. The ready room is always exciting when you have friends in there and it gets you hyped up.”
Looze has now touched first in both breaststroke events and the women’s 400m I.M. in Greensboro.
AJ Pouch Completes Breaststroke Sweep (Irvine)
After winning the west men’s 200m breaststroke yesterday, AJ Pouch (Henderson, Nev./Team Rebel Aquatics) completed the breaststroke sweep today by winning the 100m event in 1:00.63. Pouch’s time was the only swim in the west A Final who was under the 1:01 mark and gave him the third-fastest swim of his career.
“It was good,” Pouch said of his swim. “I definitely fixed some things from this morning. You know, trying to keep my head down and trying to attack the first 25 and bring it home as strong as I could — also by keeping as good of body position as I could.”
1-2 Finish for DeLoof Sisters (Greensboro)
In the A Final of the women’s 100m backstroke, sisters Ali DeLoof (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Tennessee Aquatics) and Gabby DeLoof (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Club Wolverine) posted a 1-2 finish, respectively.
“Before prelims and even tonight, I told myself to have a great start, a good breakout, a good turn and a great finish,” Ali DeLoof said. “So that’s what I was thinking the whole time. I feel like I executed that really well, so it’s super exciting.”
The two are also sisters to Catie DeLoof, who captured a silver medal as part of the U.S. women’s 4x100m freestyle relay prelim team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Competition from Greensboro and Irvine concludes tomorrow.