Katie Ledecky Scares 1000 Free American Record To Close Speedo Tom Dolan Invitational

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr

COLLEGE PARK – The 1000-yard freestyle has become Katie Ledecky’s white whale.

The 17-year-old has all of the distance freestyle records imaginable, but she hasn’t been able to put together a swim to take down Katie Hoff’s incredible 9:10.77. Tonight at the Speedo Tom Dolan Invitational, Ledecky posted the third-fastest performance in history with a 9:11.52.

Ledecky was three seconds under pace after 500 yards with a 4:34.06, but Hoff’s blistering final 200 was too much for even Ledecky, as she fell off the pace after 900 yards. Ledecky has been faster, with a 9:11.31 from this past November.

Ledecky’s splits tonight, by 100 yards:
52.13, 1:47.86, 2:43.18, 3:38.53, 4:34.06, 5:29.50, 6:25.23, 7:21.28, 8:17.19, 9:11.52

Hoff’s record splits, by 100 yards:
53.73, 1:49.87, 2:45.83, 3:41.50, 4:37.02, 5:32.24, 6:27.23, 7:22.05, 8:16.93, 9:10.77

Madison Homovich of North Carolina Aquatics put up a lifetime best 9:42.80 to place second overall, while Megan Byrnes of Nation’s Capital was third with a 9:47.22.

Ledecky was back in the pool about an hour later in the 100 free final and won with a 48.31, a new lifetime best. Morgan Hill of Machine Aquatics was second with a 49.42 while Suzanne Dolan of Machine was third with a 49.97.

Andrew Seliskar also won two events to close out his meet, starting with a 1:41.37 in the 200 back that ranks ninth in the 17-18 age group just ahead of Michael Phelps. He finished by chasing his lifetime best of 1:43.22 in the 200 IM but a wobbly butterfly turn might have been the reason he finished with a 1:43.26.

The runner-up in the boys’ open 200 back was Chelsea Piers’ John Montesi with a 1:47.26, while Wade O’Brien of NOVA of Virginia was third with a 1:48.34. Grant Goddard of NCAP was second to Seliskar in the 200 IM with a 1:48.98, while Aaron Schultz of NOVA of Virginia was third in 1:49.46.

In the boys’ open 1000 free, Nation’s Capital’s Matthew Hirschberger got under nine minutes for the first time with an 8:58.21 to win. James Murphy of Machine Aquatics was challenged in the final 500 yards by NCAP’s Gavin Springer but held on to win with a 9:10.04 to Springer’s 9:10.62.

Greg Brocato of Central Bucks took the 100 free out in 20.97 to put himself in position to break 44 seconds, but fell short with a winning time of 44.12. Murphy showed his freestyle range with another second-place finish with a 44.85, while Asphalt Green’s Vince Regent was third with a 45.18.

Allie Szekely won two more events to close out another successful year at the Tom Dolan Invitational. She took the 200 backstroke with a 1:53.36 then closed out her meet with a 1:57.68 in the 200 IM. Her 200 back is just inside the top 10 performances of all time in the 15-16 age group, while her 200 IM ranks her in the top 15.

Finishing second to Szekely in the 200 back was Annie Boone of Nation’s Capital with a 1:56.79. Emily Cornell of Suburban Seahawks was third with a 1:59.21. In the 200 IM, Cassidy Bayer led after butterfly but couldn’t match Szekely’s middle 100 and was second with a 1:58.87. Anna Belousova of Asphalt Green was third with a 2:02.56.

Nation’s Capital couldn’t be caught in the boys’ open relays, with the host team winning the 200 medley relay with a 1:31.19 and the 400 free relay with a 3:00.84.

In the girls’ open relays, Nation’s Capital won the 200 medley relay with a 1:44.03 and the 400 free relay went to Machine Aquatics with a 3:23.73, just two tenths ahead of Nation’s Capital (3:24.05).

13-14 age group finals

Alex Sumner won two events tonight, taking the 200 back with a 1:57.88 and the 200 IM in 2:05.29. Katie Mack of NCAP was second in the 200 IM with a 2:00.34, while Lauren Meeker of NOVA took third in 2:02.37. Finishing second to Sumner in the 200 IM was Kate Douglass of Westchester with a 2:05.44 and in third was Morgan Scott of Central Bucks with a 2:05.55.

Scott won the 100 free with a 50.97, a full second ahead of the 51.99 posted buy Machine’s Olivia Schmid to finish second. Mack was third with a 52.33.

Reece Whitley closed out a meet that included two national age group records in the breaststrokes and a 400 IM victory with a 1:49.02 in the 200 IM. Though a long way from Michael Andrew’s national age group record of 1:45.29, it ranks Whitley third overall in the 13-14 age group, behind the 1:48.08 swum in 2009 by Gray Umbach. Luke Durocher of Regency Park Swim Team finished second with a 1:55.77, while Jake Johnson of Delaware Swim Team was third with a 1:55.95.

In the boys’ 200 back in the 13-14 division, Johnson held off 11-12 national age group record holder Destin Lasco of Pleasantville to take the title in 1:51.89 to Lasco’s 1:52.06. This marked Lasco’s first meet in the 13-14 age group, and appears to be on the right track to more success as he gets older. Luke Durocher finished third with a 1:55.11 for Regency Park Swim Team.

Phil Costin of Poseidon took the 100 free with a 47.19, beating out the 47.60 by Colin Reilly of Penn Charter and the 47.73 by Lasco.

Nation’s Capital won both girls’ relays, posting times of 1:47.44 in the 200 medley relay and 3:30.74 in the 400 free relay.

Poseidon took both of the boys’ relays with times of 1:40.37 in the 200 medley relay and 3:19.04 in the 400 free relay.

11-12 age group results

Two of the highlight’s of today’s competition came in the timed finals relays in the 11-12 age group. Nation’s Capital broke the 11-12 girls national age group record in the 200 free relay with a 1:38.97, thanks to the contributions of Abby Harter (24.60), Sophia Landeryou (24.83), Maya Fischer (24.81) and Allison Kopac (24.73).

In the boys’ 400 medley relay, NCAP’s squad of Ryan Catron (55.87 backstroke), Darius Truong (1:05.39 breaststroke), Leo Goldblatt (56.17 butterfly) and Brett Feyerick (52.90 freestyle) lowered the national age group record that had already belonged to them with a 3:50.33.

Chase Travis won her sixth individual event of the meet with a 1:54.12 in the 200 freestyle. Asphalt Green’s Isabel Gormley was second with a 1:55.37, while Nation’s Capital’s Allison Kopac finished third with a 1:57.26.

Gormley won the 100 IM in 59.72, with teammate Sophia Zhang also breaking 1:00 with a 59.84 for second. Lauren Aylmer of Phoenix Aquatic Club took third with a 1:01.65.

Abby Harter took the girls’ 100 fly for NCAP with a 58.20, keeping Zhang from winning yet again. Zhang was second with a 58.52, while Kopac took third with a 59.18.

Ryan Catron beat a talented field in the boys’ 100 IM with a 57.33. NCAP teammate Darius Truong also got under 58 seconds with a 57.80, while Ben Charles of Machine Aquatics took third with a 58.74. In the final event of the meet, Catron posted a 1:51.10 to win the 200 free. Leo Goldblatt of NCAP was second with a 1:53.71 while Joey Dickson of Delaware Swim Team took third with a 1:55.39.

Goldblatt added another win to his tally this weekend, posting a 56.16 in the 100 fly. Charles was right behind in second with a 56.98, while Truong was third with a 57.40.

In the boys’ 200 free relay, Nation’s Capital challenged the national age group record of 1:34.40 but fell short with a 1:35.78. Machine Aquatics (1:38.57) and Nation’s Capital (1:41.73) rounded out the top three.

10-and-under age group results

Joe Flaherty’s Dolphins’ Giulia Baroldi increased her meet win tally by two today by taking the 100 IM with a 1:05.16 over the 1:07.01 by Yilinna Collmar of Westchester and the 1:10.97 by North Carolina’s Claire Curzan. Baroldi won the 200 free as well with a 2:03.81. Ashley Kolessar of Delaware Swim Team was well back in second with a 2:09.38, while Sydney DeBaecke of Delaware was third with a 2:14.35.

Collmar won the other event for the 10-and-under girls today, posting a 1:04.94 in the 100 fly. Curzan was second with a 1:06.41, while Kira Chen of Westchester took third with a 1:09.56.

Westchester won the girls’ 200 free relay with a 1:52.99. Nation’s Capital was second with a 1:55.08 while Delaware Swim Team finished third with a 1:56.36.

In the boys’ events, Jack Maketa of Central Bucks celebrated two back-to-back wins with a 1:08.52 in the 100 IM and 1:05.54 in the 100 fly. Liam McBride of Chelsea Piers and Christian Lee of Westchester were second and third with times of 1:10.23 and 1:10.64, respectively. Collin McKenzie of Machine Aquatics was second in the 100 fly with a 1:09.96 while Lee took third with a 1:10.63.

Akira Lomvardas of Asphalt Green won the 200 free with a 2:16.06. Gabe Willis of North Carolina took second with a 2:18.02 and Landon Gentry was third with a 2:18.36 for Nation’s Capital.

Asphalt Green won the 200 free relay with a 1:55.59. Nation’s Capital was second with a 1:57.53 while Asphalt Green’s B team took third with a 1:58.19.

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