Maxime Rooney Clears 50-Second Mark in 100 Meter Freestyle During Day Two Prelims of Junior National Championships

jrs_maxime_rooney-2015-usa-swimming-juniors
Photo Courtesy: Donna Nelson

Pleasanton’s Maxime Rooney turned heads this morning at the Northside Aquatics Center with a 49.67 personal best time in the prelims of the men’s 100 freestyle at USA Swimming’s 2015 Summer Junior National Championships. Rooney, who is committed to University of Florida, cut eight tenths off his previous personal best (50.44) set at the 2014 Phillips 66 National Championships. Just tenths separate Rooney from Vladimir Morozov’s 2009 Junior National meet record (49.06).

Women’s 200 backstroke

Although Kylie Stewart’s 2:09.04 200 backstroke meet record (2013) is safe for the moment, three swimmers are poised for a battle in the 200 backstroke finals. Emma Seiberlich’s bronze-medal finish in the 200 butterfly last night may have given her the motivation her to cut nearly a half-second off her meet entry time and snag the top seed in the 200 backstroke with a 2:12.43. Nashville Aquatic’s Alex Walsh is just a few tenths behind Seiberlich, with a 2:12.67. Waves Bloomington’s preliminary top seed Grace Ariola cruised to an easy third seed with a 2:14.23. Expect a dynamic race between these top three seeds in the finals tonight.

Men’s 200 backstroke

Lincoln Select’s Brennan Balogh and Cheyenne Mountain’s Daniel Carr, the top two entries in the men’s 200 backstroke, failed to qualify for the A-finals after a tight morning race. Instead, Sarasota YMCA’s Austin Katz slipped into the top spot after cutting nearly a second off his entry time with a 2:01.62. Katz was the only qualifier to swim under a 2:02, and the A-final looks to be a close race with only a 1.5 second spread between the top qualifier and eighth seed. Austin Swim Club’s Josh Artmann swam a nearly identical entry time of 2:02.08 this morning for the second seed and Crawfish Aquatic’s Sam Stewart claimed the third seed with a 2:02.37 morning swim. It will be a tough feat for any of the seeded men to claim Alexander Katz’ 1:58.83 meet record, set in 2013.

Women’s 100 freestyle

Missy Franklin’s 2009 54.03 100 freestyle meet record seems safe for the moment after the completion of the women’s prelims. Y-Spartaquatics’ Katrina Konopka posted a very respectable 55.29 to claim the top seed in tonight’s finals. Waves Bloomington’s Melissa Phish cut a full second from her 56.90 entry time to qualify second with a 55.91. Rounding out the top three is Caroline McTaggart, of All Star Aquatics, with a 55.93.

Men’s 100 freestyle

Maxime Rooney cleared the 50 second mark in the 100 freestyle with a 49.67, setting the tone for tonight’s A-final. This incredible morning swim cut nearly eight tenths off his 50.44 entry time. Although he has a way to go to erase Vladimir Morozov’s incredible 49.06 meet record, set in 2010, Rooney goes into tonight’s finals with an impressive lead ahead of Michael Andrew’s 50.23 second-place seed and Michael Jensen’s 50.53 third-place seed.

Women’s 400 IM

Socal Aquatic’s Ella Eastin is poised for her second win of the meet after qualifying first in the 400 IM with a morning swim of 4:49.58. Although her preliminary time is over 10 seconds slower than her meet record best (4:38.97, set in 2013), Eastin merely needed to cruise this morning to qualify top in the A-finals.  Tonight’s race will be for second, with five swimmers in the hunt: Kelly Fertel (4:50.10), Nora McCullagh (4:50.19), Isabel Ivey (4:50.53), Christin Rockaway (4:50.62) and Regan Barney (4:51.13) whose entry time of a 4:47.00 puts her in serious contention for the silver medal in tonight’s finals.

Men’s 400 IM

Top meet entry Mark Jurek (Arizona Gold) failed to qualify for the A-final after adding six seconds from his 4:22.91 entry time. Instead, Greater Miami’s Mark Andrew took the top spot in the A-final with an impressive 4:23.59. AZ Gold’s Antonio Ramirez qualified second with a 4:25.11 and SwimAtlanta’s Cody Bekemeyer qualified third with a 4:25.18. Also battling in the top eight tonight are Sean Lee (4:26.19), Spencer Lehman (4:26.57), Joe Molinari (4:26.88), Noah Cairns (4:27.24) and Stephen Holmquist (4:27.77).

2015 USA Swimming Summer Junior Nationals: Day 2 Prelims – Results

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