Swimming World To Stream Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships

PHILADELPHIA – This year marks the 115th annual Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships, and the meet will once again feature some of the best athletes from independent schools around the nation in one of the most prestigious high school meets in the country.

The meet will take place at La Salle University for two days of racing. The meet will feature six swimming events Friday and the remaining five on Saturday. Swimming World will be producing the live stream of the event, with Jeff Commings providing live play-by-play commentary for prelims and finals.

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Whitley and Vissering’s matchup in the 100 breast on Saturday is bound to be one of the meet’s highlights. The two will chase not only the win, but Jacob Molacek’s national high school record of 52.92. Vissering held that national record briefly last year before Molacek broke it, and just missed it two weeks ago at the DC Metro championships with a 53.22. Whitley is within striking distance of the national record as well with a lifetime best 53.06 from last December’s Tom Dolan Invitational. Also in jeopardy is 1992 Olympic gold medalist Nelson Deibel’s meet record of 54.35 from 1990 that once stood as the national high school record.

Another big name to watch is Matthew Hirschberger, making his Easterns debut this weekend. Hirschberger, like Vissering, competed at the DC Metros meet and broke 4:20 for the first time in the 500 free with a 4:17.13 in the prelims. Can he get closer to Sean Grieshop’s national age group record of 4:16.59 in the 15-16 age group? Though he’s seeded second in the event this weekend behind Germantown’s Andrew Abruzzo with a 4:29.29, expect Hirschberger to dominate the field and challenge Arthur Frayler’s meet record of 4:17.96.

The team battles are likely to come down to the final events as well. Can the Episcopal School end Germantown’s run as the best women’s team in the meet? Germantown will have some extra motivation to perform at their best, as the meet will officially mark Richard Shoulberg’s departure from the team. A tribute to Shoulberg will take place during the meet, highlighting a massively impressive career that included more than success at the high school level.

On the boys’ side, look for the Peddie School to get a challenge from Georgetown Prep for the championship title. With Vissering and Hirschberger on the squad, Georgetown Prep is looking for its first team victory at Easterns.

Emma Seiberlich is likely to continue her run toward four meet victories in the 100 backstroke this year. After winning by more than a second last year as a freshman, Seiberlich looks to widen the gap from her competitors this year. Seiberlich is also the top seed in the 100 butterfly, but by just one hundredth of a second over Mercersburg’s Lauren Greenberg.

With such historic names such as Gustavo Borges, Mel Stewart and Grace Cornelius on the record list for the meet, breaking records at the Eastern Interscholastic swimming and diving championships is not easy but two could fall this year. Look for Germantown’s Shannon McKernan to take down the seven-year-old record of 1:46.60 in the 200 freestyle by Katie Riefenstahl after just missing it last year. With this being her final chance, McKernan might use prelims and finals as opportunities to break the record.

Grant Goddard of Georgetown likely has his sights on Stewart’s 100 butterfly record of 48.09 from 1987. Goddard has a personal best of 48.65, and the senior might find some competition from Malvern Prep junior Billy Beard. Goddard was third in last year’s event, and will look for the win.

The prelims session begins each day at 8 a.m. Eastern time, with finals set to begin at 5 p.m. The webcast will be available on SwimmingWorld.TV, with on-demand video to be posted on the event landing page shortly after each session.

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