Schirk Topples Pair of Backstroke Records at YMCA Long Course Nationals

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland, USA, August 3. WHEN the YMCA Long Course Nationals were held in Maryland last week, there was no shortage of stellar performances uncorked in the 50-meter pool at the University of Maryland. Certainly, a handful of the athletes present have the ability to, one day, make an impact on the international scene.

Headed for Penn States University and coming off a sterling scholastic career at Owen J. Roberts High School in Pennsylvania, Patrick Schirk registered a pair of national YMCA records in the backstroke events. A member of the National Junior Team, Schirk blazed 56.63 in the 100-meter back, lowering the 57.42 mark of Jayme Cramer, set in 2001. For good measure, Schirk covered the 200 distance in 2:01.69, well under the former standard of 2:03.58, and also won the 50 back.

On the female side, 13-year-old Felicia Lee set a YMCA record in the 100 butterfly, as the Montclair (N.J.) standout posted a time of 1:02.48. That time bettered the 1:03.22 swim of West Shore’s Tricia Weaner in 2004. Meanwhile, Ashley Jones of Joliet (Ill.) turned in a sensational swim in the 200 back, as she notched a time of 2:16.42. Jones also won the 50 back, 100 back (1:04.16) and the 200 individual medley (2:22.16).

Aside from Schirk, a male YMCA record was toppled by South Shore’s Pat Reams, who clocked 55.43 in the 100 butterfly to dip under the former record of 55.57. For the women, Boyertown’s Emily Christy established a YMCA standard in the 200 fly, as she went 2:15.81, under the former record of 2:16.33.

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