National H.S. 200 IM Record Falls Again; Ella Eastin Claims Mark With Video

RIVERSIDE, California, May 10. FOR the third time in less than three months, the national independent high school record in the girls' 200 individual medley has been broken, this time at the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section Division 3 championships at the hands of Ella Eastin.

Eastin, a sophomore at Crean Lutheran, swam a 1:55.15 in the 200 IM final, taking down the national record of 1:56.31 set by Delaware's Kaitlyn Jones in March. The first time the record was broken this high school season was by Missy Franklin with a 1:56.86 in February.

Eastin's record splits:
Butterfly: 24.71
Backstroke: 28.94
Breaststroke: 33.50
Freestyle: 28.00

The independent school record continues to inch closer to Dagny Knuston's overall and public national high school record of 1:53.82, set in 2009. The key legs in Eastin's record-breaking swim were butterfly and breaststroke, as she outsplit Jones and Franklin by more than a second. Eastin's best before this season was 1:56.93 from last December's junior national championships, where she placed second.

Eastin told Dan Albano of the Orange Country Register yesterday that she had been suffering from a sinus infection, but put that behind her for Thursday race.

“God puts you in hard situations,” she told Albano. “You can be bitter about it, or you can be better. So, I just kept positive, and I'm really glad I did.”

Video of the race and post-race interview, courtesy of OCVarsity.com

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