Three Age Group Records Fall On Day Three of Speedo Tom Dolan Invitational

Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com

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COLLEGE PARK – Three was a magic number on Saturday at the Speedo Tom Dolan Invitational, as three national age group records were reset at the University of Maryland. Reece Whitley and Andrew Seliskar were responsible for two of them, with Seliskar making a run at the American and U.S. Open records in the 200 butterfly as well.

The first age group record of the day came in the boys’ 11-12 200 medley relay. The squad of Ryan Catron (26.05 backstroke), Darius Truong (29.73 breaststroke), Leo Goldblatt (25.20 butterfly) and Brett Feyerick (23.76 freestyle) dominated the timed-final event today with a 1:44.74. That took more than a second off the national age group record of 1:46.05 swum earlier this year by Tualatin Hills Swim Club. Well behind NCAP in second was Machine Aquatics with a 1:50.15, while the NCAP B team was third with a 1:52.10.

As he did in the 100 breaststroke on Friday, Reece Whitley broke the national age group record in the 200 breast for the 13-14 age group twice today, starting with a 1:57.87 to beat his own record of 1:58.39 from earlier this year. The 14-year-old representing Penn Charter Aquatic Club was back with a vengeance in the final, winning with a 1:55.52. Whitley’s splits per 50 yards were: 26.79, 29.42, 29.52, 29.79. As he’s turning 15 years old in a few months, he’ll start turning his focus toward Seliskar’s NAG of 1:54.87 in the 15-16 age group.

The crowd held its breath as Seliskar raced the 200 fly in prelims. The Nation’s Capital Swim Club standout posted a 1:41.72, just missing Tom Shields’ national age group record of 1:41.52 for the 17-18 age group. Seliskar had bigger ambitions than a national age group record. In the final, he challenged the American and U.S. Open records in the event, going out in 22.13 at the 50 yards to get under record pace. But each successive 50 yards got him further from becoming just the fourth man under 1:40 in the event, and he won with a 1:41.33. His splits of 22.13, 26.08, 25.82 and 27.30 showed that his final 50 will need some work, but shows promise as he prepares to wrap his high school swimming career before heading to UC-Berkeley in the fall.

It was an exciting race for second, as NOVA of Virginia teammates Ted Schubert and David Dixon tied with times of 1:46.97.

Open age group finals

Nation’s Capital’s Cassidy Bayer, now 15 years old, swam a lifetime best 1:55.53 in the 200 butterfly to win the event. She owns the 13-14 NAG with a 1:56.01, swum last year at this meet, and will start putting in the work to break Mary T. Meagher’s 15-16 NAG record of 1:52.99 swum in 1981. Teammates Kylie Jordan and Allison Goldblatt broke two minutes to finish second and third with times of 1:59.16 and 1:59.60, respectively.

The top two seeds in the women’s 50 free, Bayer and Hannah Baker, were unable to get into the top three in the final, as Poseidon’s Casey Fanz won with a 22.58, under 23 seconds for the first time. Morgan Hill of Machine Aquatics tok second with a 22.70 (another first-time swim under 23 seconds) while Hill’s teammate Suzanne Dolan also got under 23 with a 22.88 for third.

Allie Szekely won two events tonight. She started out with a 2:10.74 in the 200 breast in a hard-fought battle over Asphalt Green’s Anna Belousova, who dropped five seconds off her lifetime best for second with a 2:10.87. Natalie Purnell of Nation’s Capital was third with a 2:16.15. Szekely returned to take another win in the 100 back with a lifetime best 53.37. She needed that to beat Nation’s Capital’s Annie Boone, who was second with a 53.80. Lexi Souther of SwimMAC Carolina took third with a 54.65.

Two days after winning the 1650 free in a major personal best, Megan Byrnes of Nation’s Capital won the 500 free with a 4:43.92, beating her lifetime best by exactly a second. Madion Homovich of North Carolina Aquatics tried to catch Byrnes in the closing stages, but could only post a 4:46.15 for second. Isabella Rongione of NCAP was third with a 4:49.11.

In the men’s open events, James Jones stirred the crowd by posting a lifetime best 19.95 to win the 50 free. He just beat his previous lifetime best of 19.99 from last March’s NCSA junior nationals. Greg Brocato of Central Bucks and John Shebat of Nation’s Capital almost joined him under the 20-second barrier, tying for second with times of 20.09.

About an hour after his 200 fly, Seliskar nearly got another lifetime best, this time in the 200 breaststroke with a 1:52.95. He owns a 1:52.22 personal best that stands as the national age group record for the 17-18 age group. Thomas Dillinger of Greenwich YWCA Dolphins was second with a 2:01.43, while Charlie Swanson took third with a 2:01.60.

Shebat took a big chunk off his lifetime best to win the 100 back in 47.25. David Crossland of Delaware Swim Team was second with a 48.47, and Cody Bollinger of Poseidon finished third with a 49.33.

Townley Haas took the 500 free final out hard, flipping at 1:40.62 at 200 yards in an attempt to beat his personal best of 4:14.19 from last week’s senior nationals. But he couldn’t hold the pace and settled for a 4:19.21 to win. James Murphy of Machine Aquatics and Nation’s Capital Andrew Gemmell battled throughout for second place, and Murphy beat out the 10K national and Pan Pac champion to the wall with a 4:22.33 to 4:22.44 for Gemmell.

In the 400 medley relays, Nation’s Capital won the boys’ race with a 3:17.39 on the strength of a 52.98 breaststroke leg from Seliskar. NCAP also won the girls’ race with a 3:41.71.

13-14 age group finals

Julia Menkhaus of Machine raced several times through the finals session, starting with a 2:01.90 to win the 200 butterfly over the 2:02.91 by Suburban Seahawks’ Alex Sumner and the 2:03.09 by NCAP’s Gabrielle Zhang.

Menkhaus’ second win of the night came in the 100 backstroke with a 54.69 over the 54.82 by Central Bucks’ Morgan Scott and the 55.42 by Sumner.

Kate Hazlett of Greenwich YWCA Dolphins barely won the 50 freestyle by one hundredth of a second with a 23.32 to the 23.33 by Scott. Kate Douglass of Westchester was also in the hunt with a 23.36 for third.

Douglass returned to win the 200 breast with a 2:15.84 by nearly three seconds over Annie O’Dare of Central Bucks. O’Dare took the race out hard, turning first at 100 yards, but Douglass accelerated in the second half of the race to win. O’Dare was second with a 2:18.46 ahead of the 2:19.33 by Lilly Higgs of SwimMAC Carolina.

In the girls’ 13-14 500 free, Sophie Perez of North Carolina built through her race to catch Scott and pass her in the final strokes, posting a 4:57.62 to Scott’s 4:57.80. Claire Nguyen of Nation’s Capital almost broke five minutes with a 5:00.86 for third.

On the boys’ side, Luke Durocher of Regency Park Swim Team won two events, starting with the the 200 fly with a 1:50.37, pulling away from Jake Johnson in the final 50 yards. Johnson of Delaware Swim Team was second with a 1:51.32, while Steven Thalblum of Nation’s Capital took third with a 1:57.95.

Durocher claimed a second victory in the 100 backstroke, showing some versatility with a 50.91. Destin Lasco, the former phenom in the 11-12 age group, put up a very strong 51.34 for second as a 13-year-old, while Whitley swam a 52.53 for third.

Jackson Green of Central Bucks kept Durocher from a third win tonight as Green posted a 21.60 in the 50 free to Durocher’s 21.96. Phil Costin of Poseidon was third with a 22.21.

Ben Fenwick of SwimMAC Carolina could not be caught in the 500 free final, winning by almost five seconds with a 4:44.47. Jordan Ren of North Carolina was second with a 4:49.16 while Christopher DallaValle of NOVA of Virginia took third with a 4:52.57.

Nation’s Capital won the boys’ 13-14 200 free relay with a 1:30.88, while SwimMAC Carolina took the boys’ 400 medley relay with a 3:37.70. That’s how the results turned out on the girls’ side as well, as Nation’s Capital was victorious in the 200 free relay in 1:38.14 and SwimMAC took the 400 medley relay with a 3:49.29.

11-12 age group finals

Chase Travis won her fifth individual event of the meet with a 2:07.09 to win the 200 butterfly over the 2:08.20 by Nation’s Capital’s Abby Harter and the 2:10.02 by NCAP’s Allison Kopac. Asphalt Green’s Isabel Gormley denied Travis a sixth win, taking the 200 IM with a 2:05.63 to Travis’ 2:07.45. Megan Lynch of Greenwich YWCA was third with a 2:10.17.

Earlier in the session, Gormley won the 50 backstroke with a 27.44. Phoenix Aquatic club’s Lauren Aylmer was second with a 27.76, while Syd Paglia of Suburban Seahawks was third with a 27.80.

Lynch got a victory earlier in the finals session with a 1:05.90 in the 100 breast, holding off Asphalt Green’s Sophia Zhang and her 1:06.16. Theresa Milio of Westchester was a distant third with a 1:08.44.

Abby Harter of Nation’s Capital won the 50 free with a 24.58 by one tenth over Asphalt Green’s Charlotte Krevitt, who swam a 24.68. NCAP’s Sophia Landeryou was third with a 24.73.

Nation’s Capital and Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics had a tight battle in the girls’ 200 medley relay. NCAP got the win, just barely over AGUA, 1:49.34 to 1:49.39.

After contributing to a relay national age group record, two of the four NCAP swimmers on the 11-12 medley relay returned to win individual events. Truong won the 100 breast with a 1:04.52 over the 1:04.60 by Machine Aquatics’ Bryan Patten and the 1:07.04 by Justin Hausler.

Catron blitzed through the 50 backstroke final with a 25.69 over the 26.20 by teammate Brett Feyerick. Phoenix Aquatic Club’s Tavis Siebert was third with a 27.79. Catron added another dominating win with a 2:03.36 in the 200 IM, beating out Truong’s 2:07.00 and Feyerick’s 2:09.83 to give NCAP a 1-2-3 finish.

Ben Charles of Machine Aquatics completed the sprint freestyle double with a 23.03 in the 50 free. He won by eight tenths of a second over NCAP’s Leo Goldblatt, who posted a 23.88. Anthony Grimm of NCAP was third with a 24.59.

10-and-under age group timed finals

Nation’s Capital went 1-2 in the boys’ 100 breast, where Jason Mack won with a 1:18.80 and Bailey DeLuise was second with a 1:19.12. In third was Eric Zhang’s 1:21.10.

Liam McBride of Chelsea Piers Aquatics won the 50 free with a 27.85 by a sizeable margin over the 28.12 by Gabe Willis of North Carolina and the 28.40 by Giacomo Lugato from Asphalt Green.

Jack Maketa of Central Bucks took the 50 back title with a 32.06, with Christian Lee of Westchester (32.91) and DeLuise (32.92) also getting under 33 seconds. But Maketa wasn’t done, winning the 200 IM with a 2:25.73 in dominating fashion over Lee (2:32.53) and Machine Aquatics’ Collin McKenzie (2:33.24).

Asphalt Green won the 200 medley relay with a 2:09.04, passing Nation’s Capital on the freestyle leg. NCAP was second with a 2:09.09 while Westchester was third with a 2:12.91.

On the girls’ side, Giulia Baroldi of Joe Flaherty’s Dolphins was the star of the day, winning three events. Her first win came in the 50 free with a 25.60, well ahead of the 27.35 by Westchester’s Yilinna Collmar and the 27.88 by Claire Curzan of North Carolina. Baroldi returned to win the 50 free in dominating fashion again with a 29.54. Collmar was second with a 30.63 while Curzan took third again with a 31.37.

Baroldi won the 200 IM by five seconds with a 2:22.38. In second was Ashley Kolessar of Delaware with a 2:27.80, while Kira Chen was third with a 2:30.69.

Carly Sebring of Nation’s Capital won the 100 breast with a 1:19.26, just holding off Cheslea Piers’ Caroline Sheehan and her 1:19.81. In third was a 1:20.15 by Greenwich YWCA’s Olivia Baine.

Westchester won the girls’ 200 medley relay with a 2:06.84, nearly five seconds ahead of the 2:11.38 by Joe Flaherty’s Dolphins. Asphalt Green was third with a 2:12.74.

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