ORLANDO, Florida, March 18. THE women kicked off the 2014 National Club Swimming Association short course junior nationals with thrilling ties for first place in two of the three events they contested tonight.<\/p>\n
The lead changed hands three times in the eighth of eight timed final heats in the women\u2019s 1000 free today. Kylie Stewart, a junior world championship medalist in the 200 backstroke representing Dynamo Swim Club, took the race out quick and had the lead for about 198 yards. Rongione, who recently moved to Nation\u2019s Capital Swim Club, took over the lead at the 200-yard mark with a 1:52.73 to Stewart\u2019s 1:52.93. Cailley Silbert of Cougar Aquatic Team lurked in fourth with a 1:53.95 while Megan Byrnes held third with a 1:53.33.<\/p>\n
Rongione, also a junior world championship medalist with a bronze in the 1500 free, held the lead for the next 650 yards, though Silbert and Stewart began to outsplit her after the 700. Silbert took over at 900 with an 8:44.25 to Rongione\u2019s 8:44.29, with Stewart just a stroke behind. Silbert and Rongione broke away slightly in the final 25 yards to post a tie with matching times of 9:41.13, while Stewart settled for third with a 9:43.60. <\/p>\n
These swims marked personal bests for all three, with Silbert dropping eight seconds from her best time, swum at last year\u2019s NCSA juniors. For Rongione, it\u2019s only a best time by five tenths, with her best of 9:41.63 coming at last March\u2019s Potomac Valley senior championships. Stewart\u2019s best time before today was a 9:48.32 from last year\u2019s NCSA juniors.<\/p>\n
In the night\u2019s final women\u2019s event, the 200 medley relay, Kylie Stewart\u2019s 24.49 backstroke leg gave Dynamo a big lead after 50 yards. But Aquajets closed the gap significantly in breaststroke, with Nation\u2019s Capital just a few tenths behind. Going into freestyle, it appeared it would be a battle between Dynamo and Aquajets, but Nation\u2019s Capital had 50 free national age group record holder Janet Hu on their side. At the touch, Nation\u2019s Capital and Aquajets tied with times of 1:40.39, with Dynamo not far behind for third with a 1:40.68. Hu posted a 21.95 anchor leg to put NCAP in range of the win.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s 1000 free featured a virtual race for the gold medal, with Baylor School\u2019s Sam McHugh posting an 8:53.71 in the ninth of 10 heats. It appeared that Townley Haas, representing Nova of Virginia, would not challenge McHugh\u2019s pace. After 500 yards, McHugh posted a 5:16.32, while Haas flipped at 5:19.57. But Haas made a big move in the final 200 yards, getting within a second of McHugh at the 900-yard mark before posting an 8:53.31 for the event win. Brennan Novak of Rockville Montgomery joined the two under nine minutes with an 8:58.48 for third. The swims represented major time drops for the top three finishers. Haas dropped 12 seconds off his best time, while McHugh chopped an amazing 27 seconds from his lifetime best. McHugh was incredible last month at the Tennessee state high school championships, including a 4:16 in the 500 freestyle that he\u2019ll chase tomorrow. Novak also made a big time drop, taking 12 seconds off his lifetime best.<\/p>\n
Thanks to a 22.48 leadoff leg by Janet Hu, Nation\u2019s Capital was able to win the women\u2019s 200 free relay with a 1:31.76. Aquajets made a move on the anchor leg to secure second place with a 1:32.23, while Dynamo took third with a 1:32.60.<\/p>\n
Baylor Swim Club, featuring swimmers who were part of the Baylor School\u2019s amazing performances at the recent Tennessee high school championships, looked to be in command of the men\u2019s 200 freestyle relay at the 150-yard mark. But a sizzling 19.94 third leg from John Shebat and a 20.02 from Paul O\u2019Hara on the anchor gave Nation\u2019s Capital a commanding win with a 1:20.73. Baylor held off Dynamo to get second with a 1:22.35 to Nova of Virginia\u2019s 1:23.17.<\/p>\n
Baylor came roaring back in the men\u2019s medley relay to cap off the night, posting a 1:28.84. The time is a second slower than the national high school record swim Baylor School posted. Luke Papendick and Sam McHugh were the only swimmers from the record relay to swim tonight, with Papendick\u2019s backstroke a couple of tenths faster tonight. Nation\u2019s Capital was a distant second with a 1:30.91, while Jersey Wahoos took third with a 1:31.26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ORLANDO, Florida, March 18. THE women kicked off the 2014 National Club Swimming Association short course junior nationals with thrilling ties for first place in two of the three events<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":51534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[54067,33284,33285,15129,33286,27470,4837,32,33292,26466,31090,32648,25982,25426,28410,33290,18627,33287,189,33291,25268,28004,33288,24693,2412,142,177,33289,543,474],"class_list":["post-51533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-usa","tag-2014-ncsa-junior-nationals","tag-anchor-leg","tag-aquajets","tag-baylor-school","tag-baylor-swim-club","tag-brennan-novak","tag-dynamo-swim-club","tag-florida","tag-haas-gmbh-co-beteiligungs-kg","tag-janet-hu","tag-john-shebat","tag-kylie-stewart","tag-luke-papendick","tag-megan-byrnes","tag-nations-capital-swim-club","tag-nations-capital","tag-national-club-swimming-association","tag-national-high-school-record-swim-baylor-school","tag-orlando","tag-potomac-valley","tag-relay-race","tag-sam-mchugh","tag-silbert","tag-sports","tag-stroke","tag-swimming","tag-tennessee","tag-the-2014-national-club-swimming-association","tag-virginia","tag-world-championship"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n