Congratulations to all the swimmers who have achieved a National cut in one or more events. And special recognition to those swimmers who will be part of the Countryside Torpedoes Long Course National Team for the first time.
| National Team Qualifiers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Michael Austin | Kaeli Halberslaben | Emily Slabe |
| Tyler Benner | Christian Josephsen | Mandi Sosnowski |
| Carlo Biedenharn | Kayla Kircher | Therese Stevens |
| Lynn Brotherton | Chris Koloseike | Paige Theobald |
| Carolyn Carter | Aaron Lawson | Wyatt Thomas |
| Tim Early | Ben Matheus | Matt Whitehurst |
| Kate Etter | Breann McDowell | Ian Wooley |
| Jennifer Garzinski | Kim Recinella | Steven Zimmerman |
| Alex George | Brooke Rowley | |
| National Team Hopefuls | ||
Wind storms over the weekend provided a backdrop for the problems with the timing system that delayed the start of the first heat of the Women’s 1500m, but apparently nothing could stop Breann McDowell from chasing the early leader and taking the first place points for herself in the last few laps. She set a new CY team record of 17:13.79 with her effort. Carlo Biedenharn swam in the first heat of the Men’s 1500m and shaved a few more seconds off his best time to take fifth place. Kaeli Halberslaben dropped even more time from the awesome drop she had at the SWY championship to a few more points for the team with 14th place.
The first prelims session of the meet produced a bunch of great swims. Emily Slabe, Steven Zimmerman, Breann McDowell, Carlo Biedenharn, and both the 200m Medley Relays return for points tonight in the A or B final of their event and, well, events for Steven with his top-qualifying time in the 100m Backstroke and second-best 200m IM.
Finals brought a whole new level of energy to the meet! Steven Zimmerman proved his superiority in the 100m Backstroke by becoming the National Champion and new YMCA National Record-holder. He kept the momentum into the 200m IM after Breann and Carlo swum their respective 400m Freestyle finals. The Medley Relays did not disappoint with great performances and many amazing splits including the girls bettering the team record that they broke during the morning preliminary.
Emily Slabe and Lynn Brotherton started the morning with a pair of qualifying swims in the 100m Butterfly. Breann McDowell came back in the 200m Freestyle and bettered her own team record from last year with her 2:06.28 at finals for 2nd place. Carlo Biedenharn came back in the championship final of the 200m Freestyle to take 6th.
Once again, the CY relays turned in some excellent swims in the 400m Freestyle Relay. Lynn Brotherton, Emily Slabe, Jennifer Garzinski, and Breann McDowell broke the 8 year old record in prelims and made it even better at finals. Ian Wooley, Christian Josephson, Carlo Biedenharn, and Steven Zimmerman took seven seconds off their 23rd place seed to qualify them in 11th place for finals. Four amazing splits later, the boys turned in a 10th place finish that was only 0.30s off the CY record from 1992 (and, yes, you should look at who set that record to realize how awesome this relay is).
Kaeli Halbersleben’s 800m Freestyle swim from the morning was enough to get her to the podium in 13th place overall.
Lots of swims qualifying for finals today including a 100m Freestyle from Breann McDowell that bettered her record from last year. The performances in finals were great with most swimming to a better time or a better place than prelims. Emily Slabe set a new team record in the 200m Backstroke (both 13-14 and 15-Ov since it’s a Senior event and she’s only 14) with her 2:20.88 to take 3rd place. Steven Zimmerman kept up his dominance in the Backstroke events by taking the gold in the 200m Backstroke by a wide margin. He’ll certainly be the one to watch in the 50m Backstroke tomorrow. Both 800m Freestyle Relays had terrific swims with the women taking 7th and the men taking 5th.
Another great day of preliminaries! The girls 200m Freestyle Relay of Lynn Brotherton, Emily Slabe, Jennifer Garzinski, and Breann McDowell will return tonight in the championship final after setting a new CY team record. Aaron Lawson is back for the A final and Tim Early is in the B final of the 200m Butterfly. Emily Slabe is the top qualifier (and new CY record holder) for the Women and Steven Zimmerman is the second qualifier for the Men in the 50m Backstroke. The same girls are back for the A final of the 400m Medley Relay and Steven Zimmerman, Christian Josephson, Aaron Lawson, and Carlo Biedenharn will be looking to hold on to 9th in the B final tonight. And, of course, Carlo Biedenharn will swim in the fastest heat of the Men’s 800m Freestyle to start the finals session tonight.
A great finish to the meet! Carlo Biedenharn swam up two places to finish at 6th in the 800m Freestyle. The girls improved on their record in the 200m Freestyle Relay during finals even though they dropped to 7th place. New team records in both 50m Backstroke events including Emily Slabe as the new YMCA LC National Champion. The last even for the girls was the 400m Medley Relay where Lynn Brotherton, Emily Slabe, Jennifer Garzinski, and Breann McDowell set another team record and moved up to 4th place.
But by far the best announcement of the day was the Women taking 3rd Place overall for the meet and just behind that was the Men also taking 3rd Place overall. Even though the Combined score was only 4th Place, it was still a wonderful way to end the meet.