Female race of the year
Katie Ledecky points to the crowd after setting her second world record in two days at the Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. (Rick Rycroft/Associated Press)
The recipient of this year’s female race of the year award was locked up in June, and made significantly more difficult to choose in August. In case you’ve been under a rock for the last six months, it’s Katie Ledecky of Nation’s Capital Swim Club. But which race?
Should it be her world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle set in June at the Woodlands Senior Invitational, days after coming down from altitude training at the Olympic Training Center? Or how about the second world record she set at that tune-up meet outside of Houston in the 800 freestyle, once again shattering her previous mark from the summer prior?
If those two aren’t quite on par with what you expect of a race-of-the-year, then what about a third world record, her first in the 400 freestyle, and her first broken from the tech-suit era?
Any of those are good, no, great options. But weren’t the end of Ledecky’s record-breaking barrage. Capping her season, Ledecky broke two more world records, eclipsing the marks in the 400 and 1,500 once again, at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.
Five world records in two months. The last time we talked about that sort of record breaking pace we were talking about that other Maryland swimming phenom.
USA Swimming awarded Ledecky the performance award at this year’s Golden Goggles for her 1,500 freestyle from Pan Pacs, beating out her own 400 freestyle from the meet, which was also nominated. But in an effort to differentiate, while completely copping out, we’re calling it a tie. How can you really choose between fastest-swim-ever-in-an-event performances? You can’t, and we won’t.
Runner-up: Janet Hu, 200-yard butterfly, NCSA Junior Nationals
After a breakout performance in the sprint events at the 2013 U.S. winter national championships, Hu was labeled a sprinter. A versatile sprinter with serious range, but a sprinter. That notion should have been absurd knowing anything about Coach John Flanagan’s practice group or training program, which stresses 200s and individual medleys as tenets.
The now-Stanford freshman has carried her early 2014 success into her first collegiate season, and has nationally ranked times in the 50 freestyle (9th), 200 butterfly (9th), 100 butterfly (11th) and 100 backstroke (12th).
Male race of the year
It’s been a good 2014 for Andrew Seliskar, the reigning All-Met Swimmer of the Year out of Jefferson High School. He began his year with a national high school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, and ended with a national age group record in the 200-yard butterfly at the Tom Dolan Invite. In between, he set a few other records, including a national age group record in the 200-yard breaststroke at NCSAs in March.
But the race by Seliskar that stands out this year came at August’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii. Seliskar walked away from the meet with four gold medals — three individual, a silver and a junior world record in the 200-meter butterfly.
After trailing at the halfway point, Seliskar used a now-expected third-length surge to overtake Japan’s Yuya Yajima and win the race in 1 minute 55.92 seconds. It was the third fastest time ever by an 18-and-under American, trailing Michael Phelps (1:53.93) and Bobby Bollier (1:55.67). Seliskar was 17 years old at the time.
Runner-up: Johnny Bradshaw, 100 IM, NVSL All-Stars
Hamlet’s 10-year-old destroyer, Bradshaw, tore through the record books this season in the Northern Virginia Swim League. The Machine Aquatics swimmer broke every 9-10 age group record in the league — 25-meter butterfly, 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke and 100 IM.
Among the most impressive of those came during the Division 2 championship meet. Bradshaw tore down a record set by Andrew Seliskar that had stood against a fleet of up-and-comers for seven years. Bradshaw didn’t just break it; he annihilated. Bradshaw touched in 1:12.89 — more than three seconds ahead of Seliskar’s record and the fastest time in the area by more than 2.5 seconds. He broke the record despite having zero competition; he touched nearly 16 seconds ahead of second place.
He’d break it again at NVSL all-stars the following week, as well as taking back his butterfly record.