ORLANDO — Two young swimmers congregated at the far end of the Olympic-sized pool Friday night in anticipation of the final heat of the boys’ 200-meter breaststroke at the YMCA Aquatic and Family Center. As those in the water stroked their way through the first four heats of finals, the pair traded rumors about what they had heard about top seeds for the championship event, including those bordering on the absurd.
“I heard he takes three butterfly kicks during his pullout,” one said to the other, with a detailed account of how the swimmer in question got away with it.
No guise or subterfuge was utilized or necessary, however, as Andrew Seliskar and Carsten Vissering, for the second time at NCSA Junior Nationals, rocketed to the front of the field and pushed each other to lifetime best times in a breaststroke final. This time, Seliskar got the better of his teammate and training partner, surging ahead during the penultimate length of the pool and finishing in a blistering 2 minutes 12.82 seconds — a three-second improvement from his previous best, performed at January’s Arena Pro Swim Series in Austin.
Seliskar reined in his natural speed during the first lap, a tip picked up from NCAP Coach Jeremy Linn, a former breaststroke world record holder, who told Seliskar to swim the first 100 meters relaxed.
“I was expecting Carsten to take it out in like 1:02,” Seliskar said, who split 1:04.50 in his opening lap, just three seconds shy of his best 100 meters from Wednesday’s final. “I knew I needed to bring it home hard if I wanted to hold him off.”
The time ranks the California recruit as the fourth fastest under-18 performer in U.S. history, trailing American record holder Kevin Cordes, future Golden Bears teammate Josh Prenot and Indiana’s Cody Taylor. It ranks as the 12th-best time in the world this year and the third-ranked American behind Cody Miller and Prenot.
In the “B” final, Coby Zucker and Spencer Rowe finished sixth and seventh while five other Potomac Valley swimmers swam in earlier finals.
Less than 20 minutes later, Seliskar returned for the 100 butterfly final, another final dominated by locals in both the boys’ and girls’ heats.
Seliskar won the boys’ championship final in a blistering 52.81, another personal best and another world top-15 time.
“I broke 53 [seconds] for the first time, so pretty happy with that,” Seliskar said.
Machine’s Rory Lewis, a Penn State recruit, placed third in the “B” final in 56.07; NCAP’s James Jones finished eighth. Sam Pomajevich of Nation’s Capital won the “C” final in 55.57, with Machine’s James Murphy touching fifth in 57.64.
In the girls’ butterfly final, half the swimmers in the “A” final represented Potomac Valley teams, with seven total Nation’s Capital swimmers earning a second swim in butterfly Friday. Chattahoochee Gold’s Lauren Case, the top seed entering prelims, claimed gold in 1:00.07, with NCAP’s Cassidy Bayer placing second in 1:00.17.
“The finish was bad, and to know that I could have won but didn’t. It hurts,” Bayer said. With less than 10 meters to go, Bayer looked like she had won the race but didn’t see Case charging two lanes over.
“I had some best times early in the meet, and I’ve got things to work on before the summer,” said Bayer, who, along with a large contingent of Nation’s Capital swimmers, including Seliskar and Katie Ledecky will head for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Spring next week for a stretch of training with “no distractions.”
All Star Aquatics’ Caroline McTaggart placed third in 1:00.56, followed by NCAP’s Kylie Jordan in 1:02.03. Teammate Leah Rogers was sixth (1:03.42).
For Seliskar, it was the eighth and ninth time he reached the top of the podium in Orlando, a total of 10 medals in four days. Nation’s Capital’s boys lead NOVA of Virginia, 932 points to 597. Dynamo Swim Club sits in third entering the final day with 447 points. Machine Aquatics is fifth (262). In the girls’ competition, NCAP leads with 904 points, trailed by Aquajets (794) and Ozaukee Aquatics (371).
In other results, John Shebat won the boys’ 100 backstroke in a lifetime best 55.20, an Olympic Trials cut, although the Texas recruit had to sweat it out after a disqualification was called at the start. Shebat was safe, despite a slight flinch before the strobe, and ultimately no swimmers were disqualified from the heat. Arlington Aquatic’s Ryan Baker placed third in the “B” final in 58.35.
NCAP’s Carrie Boone claimed bronze in the girls’ backstroke event in a Trials cut time of 1:02.86, trailing the Woodlands’ Lucie Nordmann, 14, who won in 1:01.76, and Saint Andrew’s Megan Moroney, 17, who finished in 1:02.81. All Star Aquatics’ Hannah Lindsey was sixth in 1:03.65, missing the Trials cut by 0.26 seconds. NCAP’s Emily Meilus, 15, had an impressive swim out of the “C” final, finishing in 1:03.83.
Paige Madden of City of Mobile Swim won the girls’ 400 freestyle in 4:14.56, followed by Ozaukee Aquatics’ Katherine Drabot, 17, in 4:14.67. NCAP’s Isabella Rongione finished fourth in 4:16.75, with teammate Megan Byrnes fading to sixth in the final lap (4:17.23). In early heats, 14-year-old Sinead Eksteen won the “D” final in 4:24.27 and Robyn Dryer won the “E” final in 4:23.95.
Tabahn Afrik, 17, of Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics won the boys’ 100 freestyle in 50.83, missing the Trials cut by 0.14 seconds. Dynamo’s Knox Auerbach, 17, was second in 50.92, with NCAP’s James Jones, 17, claiming third (51.17). James Murphy of Machine Aquatics was third in the “B” final (51.73), followed closely by Yale recruit Adrian Lin of NCAP in 52.17. With perhaps the biggest swim out of an early heat, Machine’s Lewis blasted a 51.50 out of “D” final for the ninth fastest time of the night.
Related links:
• 18 photos from NCSA Junior Nationals Day 4 prelims
• Andrew Seliskar doubles up in Orlando
• For NCAP’s senior duo, practice makes podium
• Matthew Hirschberger sets a second national age group record at juniors
• Nation’s Capital off to a record-breaking start at junior nationals