By Gold Medal Mel Stewart on SwimSwam

World and Olympic Champion Caeleb Dressel has new ink. Caeleb talks about it later in the video, and he’s in love with his new puppy dog. The biggest male swim star currently competing turns pro and what’s the first thing he does after NCAA Champions? Gets a puppy.

Aside from new ink and puppies, Caeleb is in hard training, aka Troy Training.  If you ever talk to Coach Gregg Troy on deck, he plainly says he only believes in real work. He often calls it honest work. The result is a very broken down Dressel. His times were relatively slow at the Atlanta Classic, but Caeleb described the meet as essentially training.  He wore a brief in a lot of races, and he wore a few racing suits. (It sounds like he’s trying out several brands. No word yet on a swimsuit partnership, but I think he’ll sign with a major brand before U.S. Nationals. What do you think? The timing makes sense.)

PREDICTIONS? I’m sticking by my previous predictions for Caeleb. Troy Training, if anything, makes me think Caeleb will perform well again this summer.  Here’s what I said earlier this spring:

• 20.89 50m free
• 46.9 100m free
• 49 low 100m fly

***Yes, I know that’s toppling three world records from the tech-suit era, and I am fully aware Caeleb will probably swim faster than the times above.

What do you think? 

Follow Caeleb Dressel  on Twitter here.

Follow Caeleb Dressel on Instagram here. 

See Caeleb Dressel on Facebook here. 

RECENT EPISODES

This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Caeleb Dressel Gets New Tattoos: GMM presented by SwimOutlet.com

By Jared Anderson on SwimSwam

The University of New Mexico’s athletic director and president together published a letter on the school’s athletic website this week announcing that an independent review had found the school struggling to meet federal Title IX requirements.

The letter was published along with the full report, which provided several recommendations to the school on how to regain Title IX compliance.

Title IX is best known for its mandates on gender equality. In the letter, athletic director Eddie Nuñez notes that understanding Title IX compliance can be complicated, but says “it is clear from the independent review that the University is falling short.” The school added beach volleyball as a women’s sport in 2015, which gave UNM temporary compliance and a grace period, but that program’s lack of a full-time head coach and lack of an on-campus facility are now issues for the school in its endeavors to meet Title IX’s requirements.

To make matters worse, the athletic department is also struggling with its own budget. The letter says that financial audits have “led to the conclusion that aggressive action to create significant savings will be required to avoid jeopardizing the future integrity of the entire athletic program.”

The report itself notes that women’s swimming & diving was UNM’s first women’s intercollegiate sport, added to the athletic department in 1972. The school now has 12 women’s sports and 10 men’s sports. But scholarships heavily favor the men. According to the report, the total scholarships spent on the football team ($2.93 million) are greater than the scholarship dollars spent on all of the school’s women’s sports combined ($2.83 million).

The report makes a number of suggestions, including shuffling roster sizes to bring the school into participation balance. As of 2016-2017, the school’s athletic department had participation from 317 men and only 247 women. 110 of those men are on the football team. The report recommends boosting the women’s swimming roster from 22 to 35.

You can read the UNM letter here and the full report here.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: UNM Struggling With Title IX Compliance, Athletic Budget

By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

Purdue head swim coach Dan Ross dropped an unofficial announcement this morning that Purdue will be hosting an “all star meet” between the Big Ten and ACC on November 9th-11th. Ross also added that the official announcement of the meet would be coming in 2 weeks, where we’ll get more specific details on the meet.

for the first time ever the ACC and BIG swim and dive teams having an all star meet and Purdue us first ever host Nov 9-10-11 2018. we go to ACC venue 2019

— Dan Ross (@CoachDanRoss) June 1, 2018

Ross mentioning that the meet will be hosted by an ACC school in 2019 indicates that this meet may become a yearly tradition. While it’s not the exact same thing, there are several Track and Field invites that include only Big Ten and ACC teams. Although it’s not all-stars of the Big Ten versus all-stars of the ACC, these invites have been around for a while, establishing a tradition of Big Ten vs ACC competition in Track and Field.

The seeming re-rise of the ACC in swimming programs fueled by high profile coaching changes and good recruiting will certainly make this meet an exciting one to watch in November. The ACC has seen a lot of coaching changes just in the last few months, such as Mark Bernardino heading to NC State, Austin Surhoff heading to Virginia, and Sergio Lopez heading to Virginia Tech.

High profile coaching changes have been happening in the ACC for a couple years, with perhaps the most noteable coaching change in the country for last season turning out to be Todd DeSorbo becoming UVA’s head coach. DeSorbo inherited a successful women’s team, although it’s prospects for the 2017-2018 season were uncertain, given they had graduated one of the best senior classes in the country, including Leah Smith. With Louisville going into the ACC Championships as the favorite, the Virginia sprint squad exploded onto the scene, leading to a convincing team victory. DeSorbo also inherited a men’s team that had fallen on hard time to say the least. He brought them up from finishing 6th at the ACCs in 2017 to 3rd in 2018.

Virginia is not the only ACC program to see improvement this past season however, but rather it was seen throughout the conference. Louisville saw some of its highest NCAA finishes in school history this past season, while programs like Notre Dame and Duke cotinue to steadily build year after year.

The Big Ten has also seen its share of coaching changes going into the 2018-2019 season, such as Yuri Suguiyama becoming Wisconsin’s head coach, and Mark Hill leaving Indiana, a gap which was filled by Kirk Grand.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Purdue to Host Big Ten vs ACC ‘All-Star Meet’ in November

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

With the Pan Pacific Championships roster announced for Japan, you may want to take a closer look at one of the nation’s 200 flyers who may potentially take on the likes of Jack Conger, Chase Kalisz or Tom Shields on his home turf of Tokyo. Waseda University’s Yuya Yajima fired off a super quick time of 1:54.72 to take gold at this year’s Japan Open, notching his spot ahead of Olympian Masato Sakai on Japan’s Pan Pac line-up. Splitting 54.94/1:00.78, Yajima’s time of 1:54.72 ranks as the 6th-fastest swimmer in the world this season.

In the case of Yajima, however, his stroke technique warrants a second glance more so than his times, even as fast as they are. We’ve analyzed his ‘dolphin dive-esque’ mechanics previously, as on-lookers can’t help but take note of Yajima’s heavily elongated glide at the front end of his stroke. In 2015, his paused butterfly helped win him a silver medal at that year’s World University Games.

Even before that, however, Yajima was perfecting his stretched-out stroke, challenging America’s Andrew Seliskar for Junior Pan Pacific gold back in 2014. In the video below, watch how Yajima (lane 5) extends his glide prior to initiating his pull and contrast that to next-door Seliskar’s immediate pull upon entry (lane 4). As a result, Yajima’s stroke count follows 14-15-15-16 pattern, while Seliskar’s race followed a 17-19-19-21 pattern. Seliskar wound up winning by a hefty margin, beating Yajima 1:55.92 to 1:58.30.

Studying Yajima’s stroke as it appears underwater gives us insight into how the kicking works with a paused stroke. As opposed to the more traditional two fly kicks that are performed as the hands enter, as well as when the hands exit, Yajima’s kicks are timed quite differently.

In the video below from the 2016 Japan Swim, Yajima is seen kicking his hands in at entry, but he completes his 2nd kick while his arms are still out front.  As his arms pass his hips, the bottom half of his body acts as one unit, with no additional kick undulation until his arms re-enter the water. This action produces the true ‘dolphin-dive’ look, with Yajima winding up deeper in the water than those swimmers next to him. His stroke counts again were in the 14-15 range per 50, while his competitors were nearer to 19-20 per 50.

For Yajima, his stroke appears to fall within the FINA rulebook for butterfly, but he teeters on the edge specifically for FINA rule SW8.5. The rule reads:

At the start and at turns, a swimmer is permitted one or more leg kicks and one arm pull
under the water, which must bring him to the surface. It shall be permissible for a swimmer to be
completely submerged for a distance of not more than 15 metres after the start and after each turn.
By that point, the head must have broken the surface. The swimmer must remain on the surface until
the next turn or finish.

There may be a point in his stroke which renders Yajima completely underwater, which goes against the ‘must remain on the surface’ note of the fly stroke description. He was DQd in 2016 for this offense, but has since been able to compete successfully without penalty.

Additionally, this elongated fly works for Yajima in the 200m distance, however, he’s yet to crack the 53-second barrier in the 100m fly using this same technique.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Stretched Out Butterfly: Another Look At Yajima’s Elongated Stroke

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

On Tuesday, USA Swimming announced that it will debut a new tier of membership called the Flex Swim Membership, which will officially become available on September 1, 2018.

Flex Membership will be available for a $20 annual membership fee, though additional fees charged by the team a swimmer joins may apply.

USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey said in a press release that “The Flex Swim membership allows us to introduce the sport to a new generation of athletes, using a product that is more conscious of the current environment and competitive in the youth sports market.”

Hinchey further states that the goal of the Flex Membership is “to adapt to busy family lifestyles and introduce the sport of swimming with a lower barrier to entry and flexibility to still enjoy the many other available activities. Historical data tells us that if we can get a kid to try team swimming, they will stick with it and enjoy it.”

In addition to allowing children access to the sport of swimming, the Flex Membership will also give participants access to a digital welcome kitUSA Swimming’s digital member account and mobile app Deck Pass, educational materials including LEARN and Safe Sport, as well as insurance coverage. As far as competition is concerned, Flex members are permitted two sanctioned events per year below the LSC Championship level.

Flex Membership will not afford participants eligibility for individual recognition programs such as Scholastic All-America or the IM Extreme Challenge, nor will Flex permit swimmers to participate in national development camps. The subscription to Splash Magazine that members of USA Swimming are also accustomed to receiving will not be offered to Flex members either.

USA Swimming was prompted to introduce a program like Flex Membership after realizing a 7.5% average decline of new members from 2014-2016. Of that decline, USA Swimming witnessed a 9.2% decrease in the number of 10-and-under swimmers participating in year-round swimming.

Citing the 2014 State of the Swimming Industry Report, USA Swimming notes that 78% of parents who are not currently involved in swimming do not consider enrolling their kids with a swim team after they have taken swim lessons. However, 58% of those same parents said they would consider their kids for a swimming program that meets one or two times per week.

Furthermore, when they asked for kids’ opinions, USA Swimming learned that 48% of kids who left USA Swimming did so to participate in other sports. 43% of those children also stated that they quit USA Swimming because it represented too much of a time commitment. According to Tuesday’s press release, a poll of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Team showed that 83% of the swimmers stated that they were multi-sport athletes growing up.

Though USA Swimming points out that 93% of kids who swim until the age of 13 will remain in the sport, the applications for Flex Membership go far beyond simply lowering attrition rates. As not every single swimmer that tries the Flex Membership will remain a competitive swimmer through the completion of high school or beyond, USA Swimming suggests teams use Flex to broaden their scopes of service to potentially include learn-to-swim programs, summer league teams, fitness programs for other multi-sport athletes, triathlon-prep programs, pre-season camps for high school swimmers, stroke camps and clinics, and home school programs.

Should the Flex Membership option increase matriculation rates for swim clubs, USA Swimming should then also receive a financial stimulus, particularly during Olympic years. Looking at financial reports published by USA Swimming for 2013 and 2017–years following a Summer Olympics–USA Swimming saw marked increases in income revenue. Though more swimmers were in the water, not all of them stayed, per the 2014 report which noted that 43% of children who left swimming because it represented too large a time commitment. Furthermore, USA Swimming reveals, unsurprisingly, that sponsorship revenue may decline in post-Olympic years–though this was not the case from 2012-2013, which saw a nearly $60,000 uptick in sponsor revenue–as the Olympics represent an extremely lucrative 2-week television slot for advertisers eager to partner with NGBs such as USA Swimming. Similarly, USOC Grants tend downward, as do Events & Registrations (extremely):

According to the same reports, expenses for USA Swimming, meanwhile, do not waver nearly as much, with the exception of the amount of money spent on the National Team during Olympic years, and the amount of money spent on promotions in 2016. Athlete Protection & Safety, an area USA Swimming and other NGBs have been heavily criticized for not adequately funding, has witnessed a steady growth:

With more athletes in the water and with more athletes (hopefully) remaining in the sport for longer, USA Swimming might anticipate investing significantly more money in areas such as club development, member services, and athlete protection and safety. As the Flex Membership option grows and evolves, is likely to gain certain statistical insights that are as-yet unknown, such as where Flex shows the most potential for increasing club retention rates; which competitions parents and athletes participating in Flex most care to participate in; and even, potentially, what type of swim gear Flex members purchase and how much they are willing to invest in technical racing suits.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA Swimming Introduces Entry-Level Flex Membership for Busy Families

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

Arizona-native Katie McBratney has announced her verbal commitment to Arizona State University’s class of 2023. She will join fellow commits Claire Nguyen, Jadé Foelske, Lindsay Looney, and Riley Lexvold in the fall of 2019.

“I can’t wait to be a lady devil, the team is becoming a PAC12 powerhouse. I know my future is bright, not only because I’ll be swimming in Arizona haha, but because of the healthy environment, both mentally and physically, that ASU has to offer. Forks up!”

McBratney swims for Pitchfork Aquatics and American Leadership Academy in Queen Creek, Arizona. She led her school to a fourth-place team finish at the 2017 Arizona Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, winning the 200 free (1:50.82) and 100 breast (1:02.72) and swimming legs on the runner-up 200 medley and 200 free relays.

In club swimming, McBratney focuses mainly on breast, IM and mid-distance free. She came in 10th in the 100m breast and 21st in the 200m breast at 2017 Summer Junior Nationals, going best times in both. Since high school season she has improved her lifetime bests in the 200/500 free, 100 back, 200 breast, and 200/400 IM.

Top SCY times:

• 100 breast – 1:02.40
• 200 breast – 2:15.01
• 200 IM – 2:01.43
• 400 IM – 4:20.69
• 200 free – 1:50.17
• 500 free – 4:54.34

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Katie McBratney Verbally Commits to Nearby Arizona State

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

Photo courtesy of Gena Hoagland

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Jack Hoagland has verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame for 2019-20. Topher Stensby has also committed to the Notre Dame class of 2023. A junior at La Cueva High School, Hoagland broke the New Mexico state records in the 200 free and 500 free with his times of 1:38.07 and 4:28.19 at the 2018 NMAA State Swimming Diving Championships.

“I am thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to the University of Notre Dame where I will further my academics and see just how far I can take my swimming career. God has blessed me with a talent and passion for swimming and am beyond thankful for the love and support of my family and outstanding teammates and coaches from Charger Aquatics.”

According to his mother, “Jack is a USA Scholastic All American who broke the NM State records in both the 200 and 500 free as a junior.  Currently at 6ft 4 inches tall with a 6ft 11 wingspan he continues to grow and drop time in all events meet after meet.  His IMX score for SCY 2017-2018 ranked him 6th Nationally.”

Hoagland has, indeed, pumped out best times at a series of consecutive meets, beginning with NM high school championships in February and ending with Federal Way Sectionals in mid-March. His new PBs include: 50/100/200/500 free, 100/200 back, 100/200 breast, 200 fly, and 200/400 IM.

Best SCY times:

• 200 Free 1:36.87 (altitude-adjusted)
• 500 Free 4:23.19 (altitude-adjusted)
• 200 IM 1:48.45
• 400 IM 3:54.09
• 200 Back 1:47.54
• 200 Breast 2:03.49

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: NMAA Record-holder Jack Hoagland Verbally Commits to Notre Dame

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2018 ERIC NAMESNIK MEMORIAL OPEN

• June 1st-3rd, 2018
• Canham Natatorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• 50m (LCM)
• Psych Sheets
• Results on Meet Mobile

The opening night of the 2018 Eric Namesnik Memorial Open saw the local Club Wolverine squad put on a fine display, while a few up and coming Chinese swimmers also performed well.

Club Wolverine’s Miranda Tucker was the top performer on the night with two victories, claiming the women’s 100 breast and 100 fly in a tight turnaround. First, she won the 100 breast in 1:09.71, just over a second off her season best, with teammate Jamie Yeung in for 2nd in a time of 1:11.11.

She was back in the water soon after in the 100 fly, which was the next event, posting the winning time in 1:01.52. Kate Krolikowski (1:03.20) and Alexis Margett (1:03.23) made it a 1-2-3 for Club Wolverine.

Felix Auboeck of Club Wolverine held off German Poul Zellmann to pick up the win in the men’s 200 free, with the Austrian Olympian closing in 27.26 to touch in 1:49.09, not far off his season best of 1:48.45. Zellmann, who will compete at this summer’s European Championships, was 1:49.51 for 2nd, while future Wolverine Patrick Callan was 3rd in 1:50.78.

The women’s 200 had a close battle as well, as 15-year-old Wu Qingfeng (2:02.98) prevailed over 14-year-old Li Xinyu (2:03.02) to give the Chinese athletes a 1-2 finish. Club Wolverine’s Sierra Schmidt made up ground on both coming home, but ran out of room and settled for 3rd in 2:03.08.

Both Jacob Montague (1:02.15) and Tommy Cope (1:03.29) edged their season bests from the Indy Pro Series for a 1-2 finish in the men’s 100 breast, and 17-year-old Zheng Xiaojing of China won the men’s 100 fly in 53.80. Montague had a solid double with a runner-up finish there in 55.75.

The 400 IM wrapped things up on the night, with China’s Huiyan Ye (4:54.58) and CW’s Charlie Swanson (4:22.38) winning the women and men’s events respectively. Zellmann took 2nd for the men in 4:25.50.

In the morning session, 14-year-old Hannah Jyawook (17:39.11) and PJ Ransford (8:26.46), both of Club Wolverine, won the women’s 1500 and men’s 800 free timed finals.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Miranda Tucker Doubles Up On Night 1 Of Eric Namesnik Memorial Open

By Torrey Hart on SwimSwam

Over the past few weeks, news of para swimming athlete reclassifications have been flowing in.

That, however, was expected. In late 2017, World Para Swimming announced that it would implement a new classification process, effective January 1, 2018 – all athletes are required to undergo a new classification test in 2018 (with the exception of a few special cases, which can be found here).

What is newsworthy here is that the new process appears already to be failing, as well as highlighting the incorrect classifications of prominent para swimmers that World Para Swimming and the International Paralympic Committee have defended for years.

Para swimmers are classified into various categories to even the playing field within each race. Each swimmer is classified as having either a physical, visual, or intellectual impairment, and undergoes physical, technical in-sport, and technical in-competition assessments to reach a proper classification. Para swimming has been marred in recent years by cases of intentional misrepresentation (IM). This is when an athlete intentionally makes their impairment seem more severe in order to be put into the wrong disability class.

This issue has gone largely unaddressed by top officials.

Thus, as we get word of a number of reclassifications, (to state the obvious) the implication is that many classifications were indeed wrong before 2018. This is not to say that this new system is a total fix; while some new classifications have held so far, a few athletes have been reclassified and then switched back to their old classification within days.

Seeking answers to what is naturally driving questions from our staff and readers alike, SwimSwam reached out to USOC Paralympic Communications Press Officer Olivia Truby, who said, “The classification process for athletes is a confidential process.” Additionally, US para swimmers have reportedly been instructed not to communicate with media.

Another wrench in the books, is that with virtually every para-swimmer in the world being kicked back to the review process, many World Record-clearing swims aren’t being ratified. This was highlighted today when newly-reclassed British Swimmer Alice Thai broke the World Record in the S8 100 free. Her mother, on Twitter, questioned it, saying  that Lakeisha Patterson was faster at the Commonwealth Games. But, because Patterson’s class wasn’t confirmed within the allowable time period (which appears to be 6 weeks), that record won’t show up on the books.

Records can only be ratified when athletes have been confirmed with the right sport class status. More info available at https://t.co/w5crPmuuSB!

— World Para Swimming (@Para_swimming) May 31, 2018

It seems that this will again be a problem with Daniel Dias’ 50 free World Record-time that was clocked on Friday in Sheffield. It doesn’t appear as though he’s yet had his classification review, and he’s not on the schedule for the upcoming para-meet in Berlin, and it’s not clear where else he could be classified in the next 6 weeks.

Given how little transparency the sport is allowing and what little information we have, here’s the major news we can confirm so far (the WPS master list is yet to be updated, but results from the 2018 British Para Swimming International meet confirm a handful of swimmers):

• American record holder Robert Griswold was classed up from S8 to S9, then almost immediately classed back down to S8.
• Olympic gold medalist Michelle Konkoly, of the US, was classed up from S9 to S10.
• The US’ Julia Gaffneywas classed down from S8 to S7.
• Ukrainian Denys Dubrov, who in 2016 went from world-class able-bodied swimmer to para world record holder with little explanation, will maintain his status as an S10.
• British swimmer Alice Tai has been classed down from S9 to S8.
• British swimmer Tully Kearney has been classed down from S7 to S5.
• British swimmer Grace Harvey was classed from from S7 to S6.
• British 2016 Paralympic medalist Stephanie Millward, who was classed down from S9 to S8 shortly before Rio, has again moved back to S9.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Para Classification Chaos: New System Only Renews Past Woes

By Sanuj Srivastava on SwimSwam

Karnataka State Sub-Junior & Junior Aquatic Championship 2018- Day 3 Results

Karnataka State Sub-Junior & Junior Aquatic Championship 2018 31st May Se 3rd June 2018 Tak Mysore University Swimming Pool, Kukkarahalli, Saraswathipuram, Mysore Me Hone Ja Rhi Hai. Is State Competition Se Swimmers 35th Sub Junior And 45th Junior National Aquatic Championships Ke Liye Select Kiye Jayenge. 35th Sub Junior And 45th Junior National Aquatic Championships 24th June Se 29th June Tak Pune Me Honge. Aaj Day 1 Ki Performance Report Aap Niche Diye Gye Pdf File Ko Download Karke Dekh Skte Hai.

Meet Circular – Download

Order Of Event – Download

Day 1 To Day 4 Heatlist Of Karnataka State Sub-Junior & Junior Aquatic Championship 2018 – Download

Karnataka State Sub-Junior & Junior Aquatic Championship 2018 Results

Day 1 Final Results – Download

Day 2 Final Results – Download

Day 3 Final Results – Download

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Read the full story on SwimSwam: Day 3 Ki Report: Karnataka State Junior Aquatic Championship 2018

By SwimSwam on SwimSwam

Courtesy: USA Water Polo

KUNSHAN, China– The USA Women’s National Team claimed their fifth straight FINA World League Super Final crown with an 8-6 victory over the Netherlands. Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) scored three goals in the win with Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) earning top goalkeeper honors. The match streamed live on FINA TV (subscription required) and can be accessed on-demand by clicking here. For more information on the final day of the FINA World League Super Final, click here.

The Netherlands started off in control grabbing a 1-0 lead early before Fattal got Team USA on the board. The Dutch followed with another goal and took a 2-1 lead after one. In the second quarter the United States turned the tables outscoring the Netherlands 2-0 to take a 3-2 lead at halftime. Things were close in the third quarter with the United States holding a 5-4 lead late in the period. Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC) delivered a goal with just seconds remaining in the quarter to put the United States ahead 6-4.

There was one more rally from the Dutch as they opened the fourth quarter with two straight goals to tie the game with 2:27 to play. Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC) came back with the go-ahead goal with 2:07 to play to put the United States in front 7-6. Paige Hauschild (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/Santa Barbara 805) closed the things out moments later with a tally for an 8-6 lead and a confirmed trip to the top of the podium.

Team USA went 1/5 on power plays while the Netherlands went 2/5 with neither side attempting a penalty. The victory marks the 12th overall Super Final crown in USA Women’s National Team program history.

“We wanted the Dutch to beat Canada so we could play them,” said Team USA’s Melissa Seidemann. “They have a young team and a lot of talent. They are physical and fast and it was a lot of fun. Adam (Krikorian) told us we were doing the right things. We were looking for fluidity on offence. We found it in the end.”

“We worked so hard and had to finish it,” added Team USA’s Ashleigh Johnson. “Those last essential goals were needed to finish the game. A lot of changes have been made (in the team) and people coming back, including me. There are so many pieces of the puzzle. We were a little rough around the edges, but we got into a rhythm and it’s nice in a new team.”

Scoring
USA 8 (1, 2, 3, 2) R. Fattal 3, M. Seidemann 2, M. Steffens 1, P. Hauschild 1, A. Williams 1
NED 6 (2, 0, 2, 2) C. van der Sloot 3, D. Genee 1, M. Megens 1, B. Sleeking 1
6×5 – USA – 1-5, NED – 2-5
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – NED – 0/0

Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA Women Claim 5th Straight Super Final Crown With 8-6 Win Over Dutch

By Daniela Kapser on SwimSwam

2018 German National Junior Championships

• May, 29th – June, 2nd
• Berlin, Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark (SSE)
• 50m
• Meet Central
• Schedule
• Results
• Live Timing
• Live Stream
• 2018 Junior Champions

Before the last session of the 2018 German National Junior Championships, Maya Tobehn (born 2002) and Josif Miladinov (born 2003) have collected the most titles: Tobehn was victorious in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and 200m IM. Josif Miladinov was the fastest in his age group in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m breaststroke and 50m and 100m butterfly. Both will swim one last final tonight, the 50m backstroke. Miladinov was born in Bulgaria and lives since 2014 with his family in Gera, Germany. He hasn’t received the German citizenship yet and can be found also in the 2018 Bulgarian swim rankings.

The 2018 German National Junior Championships are not part of a qualification procedure, the German  Swimming Federation (Deutscher Schwimmverband, DSV) has already nominated the team for the 2018 European Junior Championships in Helsinki from 4 to 8 July.

The 23-member DSV team for the JEM in Helsinki:

Girls (13): Alexandra Arlt, Anna Elendt, Mareike Ehring, Giulia Goerigk , Isabel Gose, Malin Grosse, Yara Hierath, Hannah Küchler, Lucie Kühn, Lena Riedemann, Celine Rieder, Barbara Schaal, Maya Tobehn

Boys (10): Sebastian Beck, Maurice Ingerieth, Lukas Matzerath, Lukas Märtens, Rafael Miroslaw, Fleming Redemann, Paul Reither, Michael Schäffner, Danny Schmidt, Peter Varjasi

Girls, born between 2001-2004 and boys, born between 2000-2003, are eligible to compete at the German National Junior Championships.

Today’s schedule features the 400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 50m backstroke.

The fastest of all starters over the 400m freestyle was Yara Hierath (born 2001) with a time of 4:17.74. The German record for  the 17-year-olds is held by Heike Friedrich (former GDR) since 1987 (4:06,74).

2018 German Junior Champions, 400m freestyle, women

On the men’s side, Aaron Schmidt (born 2000) set the fastest time of all finalists in 3: 54.28. Moritz Brandt holds the German age group record for the 18-year old in 3:48.57.

2018 German Junior Champions, 400m freestyle, men

Emily Herkle, born 2003,  showed a solid perfomance over the 200 m breast, she was clocked at 2:31.35. Even faster was Malin Grosse (born 2002) in 2:29.99, her first race under 2:30, she missed the actual German age group record for the 16-year old only by 0,57 seconds. The record is held by Margarethe Hummel. Also 2001 born Anna Elendt set a new personal best time, clocking a 2:31,01 (previous best time: 2:33,26).

2018 German Junior Champions, 200m breaststroke, women

Lucas Matzerath (born 2000) was the fastest of all finalists in the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:17.74, his personal best time stands at 2:16.31.

 2018 German Junior Champions, 200m breaststroke, men

Maya Tobehn won her seventh title in the 50m backstroke in 29.17, the age-group record for the 16-year-olds is held by Laura Riedemann in 28.87.

13-year old Lucie Mosdzien narrowly missed her second age group record at this event, being the first in 30.05, just 0.04 seconds off the current record.

In the last event of the 2018 German Junior Championships, the men’s 50 m backstroke, Michael Schäffner grabbed the gold medal in his age group, born 2000, in 25.74, this was the fastest time of all starters tonight and a new personal best. 2016 Olympic finalist Christian Diener holds the age group record in 25.40.

2018 German National Junior Champions:

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2018 MEL ZAJAC JR. INTERNATIONAL

• June 1-3, 2018
• UBC Aquatic Centre
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Both the U.S. and Canadian junior national teams competing at the Mel Zajac Jr. International meet in Vancouver saw a ton of success on day 1, with plenty of best times and some top ranked swims, and they continued the momentum into day 2.

Highlighting the action Saturday morning was 15-year-old Gretchen Walsh and 17-year-old Katharine Berkoff, both of the U.S. team, who established new personal bests to take the top spot in their respective events heading into finals.

Walsh blasted a 25.46 in the 50 free, lowering her PB of 25.57 from the 2017 U.S. Open and moving her into 10th among Americans for the year. Sarah Fournier (25.85) of Equipe Quebec was the only other swimmer sub-26, while Penny Oleksiak (26.87) missed the A-final in 11th. She did the same thing yesterday in the 200 free, and ended up swimming faster in the B-final than the A-final winner.

Berkoff, who had a pair of personal bests on Friday in the 200 back, went 28.38 in the 50 to bring her PB down nearly three tenths from the 28.66 she did at 2017 World Trials. Isabelle Stadden, who won the 200 last night in an impressive 2:08.37, went 28.62 for the 2nd seed.

Caeleb Dressel, who had his best long course swims of the season last night, easily qualified into the A-final of the men’s 100 fly and 50 free. In his first LC 100 fly since coming within .04 of the world record last summer, the reigning world champ cruised to a time of 54.28, qualifying 2nd behind U.S. junior Gianluca Urlando. Urlando broke 54 for the first time in 53.43, while Canadian Josiah Binnema was next up in 54.85. Maxime Rooney (55.16) and Ryan Lochte (55.61) also made it through to the 10-person A-final, while Mark Szaranek ended up back in 27th in 58.03.

Dressel then went 23.28 in the 50 free, four tenths better than he was at the Atlanta Classic prelims, qualifying 4th. Canadian speedster Yuri Kisil (22.80) and Sid Farber (22.93) were the only two sub-23, while Rooney also made the final in 23.70.

Lochte, Urlando and Szaranek all made it through to the championship heat of the men’s 200 IM, led by U.S. junior Jake Foster (2:04.51). Lochte, swimming the event for the first time this season, was 2nd in 2:04.68. Foster also took the top seed in the men’s 200 breast in 2:17.90, well clear of 2nd Jaren LeFranc (2:21.57), who ran down Foster last night in the 100 breast.

OTHER EVENTS

• Heidi Bradley (1:01.80) leads the way in the women’s 100 fly, with Walsh (1:02.05) and Oleksiak (1:02.59) making the A-final in 3rd and 4th respectively.
• Mackenzie Padington, who had an impressive day 1, took the top seed in both the women’s 400 free (4:13.31) and 200 IM (2:17.13). Her 400 time was over three seconds under her season best from Canadian Nationals in April.
• Colin Gilbert (3:57.40) and Alex Pratt (3:57.48) paced the men’s 400 free heats, with Americans Mikey Calvillo (3:58.16) and Mitch D’Arrigo (4:00.01) 3rd and 4th.
• Last night’s 200 winner Markus Thormeyer led the men’s 50 back field in 26.62.
• Rachel Nicol leads the women’s 200 breast in 2:30.63, just over a second off her season best from Austin.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Walsh, Berkoff Establish Best Times At Day 2 Prelims of Mel Zajac

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

Kendra Bowen of Carmel High School and Carmel Swim Club has announced her verbal commitment to Purdue University's class of 2023.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Carmel, Indiana’s Kendra Bowen Makes Verbal Commitment to Purdue

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

The first stop of the 2018 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series gets underway this afternoon from Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas. Live results can be found here. Check out the live stream below:

After this stop in the U.S., the series will continue into Portugal, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Italy.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: LIVE NOW: Red Bull Cliff Diving Series Stream

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

Will Goodwin of Centennial, Colorado has announced he plans to spend his collegiate swimming career at the University of Missouri in the class of 2023.

“I’m honored and excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at the university of Missouri. I’d like to thank my coaches, teammates, friends, and family for I wouldn’t be here without them. Mizzou has everything I need to improve both as a student athlete and a person. Go tigers!”

Goodwin is currently a junior at Regis Jesuit High School and was a major contributor to the Raiders’ breathtaking victory over Fossil Ridge at the 2018 CHSAA 5A Boys Swim-Dive State Championship last month. He was runner-up in the 200 IM (1:48.22) and 100 breast (55.80) and swam legs on the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays. His performances earned him first team all-state honors in all four events.

Goodwin swims year-round with University of Denver Hilltoppers. A USA Swimming Scholastic All-American and NISCA All-American, he competed in the 100/200 breast and 200/400 IM at 2017 Winter Juniors West; he also swam the backstroke leadoffs on both TOPS’ medley relays. At the Super Sectionals hosted by Longhorn Aquatics he went lifetime bests in the 200 back, 100/200 breast, 100 fly, and 200 IM (although he lowered his PBs in the 100 breast and 200 IM the following month at the high school state meet).

Top SCY times:

• 100 breast – 55.78 (altitude-adjusted 55.68)
• 200 breast – 1:59.85
• 200 back – 1:49.88
• 200 IM – 1:48.22 (altitude-adjusted 1:47.02)
• 400 IM – 3:52.89

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Missouri Tigers Pull in Verbal Commitment from Versatile Will Goodwin

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

USA Swimming Scholastic All-American and NISCA All-American Katrina Marty from Madison, Wisconsin has announced her verbal commitment to Arizona State University’s class of 2023 where she will join future Sun Devil teammates Claire Nguyen, Jadé Foelske, Katie McBratney, Lindsay Looney, and Riley Lexvold in Tempe in the fall of 2019.

Marty won the 100 back (53.88) and took third in the 100 fly (55.32) at the 2017 WIAA Girls Division 1 State Meet in November. Representing Madison Aquatic club at the Wisconsin 13&Over Short Course Championships in March, she won the 100/200 back, 200 fly and 100 IM and was runner-up in the 100 fly. The 100 IM and 200 fly were personal bests. Marty also swam at NCSA Spring Championships. She was a B-finalist in the 50 back and 100 back and a D-finalist in the 200 IM, the latter with a PB.

Marty would have been a B-finalist in the 100 back and a C-finalist in the 200 back at the 2018 Pac-12 Women’s Championships. She will have two years of overlap with Camryn Curry, who scored in the B finals of both events.

Top SCY times:

• 50 back – 25.33
• 100 back – 53.88
• 200 back – 1:57.96
• 50 fly – 25.10
• 100 fly – 55.30
• 200 fly – 2:02.78
• 200 IM – 2:04.05
• 400 IM – 4:21.79

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Wisconsin State Champ Katrina Marty Verbally Commits to ASU

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2018 Acquarena Cup

• June 2nd-3rd, 2018
• Bressanone, Italy
• Meet Results

American, turned Canadian, turned Italian swimmer Santo Condorelli dipped his toes into the water of his newly-announced home country on Saturday, swimming the 50 fly at the 2018 Acquarena Cup in the northern Italy mountain town of Bressanone (Brixen in English).

He swam just one event, one of only two he’s scheduled in for the weekend along with Sunday’s 50 free, and won by almost a second in 24.22. For the 23-year old, his arrival in Italy this week after the end of the academic year at USC will begin his required one-year clock before he’s able to represent Italy internationally.

Condorelli’s best time in the 50 fly is a 23.30 that he swam at the 2015 World Championships, which was his first meet representing Canada internationally. The Italian Record is a 23.21.

Condorelli is representing a club called Aurelia Nuoto at this meet – a club based out of Rome. This is the first meet we’ve found that he’s ever raced in Italy.

The meet was mostly made up of junior or college-aged swimmers, but there were a handful of other national-and-international caliber swimmers around to welcome Condorelli. Other noteworthy results:

• 100 free National Record holder Luca Dotto placed 2nd in that event with  50.86, losing out to teenager Alessandro Miressi (50.80). Miressi swam 48.3 earlier this year at Italy’s National Championships to earn his spot on the European Championships team.
• Lithuanian Olympian Giedrius Titenis swam a 2:17.32 in the 200 breaststroke for the fastest time in the timed-final morning heats. In the 50 breaststroke A-Final, Italian Fabio Scozzoli swam 27.65 to beat out a more spirited swim from Titenis in 28.39. Scozzoli, at 30-years old, swam a personal best and Italian Record in this event earlier this year. He’s the defending European Champion in the 50 breaststroke in SCM.
• European Championships relay swimmer Laura Letrari Laura Letrari won the 100 free in 55.85, which was just 6-tenths short of her best time.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Santo Condorelli Swims (and Wins) His First Race in Italy

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2018 ERIC NAMESNIK MEMORIAL OPEN

• June 1st-3rd, 2018
• Canham Natatorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• 50m (LCM)
• Psych Sheets
• Results on Meet Mobile

Day 2 of the 2018 Eric Namesnik Memorial Open saw the visiting Chinese swimmers pick up three event wins, with the Club Wolverine squad winning the majority of the events.

Austrian Felix Auboeck renewed his rivalry with Germany’s Poul Zellmann in the men’s 400 free, as he got the better of him once again after winning the 200 free last night. Auboeck held the slight lead throughout the race before coming home in 27.15 to win definitively in 3:51.76. Zellmann was 2nd in 3:53.17, and PJ Ransford was the only other man sub-4:00 in 3:59.06.

The women’s 400 free saw Club Wolverine’s Yirong Bi claim the victory in 4:12.40, just 0.15 off her season best. Teammate Sierra Schmidt took 2nd in 4:15.07. Schmidt had another runner-up finish in the women’s 200 fly, going 2:16.65 as China’s Huiyan Ye won in 2:14.71.

Miranda Tucker, who won a pair of events on day 1, won the women’s 200 breast by a wide margin in 2:31.47, under her previous season best of 2:32.59 from the Indianapolis PSS. Fellow Wolverine Jamie Yeung was 2nd, just as she was in the 100, in 2:35.19.

The men’s event featured a tight three-way battle between Michigan teammates, as Tommy Cope, Jacob Montague and Charlie Swanson slugged it out. Cope held the lead at the 150 wall, but Montague (34.38) and Swanson (34.22) both made up well over a second on him coming home (Cope was 35.80) to run him down. Montague was first to the wall in 2:16.07, followed by Swanson (2:16.64) and Cope (2:16.79). All three registered season best times, beating their times from the Indianapolis Pro Series, with Montague showing the biggest improvement having been 2:21.05 in Indy.

Another notable race was the women’s 50 free, where 15-year-old Wu Qingfeng picked up her second win of the meet in 25.21. The DeLoof sisters finished 2-3-4, led by Catie (25.64), and then Gabby (25.98) and Ali (26.22).

OTHER EVENTS

• Xioajing Zheng won the men’s 200 fly in 2:00.58, followed by Ricardo Vargas (2:03.20) and William Roberts (2:03.75).
• James Jones (23.50) edged Jinglong Hong (23.55) and Luiz Gustavo Borges (23.70) to win the men’s 50 free. Auboeck, the distance specialist, threw down a personal best for 4th in 23.81.
• Taylor Garcia (1:02.77) and Robert Zofchak (56.44) won the women’s and men’s 100 back.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Auboeck, Montague Among Winners At Eric Namesnik Memorial Open Day 2