SwimMac Dominates Southern Premier

SwimMac Carolina was nothing short of impressive at the Southern Premier, winning eight relays and lapping the field by more than 2,500 points.

Mar 5, 2018 by Kolby Paxton

By Ben Colin

SwimMac Carolina turned in a dominant performance to win the 2018 Southern Premier by over 2,500 points on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lakeside swim team finished second and meet host Nashville Aquatic Club came in third. SwimMac won more than one-quarter of the meet's events, including eight relay victories.

Even with SwimMac running away with the meet, two swimmers stole the show. Sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh claimed numerous victories for Nashville Aquatic Club. Between the two of them, they won eight individual events in the senior age group.

Gretchen Walsh picked up wins in the 50-, 100-, and 200-yard freestyles along with the 100 butterfly. Her most impressive swim came in the 50, as she crushed the 15-16 national record with a time of 21.85. The previous record was 22.04.

Walsh narrowly missed the record in the 100 on the meets final day.

Alex Walsh won the 100 and 200 backstrokes, the 200 breaststroke, and the 200 IM. She also broke a national record in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:06.45. She now holds both breaststroke events for the 15-16 age group.

With the NCAA championships approaching, many times put up by Alex and Gretchen Walsh are already faster than what it takes to be invited. They are both highly ranked recruits.

In the 13-14 girls age group, SwimMac’s Kiley Wilhelm led the way. She picked up seven individual wins. For the 12-and-under girls, Lakeside’s Jenna Brown and SwimMac’s Molly Donlan scored big points with their three wins each.

Cardinal Aquatics’ John Hayes and SwimMac’s Baylor Nelson each won four events in the 13-14 age group. Hayes took the 50, 100, 200, and 500 freestyles, while Nelson won the 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke, and 200 IM.

The 12-and-under age group three event winners were SwimMac’s Troy Keen and Lakeside’s Johny Crush. Lakeside teammate Zain Butt also won two events.

Dayton Raiders swimmer Cody Bybee, an Arizona State signee, won three events on the weekend. He claimed the 200 butterfly and the 50 and 500 freestyles for the senior age group. Bybee also swam to the top seed during the prelims in the 100 backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle but didn’t swim the finals.