Swimming

Rylee Erisman Becomes Fastest American 13-14 Girl in 100 Meter Free in 15 Years at NCSAs

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By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2024 NCSA Spring Championships

The 2024 NCSA Spring Championships are shifting away from their traditional yards format in the Olympic year and instead moving to a yards prelims, meters finals format.

Note: NCSA doesn’t apply its summer meet records, where racing is always long course, to the long course events at this spring meet. That means most of the long course meet records are from 2016, as the 2021 pre-Olympic meet was held entirely in yards.

Most of the best times from top athletes on Tuesday came in long course in finals. That includes a new all-time Age Group rankings from 14-year-old Rylee Erisman in the girls’ 100 free and several new Meet Records.

In prelims, Erisman swam 48.75 in the 100 yard free. That was four-tenths off her best time but was more-than-enough to carry the top seed into finals ahead of Waukesha’s Olivia Wanner. For her part, Wanner swam a best time of 49.17 in the heats, a time that would have ranked 4th at the University of Minnesota this season and which should immediately move her onto their relays as a freshman next fall.

In finals, Erisman widened her gap on the field, swimming 55.09 to secure the win. That improved her previous best time of 55.53. Last year, Erisman was a Futures Champion in the 100 meter free, but last month she won Southern Zone titles in the 200 IM and 400 IM, so more big things to come from her later in the meet. She also placed 4th on Tuesday in the 200 back in 2:11.80.

Erisman now finds her name among a group of swimming juggernauts as the third-best American in long course in history in the girls’ 13-14 100 meter freestyle. In an event where the US has struggled to keep up with Australia at the top end internationally, Erisman is the fastest in this category in 15 years for the US:

All-Time Rankings, US Girls, 13-14 100 Meter Free:

  1. Missy Franklin – 54.03 (2009)
  2. Lia Neal – 55.00 (2009)
  3. Riley Erisman – 55.09 (2024)
  4. Erika Pelaez – 55.51 (2021)
  5. Sippy Woodhead – 55.63 (1979)

She already had Olympic Trials cuts in both races. The runner-up in the 100 free Caroline Larsen from Foxjets (55.86) also did, though she finished about half-a-second off that time on Tuesday.

Rylee wasn’t the only Erisman to win on the opening day of the meet. Her older brother, 17-year-old Ryan Erisman, took the 800 free in 8:06.84, one of 17 swimmers under Ted Schubert’s old Meet Record from 2016 before this was an Olympic event for men.

Erisman trailed Matthew Marsteiner from New Wave Swim Team and Nathan Szobota from Nova of Virginia for most of the race, but a good final 200 meters of 1:59.31 overcame a nearly-three second deficit to Marsteiner and gave Erisman a comfortable win. Marsteiner placed 2nd in 8:08.24 and Szobota was 3rd in 8:09.65.

He also swam the 100 free, finishing 7th in 51.96 behind the winner Devin Dilger from the Oakland Live Y’ers in Michigan. That’s a best time for Dilger, a University of Florida commit, that breaks the old Meet Record held by would-be NCAA Champion Dean Farris at 50.59 from 2016.

Dilger’s previous best was a 50.53 from the US Open in December. He was also a runner-up in yards at the Winter Junior – East Championship in December in this event in 42.72 – a time he was slower then during Tuesday’s prelims.

Other Day 1 Winners & Highlights:

  • US Junior National Team member Maggie Wanezek of the Elmbrook Swim Club won the 200 backstroke in 2:10.33, beating out her fellow Junior National Teamer Lilla Bognar, who was 2nd in 2:10.37. Both were under Lucie Nordmann’s 2016 Meet Record, though both have been faster.
  • The revelation in the event was a new Olympic Trials cut from 14-year-old Sadie Buckley of the Mason Makos. She finished 3rd in 2:11.35, which cut almost three seconds off her previous best time. That moves her up to 9th all-time in the US in the age group, with the aforementioned Erisman just a few spots behind her in 12th. Buckley also dropped two seconds in yards to go 1:55.64 in the morning session.
  • Martin Perecinsky of the Long Island Aquatic Club used a big final 50 to edge away from Benjamin Ackerly in the men’s 200 backstroke final. Perecinsky won in 2:01.06 and Ackerly was 2nd in 2:01.44. Both are new best times, though for Ackerly the drop was bigger (1.6 seconds) and gave him a new Olympic Trials qualification.
  • Kylie McMurray from the Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club (GPAC) dominated the women’s 1500 free in 16:52.11, in the process shaving a quarter-second off her own personal best. She was 26 seconds ahead of the runner-up Samantha Anderson from LIAC.
  • Larsen, the runner-up in the 100 free, pulled off gold in the girls’ 50 fly, winning by almost a second. She swam 26.75 to break the old Meet Record from 2012 held by Mary Schneider of the Academy Bullets at 26.94. That came after a 24.07 in prelims.
  • Chase Swearingen swam and won his only race of the final session in the 50 fly, touching in 24.46. He was a tenth ahead of Jacob Johnson of the Suburban Seahawks (24.56), with 100 free winner Devin Digler (24.67) and NCAP’s Rian Graham (24.68) not far behind.
  • Relays are being swum as timed finals in short course in the morning this week. The Academy Bullets won the girls’ 200 medley relay in 1:40.57, three-tenths ahead of NCAP, holding off a 22.60 anchor from NCAP’s Allison Witdoeckt. The two-time defending champions and Meet Record holders from the Elmbrook Swim Club finished 4th in 1:41.29 on the strength of a 24.45 backstroke leg from Wanezek and a 22.46 anchor leg from Audrey Olen.
  • In the boys’ 200 medley relay, NCAP won in 1:26.88, just-missing their own Meet Record of 1:26.47 that was set in 2015. Josh Howat anchored that relay in 19.50.

SwimSwam: Rylee Erisman Becomes Fastest American 13-14 Girl in 100 Meter Free in 15 Years at NCSAs

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