Swimming

17-Year-Old Aaron Baltaytis Swims 100 Fly Lifetime Best of 46.81 (Ithaca Sectionals)

March 25, 2023

2023 SPEEDO SPRING SECTIONAL – ITHACA

March 23-26, 2023
Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York
Short Course Yards (25 Yards)
Meet Central
Results on MeetMobile: “2023 EZ North Speedo Short Course Sectionals”

The Sectionals meet in Ithaca continued into its second day of competition yesterday, with athletes racing the 200 free, 100 breast, 100 fly, and 400 IM during the finals session. The day also featured the 800 free relay which was swum as a part of prelims in the morning.

One of the highlights of the meet came in the men’s 100 fly, with Aaron Baltaytis of the Jersey Flyers Aquatic Club running away with the event. Swimming a lifetime best by three-tenths of a second, Baltaytis won the race by nearly two full seconds, touching at 46.81.

With his swim, Baltaytis now ranks among the top 100 all-time for the 17-18 age group while still only 17 years old. That performance is also notably .07 faster than Michael Phelps prior to his 19th birthday.

Baltaytis has seen incredible improvement over the past two years in the 100 fly, dropping nearly four seconds in the race. When he committed to Northwestern a little over a year ago, the fastest he had ever been in the event was 48.10.

In addition to his winning time in the 100 fly, Baltaytis also finished with the fastest 200 free time during prelims before opting out of the race at night. During finals, that event was won by Max Peterson with a time of 1:38.14.

The women’s 100 breast was decided by the narrowest of margins, with Audrey Cohen of the Southern Maine Aquatic Club claiming the title by just .01 over runner-up Kate Handley (1:02.29). After trailing at the 50-yard mark, Cohen out split Handley over the back half of the race to claim the title in 1:02.28. With that time, Cohen claimed the 17-18 Maine LSC record in the event.

Cohen is one of the fastest swimmers in Maine history, owning nearly every breaststroke record possible. In addition to the 100 breast high school state record, she holds LSC records in the 50/100/200 breaststroke records in the 15-16 age group and the 100 and 200 overall records.

After winning the event last year as a 15-year-old, Metro Area Life Time swimmer Sidney Arcella claimed her second straight Sectional title in the 200 free. Finishing over a second faster than her time from a year ago, Arcella won the event in 1:47.52.

A future member of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Tommy Hagar ran away with the men’s 400 IM, winning by over six seconds in a time of 3:50.34. Hagar has now dropped nearly eight seconds in the race over the last year.

With Alexa Reyna splitting 1:50.86 on the second leg of the race, Badger Swim Club finished with the top time in the 800 free relay in the morning. Reyna was joined by Lauren Lee, Daria Chtokolov, and Kate Anderson to finish in 7:28.66.

Other Event Winners

20-year-old Cal Bartone finished with the fastest time in the men’s 100-yard breast, touching in 55.06. A former member of the Loyola (Maryland) team, that swims shaved three-tenths off of Bartone’s previous lifetime best in the event.
After finishing as the runner-up in the event last spring, CPP River Hawk Angie McKane finished with the fastest time in the 100 fly. The 16-year-old was the only swimmer under 54.0 in the event, touching in 53.92.
After winning the 1650 free on the first day of the meet, French National Team member Alexa Reyna picked up her second gold medal in the 200 IM. Reyna finished in 4:20.96.
Peddie Aquatic Association claimed the top spot in the men’s 800 free relay, with the team of Max Peterson, Tomaz Chevres, Luke Brennan, and Donavan Jong touching in 6:42.91.