USA’s Rising Stars Shine Again at Winter Juniors East; Rylee Erisman, Audrey Derivaux and Charlotte Crush All Win
Like the first few days of the competition, the final night of Winter Juniors-East was packed with fast performances, including the latest sensational swim from Rylee Erisman. Additional Saturday evening highlights – as expected – were supplied by Audrey Derivaux, Charlotte Crush and Collin Holgerson, three of the top juniors in the United States.
Coming off an NAG record in the 200-yard freestyle on Friday night, Erisman captured first place in the 100 freestyle on Saturday night. Over four laps, Erisman put together a time of 46.85, which was good for a .87 margin over Crush, who posted a swim of 47.72. After her 200 freestyle performance, Erisman was expected to challenge her career best of 46.69, and she wasn’t far off that effort. Erisman went out in 22.65, with Crush sitting in second in 23.02. Over the back half of the race, Erisman split 24.20 while Crush was timed in 24.70.
Earlier in the session, Crush topped the field in the 200 backstroke. She built a lead of more than a second on the opening 50 of the 200 back and routed the field with a winning mark of 1:49.24. The Tennessee recruit, coming off a win in the 100 backstroke on Friday night, prevailed by nearly three seconds over Reina Liu (1:52.17).
In the women’s 200 butterfly, Derivaux moved to No. 4 all-time in the 15-16 age group, third among American swimmers. Derivaux took the gold medal in the final individual event of the meet behind a time of 1:52.70. That outing was more than two seconds faster than the 1:54.87 of Nikki Nixon.
Also a Tennessee recruit, Collin Holgerson continued his roll at Winter Juniors by going sub-1:40 in the 200 backstroke. Coming off wins in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke a night earlier, Holgerson went 1:39.74 to finish ahead of Baylor Stanton, who touched the wall in 1:40.55. Holgerson earned his victory on the front end, where he split 48.38, almost a second quicker than the 49.34 of Stanton.
Liam Carrington and Mike Rice engaged in a stellar duel in the men’s 100 freestyle, with Carrington eking out a triumph in 42.32. Carrington won the 200 freestyle earlier at Juniors and in the 100 free, he narrowly bettered Rice, who was the 50 freestyle winner. Carrington covered the front half of his race in 20.31 and returned in 22.01. Rice produced splits of 20.42 and 22.06.
After securing a tight victory in the 100 breaststroke, Molly Sweeney (Tennessee recruit) commanded the 200 breaststroke, winning the event by two seconds. Sweeney turned in a performance of 2:06.72, followed in 2:08.72 by Kaidy Stout. For the men, Ian Heysen improved his second-place effort in the 100 breaststroke by winning the 200 distance in 1:54.61.
Clare Custer claimed victory in the women’s 1650 freestyle, as her time of 16:09.72 comfortably outdistanced the 16:19.92 of runnerup Brinkleigh Hansen. On the men’s side, Colin Jacobs earned a dominant win. The second-place finisher earlier in the meet in the 500 freestyle, Jacobs was the only athlete to break the 15-minute barrier, going 14:47.47. In the men’s 200 butterfly, Hayden Vicknair went 1:43.06 to prevail.
