Complete Day One Results
After an exciting week of swims at the Phillips 66 National Championships, the top 18-and-under swimmers in the country took the stage tonight for the first session of finals at the Speedo Junior National Championships at the William Wollett, Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine, Calif. 

Fourteen-year-old Justina Kozan of Brea Aquatics kicked things off with an exciting finish in the 200m fly as she just held off New Wave’s Amanda Ray at the wall, 2:10.83 to 2:10.87. Grace Sheble of NOVA of Virginia out-touched a handful of others to take third in 2:12.72. 

The men’s 200m fly turned out to be just as close, with Bluefish Swim Club’s Harry Homans narrowly edging Crimson Tide’s Zachary Smith for the national junior title, 2:00.29 to 2:00.36. Homans turned in second at the final wall and had just enough left in the tank to get to the wall first. Ben Miller of Tigard Tualatin grabbed third on the podium with a time of 2:00.70. 

Four swimmers cracked the 1:10 barrier in the women’s 100m breast final, with The Dolphins Portland’s Kaitlyn Dobler leading the way in 1:08.90. Dobler finished just off Zoe Bartel’s two-year-old meet record of 1:08.11. NC State’s Olivia Calegan hit the wall second in 1:09.10, edging Dublin Community’s Ellie Andrews who came in at 1:09.12. 

Pittsburgh Elite’s Joshua Matheny led the men’s 100m breast wire-to-wire and finished well ahead of the rest of the heat with a 1:01.06. Josh Bottelberghe of Portland Aquatic Club touched a second back in 1:02.05, while Mason Manta Rays’ Jake Foster claimed third place honors in 1:02.22. 

In the women’s 800m free, Bolles School’s Kensey McMahon shaved two and a half seconds off her personal best to win comfortably in 8:37.45, more than five seconds ahead of the second place finisher. North Baltimore’s Easop Lee filled that spot with her 8:42.78, while Nation’s Capital grabbed third with Paige McKenna dropping six seconds to touch in 8:45.51. 

Ivan Puskovitch of Episcopal Academy rounded out the evening with a huge 14-second drop in the men’s 1500m free as he collected his first title of the meet in 15:31.28. North Carolina Aquatic Club’s Thomas Bretzmann had an equally impressive time drop of 12 seconds to take second in 15:33.26. Meanwhile, Carmel Swim Club’s Jake Mitchell cut almost an entire 50’s worth of time off with a whopping 27-second drop to place third in 15:36.21. 

Through the first six events, Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics leads the combined team standings with 37 points, ahead of Dayton Raiders (33 points) and Bluefish Swim Club (32 points). Bluefish sits atop the men’s standings with 29 points, while Nation’s Capital leads the women’s meet with 36 points. 

Make sure to check USASwimming.org for results and webcast information from the meet