FAST had many great performances and lifetime bests at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The Elite Team was represented by Tyler Clary, Michael Klueh, Robert Margalis, and Mike Smit. All four swimmers improved their 2012 world rankings, led by Clary's 400 IM time of 4:13.01 which stands in the 9th position so far this year. Clary took 2nd place in the event after a close race with Michael Phelps that came down to the final stroke. He also turned in an impressive 3:49.81 in the 400 Freestyle, winning the event and moving up to 22nd in the world. Klueh moved up to 28th in the world with his second place finish and season best time of 3:50.66. Margalis and Smit also scored points for FAST racing in the B and C Finals. Both swimmers improved on their times from the Preliminaries finishing in 11th (3:56.78) and 20th (4:00.79), respectively. Klueh moved up to 39th in the world with his fourth place finish in the 200 Free and a season best time of 1:48.59. Smit finished in 12th place overall with a time of 1:52.31, improving on his time from the Preliminaries. The 200 Fly was also a success for FAST with Clary and Margalis claiming 3rd (1:58.14) and 5th places (2:00.00), respectively. Both swimmers also raced the 200 IM later in the Finals session and improved on their times from the morning placing 5th (2:01.17) and 11th (2:03.33) overall. Current world rankings can be viewed here.

 

Senior Team swimmers Katja Claesson, Sean Kao, Paul Li, and Patricia Tedjasukmana as well as Pre-Senior swimmer Breanna Adams turned in several best times in their first trip to the IUPUI Natatorium. Katja turned in best times in all four of her individual races (100 Breast, 200 Breast, 100 Fly, and 200 IM) as well as her time trial of the 100 Free. Breanna swam best times in both of the Breaststroke distances, as well as her time trial of the 100 Free. Sean had huge drops in two events, cutting 10 seconds off of his 200 IM time for a time of 2:14.31 and 5 seconds off of his 200 Free time, breaking the 2:00 barrier with a time of 1:58.54. Paul also had several big drops, cutting over 14 seconds off of his 400 IM (4:38.10) and over 5 seconds in both the 400 Free (4:05.84) and 200 Fly (2:09.50). Patricia broke 29 seconds for the first time in the 50 Free with a lifetime best time of 28.83. Complete results from the meet can be viewed here.

 

The Blue Meet was a great success for all FAST groups that participated, from Junior through Pre-Senior. Many swimmers had huge time drops of 10 seconds or more, particularly in the 200 Free, 400 Free, 200 IM, and 400 IM events. Twelve swimmers posted lifetime bests in all of their races! Congratulations to Bree Anderson, Ashley Beck, Skylar Bowles, Deborah Dervartanian, Carson Dike, Matthew Efseaff, Maddie Gorrie, Daniel Gribble, Simon Lamar, Meg Lowrey, Ava Mattis, and Marie Monobe. FAST had 46 swimmers finish in the Top 8 of at least one event led by 9 swimmers with Top 8 finishes in all of their races! Congratulations to Bree Anderson, Deborah Dervartanian, Simon Lamar, Harrison Lee, Jordyn Morris, Ethan Newberry, Rachel Soong, Carley Vaccher, and Kendall Wilson. Complete results from the meet can be viewed here. 

 

Keep up the great work, FAST!