Five Storylines To Watch At The 2025 Winter Junior Championships – East ...Middle East

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2025 WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – EAST

The nation’s top junior swimmers will converge this week at the multi-site Winter Junior Championships in Indianapolis and Austin, with an exciting four days of racing set to kick off tonight and run through Saturday.

Below, find five key storylines to follow at the East meet in Indianapolis.

ERISMAN, DERIVAUX HUNTING NAG RECORDS FOR 15-16 GIRLS

The debate about who should be ranked 1st in the girls’ high school class of 2027 came to an abrupt end last month when Rylee Erisman announced she was reclassifying to the class of 2026, but still, Erisman and Audrey Derivaux will still be linked as the premier 2009-born female swimmers in the U.S. and the duo will be headlining Winter Juniors – East this week.

This week represents the best chance for Erisman, who will turn 17 at the end of March, to add some more 15-16 National Age Group Records to her resume before aging up, though she’ll likely have another taper meet in March to give it one more run.

Already the owner of the girls’ 15-16 NAG in the 100 free (46.69), Erisman has a great chance of erasing Claire Curzan‘s longstanding record in the 50 free (21.50), with her best time sitting at 21.61 from November 2024 (she also went 21.67 last month).

It’s more of a long shot, but Erisman could come within striking distance of Katie Ledecky‘s record in the 200 free, which stands at 1:42.03 from 2013. Erisman has been as fast as 1:43.51, which ranks her 6th all-time in the age group.

Erisman will, of course, have a great shot at lowering her own record in the 100 free, and perhaps she’ll take aim at Simone Manuel‘s mark of 46.09 in the 17-18 age group. This summer, Erisman went way under Manuel’s 17-18 long course record as a 16-year-old, getting all the way down to 52.79 (narrowly missing the World Junior Record).

Erisman is also entered in the 500 free, seeded 1st with her best time of 4:43.35 from January, and in the 100 back, where she’s seeded 2nd to 15-16 NAG record holder Charlotte Crush with her PB of 51.36 from this meet last year.

As for Derivaux, who won’t turn 17 until August, she’s entered in her four best events, seeded 1st in the 200 fly (1:52.78), 200 IM (1:55.24) and 400 IM (4:03.31) while ranking 2nd to Crush in the 200 back (1:50.91).

Derivaux currently ranks 3rd all-time in the girls’ 15-16 age group in the 400 IM, 4th in the 200 fly, 8th in the 200 back and 13th in the 200 IM.

As for any potential NAG records, her best shot probably lies with the 200 fly, where her 1:52.78 PB is within 1.54 seconds of Regan Smith‘s mark of 1:51.24 from 2018. Derivaux is also less than two seconds shy of Teagan O’Dell‘s NAG in the 200 IM (1:53.38), within 2.51 seconds of Smith’s record in the 200 back (1:48.30), while in the 400 IM, despite ranking 3rd all-time, she’s more than six seconds back of Katie Grimes‘ mark of 3:57.02.

CRUSH MAKES WINTER JUNIORS CURTAIN CALL AFTER RECORD-BREAKING RUN

At the 2024 Winter Juniors – East in Greensboro, Charlotte Crush had an incredible performance, earning the girls’ High Point Award despite being just 16, as she won three events, added one runner-up and one third-place finish individually, and set four lifetime bests while also contributing to the Lakeside relays that won one title and landed on the podium in all five.

Most notably, Crush clocked 49.46 in the 100 back (leading off the 400 medley relay) to break the girls’ 15-16 NAG record while also matching Claire Curzan‘s 17-18 NAG.

Now 17, Crush has the opportunity to take down Curzan’s mark officially–she currently ranks 5th all-time in the 17-18 age group with her 50.35 swim from the McCallie Invitational last month.

Crush has entered six events this week, seeded 1st in the 100 back, 200 back (1:48.69) and 100 fly (50.00), while coming in seeded 2nd to Erisman in the 50 free (22.04) and 100 free (47.85) and ranking 4th on the psych sheets in the 200 IM (1:56.57).

Winter Juniors has been the meet that Crush has dominated throughout her career. As a 14-year-old, she won the 100 back in 2022 (51.01), a 13-14 NAG record at the time, and then in 2023, she swept the backstroke events while shattering the 15-16 NAG record in the 100 back on the 400 medley relay in 49.53.

Committed to Tennessee for next season, this will likely be Crush’s last Winter Junior Championship meet of her career–though she’ll still be eligible to swim it next season if she opts to after the Vols midseason invite meet.

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRLS ON THE RISE

Performances from 15-year-old swimmers often get overlooked as they’re on the wrong side of the 15-16 age group, making record or highly-ranked swims hard to come by due to it being a crucial time for development, but there are a few names on the girls’ side to watch for this week in Indianapolis.

Karina Plaza, who became the youngest female swimmer to break 1:00 in the 100 breast in February, comes into the meet seeded 1st in the 200 breast (2:09.40) and 2nd in the 100 breast (59.94), with both swims currently standing as the current 13-14 NAG record.

Over the last five years, the fastest time from a 15-year-old girl in the 100 breast is the 59.57 produced by Raya Mellott in 2022, so watch for Plaza to challenge that. Over the last decade, Alex Walsh‘s 58.80 from 2016 is the fastest.

In the 200 breast, the top time from a 15-year-old dating back 10 years came from Molly Sweeney in 2022, having clocked 2:08.08.

Plaza is also seeded 5th in the 200 IM and 6th in the 400 IM.

Reina Liu is another 15-year-old to watch, coming in seeded 2nd in the 200 IM, 3rd in the 100 back, and 4th in the 50 free, 200 back and 200 fly. The TAC Titans member is coming off setting best times in the 200 free (1:45.66), 100 fly (53.31), 200 fly (1:55.82) and 200 IM (1:56.27), showing that she’s riding some momentum heading into this week.

Brinkleigh Hansen, the distance freestyle product out of Saint Petersburg, holds the top seed in the 1000 and 1650 free as a 15-year-old, and also comes in ranked 4th in the 500 free and 9th in the 200 free. Last year, she was the runner-up in the 500 as a 14-year-old.

BOLLES BOYS AIM FOR REPEAT TITLE

The Bolles School boys absolutely dominated the field at last year’s Winter Juniors – East meet, scoring 460 points to topple runner-up Lakeside (280), and the Sharks appear to be well on their way to doing it again with a strong lineup of entrants.

One of the names that stands out on the psych sheets is George Dovellos, 17, who is seeded 2nd in the 100 fly and also holds top eight seeds in the 100 free (6th), 500 free (6th) and 200 free (8th).

Dovellos, whose best finish at last year’s meet came at 19th in the 100 fly, has made big strides over the last 12 months, notably winning the FHSAA 1A title in the 100 fly last month in a time of 47.25.

Fellow 17-year-old Liam Carrington is the top seed in the 100 and 200 free and is coming off winning the former at the FHSAA 1A State Championships in a lifetime best of 42.66. The NC State commit set his best time of 1:35.49 in the 200 free at last year’s Winter Juniors, winning the ‘B’ final.

He also would’ve been a threat in the 50 free, but has instead opted to enter the 200 IM, where he’s seeded 5th with his PB of 1:46.30 set en route to winning the ‘C’ final at this meet last year.

The Bolles boys are also known for their breaststroke prowess, and that will be on display this week with Lucas Young, Prakhanthi Rai and Luke Zardavets all owning top-nine seeds in both the 100 and 200 breast.

Distance freestyler Clay Magyar, backstroker Krish Jain and freestyler Noah Stotler are three other names who are projected to provide top-eight points for the Sharks.

BAYLOR STANTON IN LINE FOR BIG GOLD MEDAL HAUL

Last year, similar to Crush on the girls’ side, Baylor Stanton was the top performer for the boys at Winter Juniors – East last year, winning three events en route to earning High Point Award honors.

The 18-year-old Cal commit could put on an even more dominant performance in 2025, coming in seeded 1st in the 500 free (4:17.92), 200 back (1:40.66), 200 IM (1:44.14) and 400 IM (3:41.50), while also sitting 2nd in the 100 back (46.70) and 3rd in the 200 fly (1:45.02).

In the 200 breast, Stanton set a new best time of 1:55.42 just a few weeks ago at the Woodie B. Malone Invitational, which would rank him 2nd on the psych sheets at Winter Juniors, but he’s entered with his LC time of 2:21.49, putting him under the radar down as the 47th seed.

Although Stanton doesn’t appear to be threatening any of the boys’ 17-18 NAG records, he could become the fourth swimmer in age group history sub-3:40 in the 400 IM if he manages to drop a second and a half, while he could crack the top 10 all-time in the age group in the 200 back if he manages to break 1:40. He’s also within striking distance of Daniel Diehl‘s meet record from 2022 (1:39.62).

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