Photo courtesy of Walt Middleton/usctrojans.com
Dylan Carter wins Gold In The 800 And 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
LOS ANGELES – The 2017 edition of the USA College challenge saw the CARIFTA region represented by Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter.
The meet format has members of the United States National Team competing against college swimmers from a specific conference in a 25 yard pool. The conference chosen this year was the PAC-12. That conference comprises of 12 schools from the Western United States, of which the University of Southern California USC is one where Carter is a standout performer on the team.
Dylan would be a member of two winning relay teams at the meet which ran from October 21 to 22 at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center, the home pool of the USC Trojans.
In the 800 yard freestyle relay PAC 12 A teammate Grant Shoults 1:35.64 gave the team a lead of the USA B team of 0.36 of a second. Carter on second leg duties would give the team an insurmountable lead of 3.17 seconds when he recorded the fastest split on the day of 1:33.76.Cameron Craig 1:34.67 and Zheng Quah 1:35.89 helped the PAC 12 A team to a total time of 6:19.96, a winning margin of just over five seconds. The USA B finished second in 6:24.97 and USA A third in 6:27.11
Photo courtesy of Walt Middleton/usctrojans.com
It would be a much closer affair in the 400 yard freestyle relay as the PAC12 A won in a time of 2:51.58. They just turned back the challenge of the USA B team who stopped the clock in a time 2:51.77.
Carter had a 2nd leg split of 43.72. The USA B team included Olympic Gold medallists Matt Grevers, Tom Shields and Jack Conger. The USA A team was 3rd in 2:54.09
Dylan would have two 2nd places finishes in the 200 and 100 yard freestyle races. In the 200 he recorded a time of 1:34.16 (split time 45.78). His time is the second fastest in the NCAA so far this season. The winner was USA Team member Tom Shields who clocked 1:33.70. Craig placed 3rd in 1:35.13.
In the 100 yard freestyle Dylan would clock the fastest collegiate time of 42.95 (split time 20.39) . That time would be bettered later in the meet by Justin Lynch who clocked 42.65 leading off the PAC 12 B team in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Shields won the event in a time of 42.73. Daniel Krueger of the USA national team was 3rd in 43.17.
The 400 yard medley relay saw Carter posting the 2nd fastest butterfly split of 45.13 and the best butterfly split in the two year history of the meet by a collegiate athlete.
The PAC 12 A team would finish third in 3:07.09, that is the fastest time by a college team since the inception of the meet. USA B and A topped the field with times of 3:06.26 and 3:07.00 respectively.
The 50 yard freestyle saw Dylan touching in a time of 20.16 for 7th which places 25th in the NCAA so far this season.
The PAC -12 Conference would take the overall meet honours 326.50 to 286.50.
