
After a long hiatus from the big meets due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Brendan finally landed in Greensboro for Summer Nationals. This meet is the highest 18 and under meet in USA Swimming.
It was a big different for a couple of reasons. Obviously the pandemic was pretty much still in full swing so USA Swimming split the meet into regions, East and West. Under normal circumstances, it is held in one location, most recently, in Irvine California. We hope in 2022 that will be the case and we’ll be traveling to the West Coast.
Also, since the meet was split geographically and it was an Olympic Trial year, the 19 and over swimmers were combined with the 18 and under. Though there weren’t any Olympians swimming, there were some incredibly fast 19 and over swimmers there, making it as challenging as a normal Summer Junior National Meet!
The biggest difference was the number of officials there. Normally, even at a Virginia Swimming Senior level meet, there are stroke and turn officials scattered around the pool deck. At Summer Nationals, each lane was monitored by its own official.
The other striking difference was that Brendan was without his teammates. Having friends to cheer him on is a big part of the experience. Hopefully, he will have that at the Winter Junior National meet coming up in December, also in Greensboro!
Regardless, it was an amazing experience. Brendan swam incredibly well!
He almost reached his goal of getting a 2020 Olympic Trial Qualifying time, missing it by only a tenth of a second in both the 100 M and 200 M Backstrokes. In the 100 M Butterfly, he was off by a little over a second.
Brendan made finals in multiple events but his best finish, 11th place, came in the 100 M Backstroke.
Brendan’s times from Summer Nationals 2021:

Photos from Summer Nationals 2021










We very much appreciate his Head Coach, Ryan Woodruff, for taking Brendan to this meet. And we look forward to the future.
What’s next for Brendan?
The biggest thing on the horizon is Official Visits to colleges. He is talking with several big D1 Power 5 programs, and it will be fun to see where he chooses to visit!
Keep him in your prayers. It’s a big decision!
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