Newby heads to nationals
Bishop McGuinness rising-junior Hanna Newby has the opportunity to compete against upper-tier Olympic and NCAA champions as she swims in her first summer national championship meet. She’ll swim in three events at the 2017 Phillips 66 National Championships in Indianapolis.
In her first U.S. championship meet last December, Hanna Newby learned she can swim times that put her in an elite category with the country’s best swimmers.
As Newby enters her first summer national championship meet, she now has the opportunity to swim against the upper-tier Olympic and NCAA champions on that level.
The McGuinness rising junior will swim three events during a three-day span at the 2017 Phillips 66 National Championships in Indianapolis. The meet began Tuesday, and Newby’s first event is the 200meter breaststroke Wednesday.
Newby, who will represent Edmond’s American Energy Swim Club at the meet, will swim the 50-meter breaststroke Thursday and the 100meter breaststroke Friday.
“I haven’t tapered (rested) since late November, so I’m expecting to cut time,” Newby said. “I’m hoping to swim an Olympic Trials cut time. I know I’ve put in the work to cut time.”
The meet features the best swimmers in the United States, most notably five-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, who just finished her freshman season at Stanford, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel.
Indiana junior Lilly King, who won the 100meter breaststroke at the 2016 Olympics, and two-time Olympic medalist Katie Meili are the notable swimmers in Newby’s events.
“I want to go into this meet with my eyes wide open and take it as a learning experience,” Newby said. “I’ve never been to a meet this high of a level.”
The national championship is also the qualifying meet for the upcoming 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The top two swimmers in each event will qualify for United States world championship team.
If Newby drastically cuts time, she could put herself in a position to qualify for the under18 world championship team. The top two under-18 swimmers that don’t qualify for the world championship team in each event will qualify for the under-18 team.