The Junior Olympics will take place July 29 through Aug. 1 in Houston, Texas and to qualify, swimmers must place in the top three in any given event at a AAU JO qualifying meet, all five Hope swimmers were able to do that this weekend.
13-year-old Sadie Knoll already qualified for the Junior Olympics this year last month for the 200 meter breaststroke, but qualified for four more events this weekend. Knoll placed 1st in the 200 meter backstroke with a time of 3:49.20, 2nd in the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 38.98, 3rd in the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 3:30.75, and 3rd in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:51.55. This will be Knoll's 3rd time competing in the Junior Olympics.
12-year-old Ben Stewart also qualified in four events this weekend. Stewart placed 2nd in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 2:03.10 (a 4.84 second drop from this previous best time), 3rd in the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 3:29.58, 3rd in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 2:20.08, and 3rd in the 50 meter breaststroke with a time of 58.03. This will be Stewart's 2nd time competing in the Junior Olympics.
9-year-old Adyson Crow qualified in two events this weekend where she placed 1st in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 2:51.41 and 3rd in the 50 meter butterfly with a time of 1:13.32. This will be Crow's 1st ever Junior Olympics.
13-year-old Addison McEuen also qualified in two events this weekend where she placed 2nd in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 7:39.45 (a 38.79 second drop from her previous best time) and 3rd in the 200 meter breaststroke with a time of 4:19.78. This will be McEuen's 2nd ever Junior Olympics.
14-year-old Abigail Crow, Adyson's sister, also qualified for the Junior Olympics this weekend when she placed 2nd in the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 1:51.15. This will also be Abigail's first Junior Olympics.
The Hope Piranhas swim team will have three more meets before they head out to the Junior Olympics, one on Friday in DeQueen, one Saturday in Monticello and also the South Arkansas Swim Association (SASA) Championships in Pine Bluff the weekend after.
Photos by Amy Knoll