Katie Grimes, Claire Weinstein Return From Worlds to Post Strong Swims at Sectionals
Less than a week after wrapping up competition at the Short Course World Championships in Budapest, American teenagers Katie Grimes and Claire Weinstein are competing again, this time in short course yards with their Sandpipers of Nevada teammates at a Sectionals meet in Walnut, Calif.
Grimes, racing for the final time before she begins her college career at the University of Virginia, has picked up wins in the 1000 freestyle, 400 IM and 500 freestyle. Her time of 9:16.69 in the 1000 free was a best time by more than nine seconds, and it moved Grimes to third all-time in the event. The only swimmers to ever go faster are Katie Ledecky (8:59.65) and Katie Hoff (9:10.77), and Grimes moved ahead of former Sandpipers teammate Erica Sullivan (9:17.32) and Weinstein (9:17.85) on the all-time list.
In the 400 IM, Grimes finished in 3:57.07, five hundredths shy of her best time that makes her the sixth-fastest woman in history. Grimes has won silver in the 400-meter IM behind Summer McIntosh at four different international competitions, including the Paris Olympics and at the recent Short Course Worlds. Also at Sectionals, Grimes topped the 500 free in 4:32.19 and the 200 back in 1:50.72, and she competed on four different winning relays. She split 1:43.65 on the Sandpipers’ 800 free relay.
Weinstein, meanwhile, swam a time of 1:41.10 in the 200 free to jump to 12th all-time in the event. The time was only two tenths behind the 1:40.90 that former club teammate Bella Sims recorded on her way to a win at last year’s NCAA Championships. Weinstein also won the 100 free in a best time of 47.95 She also took second to Grimes in the 500 free (4:38.02) while racing the 100 breaststroke (1:00.53), 100 backstroke (56.23) and 200 backstroke (1:57.60) and contributing to all winning Sandpiper relays, including with a 1:41.59 split in the 800 free relay.
Weinstein is coming off winning her first individual medal at a major meet, taking bronze in the 200-meter free in Budapest, and she and Grimes were both part of the U.S. women’s 800 free relay that set a world record in a gold-medal performance.
