USA Swimming contact:

Sara Hunninghake, (719) 866-3588, shunninghake@usaswimming.org

MELBOURNE, Australia – The U.S. National Junior Team almost doubled its medal count from the previous two days of competition, racking up 11 medals on Day 3 of the Victorian State Championships (Jan. 3-7, Melbourne, Australia).

Team USA amassed three gold, four silver and four bronze on Thursday to bring the team total to 23: eight gold, seven silver and eight bronze overall.

Dillon Connolly (Marietta, Ga. / Marietta Marlins) completed a sweep of the breaststroke races, adding a gold medal in the 200m breast on Thursday to the gold he won in the 100 on Wednesday. Connolly posted a winning time of 2:18.26, while teammate Troy Nissen (Sacramento, Calif. / Arden Hills) swam a 2:23.78 to capture the bronze medal.

“It was good to get a best time,” Connolly said. “I haven’t improved in this event for a while. I paced the first half well and didn’t shorten my stroke at the end.”

Two other swimmers also brought home individual gold on Thursday. Chad LaTourette (Mission Viejo, Calif. / Mission Viejo Nadadores) clocked an 8:11.41 to finish on top of the podium in the 800m freestyle. Four other Americans finished in the top 10, including Logan Storie’s (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis Aquatic Team) bronze-medal performance (8:21.64).

On the women’s side, Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa. / Germantown Academy) won her second individual gold of the meet, taking the title in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:14.75.

In the women’s 400m free, Leah Gingrich (Enola, Pa. / West Shore YMCA) posted an outstanding time of 4:12.88, finishing second to Australian World Championship Team member Haley Reddaway and touching out Australian Olympian Elka Graham. Gingrich’s silver medal-winning time was an almost four-second improvement over her personal best and the fastest in U.S National Junior Team history by two seconds.

“I was surprised at how fast (Reddaway) went out,” Gingrich said. “It was really hard in the middle, and I couldn’t catch her, but it was fun to swim in such a great race.”

Day 4 (Friday) of the Victorian Championships at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre begins with heats at 9 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, which means heats begin at 5 p.m. EST on Thursday Jan. 5, and finals begin at 2:30 a.m. on Friday Jan. 6.

Download the National Junior Team media guide by following the link or logging on to www.usaswimming.org.

Here’s how the rest of Team USA fared in the Top 10 in each event:

Women’s 100m Free FINAL:

Megan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 56.76, Bronze

Karlee Bispo (Modesto, Calif.), 57.41, 4th

Samantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 57.70, 6th

Women’s 50m Fly FINAL:

Samantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 27.62, Silver

Men’s 800m Free FINAL:

Chad LaTourette (Mission Viejo, Calif.), 8:11.41, Gold

Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.), 8:21.64, Bronze

David Mosko (Cincinnati, Ohio), 8:21.90, 4th

Dan McMahon (Atlanta, Ga.), 8:23.21, 5th

Brian Rose (Los Gatos, Calif.), 8:42.29, 8th

Women’s 200m Back FINAL:

Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), 2:14.75, Gold

Megan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 2:17.53, 4th

Men’s 50m Fly SEMI advancing:

Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 25.40, 6th

David Seiler (Auburn, Calif.), 25.78, 7th

Women’s 100m Breast SEMI advancing:

Michelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind.), 1:11.13, 3rd

Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:12.08, 4th

Jessica Schmitt (San Diego, Calif.), 1:13.69, 8th

Alisa Finn (Glenview, Ill.), 1:13.73, 9th

Men’s 400m Free FINAL:

Brian Rose (Los Gatos, Calif.), 3:58.77, Silver

David Mosko (Cincinnati, Ohio), 3:59.53, 4th

Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.), 3:59.65, 5th

Chad LaTourette (Mission Viejo, Calif.), 4:01.05, 6th

Women’s 400m Free FINAL:

Leah Gingrich (Enola, Pa.), 4:12.88, Silver

Monica Drake (Bloomington, Ill.), 4:16.36, 5th

Chloe Sutton (Ashburn, Va.), 4:17.74, 6th

Corinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.), 4:17.75, 7th

Jessica Rodriquez (Aurora, Colo.), 4:19.62, 8th

Chelsea Franklin (Estero, Fla.), 4:19.98, 10th

Men’s 200m IM FINAL:

Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), 2:07.15, 4th

Dillon Connolly (Marietta, Ga.), 2:09.41, 7th

Phillip Hinrichsen (Darnestown, Md.), 2:10.03, 9th

Men’s 200m Breast FINAL:

Dillon Connolly (Marietta, Ga.), 2:18.26, Gold

Troy Nissen (Sacramento, Calif.), 2:23.78, Bronze

Women’s 400m Medley Relay:

USA Silver (4:11.92)

USA Bronze (4:13.83)

About USA Swimming

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