By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
USA Swimming Futures Championships – Justin
- July 23-26, 2025
- Northwest ISD Aquatic Center, Justin, TX
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheet
- Post Session Results
- Day 1 Results | Day 2 | Day 3
- Live Results on Meet Mobile
18-year-old Isabella Chavez-Varela completed her medals set and posted a butterfly best time on Friday at the Justin Futures.
Chavez-Varela, a member of the Coronado Swim Team who traveled from California for the meet, won the girls’ 100 fly in 1:02.91 on night 3 of the meet. That is her first time under 1:03 in the race, clearing her previous best of 1:03.25 from last summer.
An Alabama commit who represents Mexico internationally, the drop followed a second-and-a-half improvement in the yards version of the season through the short course season.
She previously finished 2nd in the 200 fly and 3rd in the 400 IM at the meet. The 100 fly was her first best time of the three individual event finals she has raced.
The next race of the night, the boys’ 100 fly, had a nailbiter of a finish, with 18-year-old Jackson Armour from Texas Ford Aquatics touching first in 54.85 and 21-year-old Matthew Bittner from Penn State finishing 2nd in 54.88.
That is a best time for Armour after stalling for two years in long course – his previous best was a 55.17 from 2023 Summer Juniors. His latest swim gives him the opportunity for a return-trip to Juniors this year if he chooses, though he wasn’t in the psych sheets that dropped on Friday.
Ty Thomas, a 16-year-old from River City Aquatics in Missouri, landed on his third podium of the meet with another best time of 55.14. That was a second-and-a-half improvement on his best time from May, most of which came on the front-half of the race. He has dropped a total of 2.2 seconds this summer in long course.
He also finished 3rd in the 100 free (51.40, 51.17 in prelims) and 200 free (1:53.20), which were also best times in a breakout meet for him.
Thomas also finished 4th in the 50 back (26.59) on Friday and later added a 50.36 relay anchor in his third swim of the session. That anchor was the fastest split in the field and helped River City win the 400 free relay in 3:28.18 along with Phineas Theall (53.03), Tripp Hurst (52.26), and Nate Thomas (52.53).
Other Day 3 Winners & Highlights
- The boys’ 200 breaststroke final had a pair of big time drops leading the way. Levi Thome, a rising junior at LSU, won in 2:20.54, holding off a furious back-half charge from 16-year-old Brendan Hunt from Texas Ford Aquatics. Thome had a 1.47 second lead over Hunt at the halfway mark, which Hunt clawed back to less than two tenths to finish 2nd in 2:20.73. Both swimmers dropped almost three seconds. Hunt is an uncommitted rising high school junior and finished 2nd in the 400 IM earlier in the meet – he’s more of a 200 breaststroke/400 IM archetype swimmer than a 100/200 breaststroker.
- Tessa Broedell, another uncommitted high school junior, won the girls’ 200 breast in 2:37.67. Broedell, a Zone Select Camp participant, peaked for a meet in Florida in June where she swam a best time in every event she raced, prelims and finals, including splits of longer races.
- Kelsey Healy from the King Marlin Swim Club in Oklahoma won the girls’ 50 back in 29.89, just ahead of 15-year-olds Addison Petersen (29.97) and Gwyneth Chen (30.19). Petersen also won the 100 back earlier in the meet, and is the 7th seed in Saturday’s 200 back to try and complete the sweep – though it would probably take a big drop to catch the top seeded Hayden Gibson from the Aquahawgs team in Arkansas who is one of the best recruits ever out of that state.
- Before finishing 2nd in the 100 fly, Bittner won the 50 back in 25.72. That blocked his Big Ten opponent Luke Barr from Indiana from a third win in three days – Barr placed 2nd in 25.96 after winning the 100 back on Thursday. The top-finishing junior was 17-year-old Breck Boyd from the Avon Swim Club in Colorado in 26.52.
- After sitting out finals on Thursday, Arizona undergrad Malia Rausch grabbed a second win of the meet, winning the 400 free in 4:16.77. She previously won the 200 free on Wednesday.
- Texas Ford’s Lukas Vetkoetter won the boys’ 400 free in 3:57.70 ahead of Swim Streamline’s Micah Tennison (3:58.37). That was another battle at the top of the table from two teams putting lots of swimmers on podiums this week – they were responsible for all of the top three in the 200 breaststroke as well. That was another big drop and podium finish for the 16-year-old Tennison: his previous best was from Futures last year where he swam 4:01.0. He finished 2nd in the 100 free and won the 200 free earlier in the meet, also both in big time drops.
- The host Lakeside Aquatic Club won the girls’ 400 free relay going-away in 3:55.05, one of the most dominant relay swims we’ve seen at this meet. The team of Brooke Johnson, Marin Clem, Sophianne Cortes, and Lucy Backus picked up a win and a Summer Juniors cut; the bookends of Johnson (58.26) and Backus (58.18) led the way.
Team Scores After Day 3
Unsurprisingly, Dallas-area teams with the least travel lead the team scoring, though Pikes Peak Athletics in Colorado is putting up an impressive effort on the girls’ side.
Top 5 girls’ teams:
- Lakeside Aquatic Club – 321.5
- Pikes Peak Athletics – 302.5
- Nitro Swimming – 301
- Coronado Swim Team/Team Elite – 133
- The Woodlands Swim Team – 104
Top 5 boys’ teams:
- Texas Ford Aquatics – 583
- Lakeside Aquatic Club – 269
- River City Aquatics – 239
- Swim Streamline at Northampton – 196
- Premier Aquatics Club of Klein – 134
Top 5 combined teams:
- Texas Ford Aquatics – 664
- Lakeside Aquatic Club – 590.5
- Nitro Swimming – 430.5
- Pikes Peak Athletics – 397.5
- River City Aquatics – 246
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Isabella Chavez-Varela Wins 100 Fly to Complete a Medals Set at Justin Sectionals
