By Isabel Lewis ’21 Online Editor
On December 4, Mercersburg Academy swimmers Jonah Harm ’20 and Jake Evert ’20 traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to compete in the 2019 Toyota US Open Championships. The swim meet consists of four days of heavy competition among some of the top swimmers in the world.
Harm and Evert both competed in multiple events over the course of the meet. Harm swam the 200-meter individual medley, 100-meter butterfly, and 100-meter breaststroke and Evert swam the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle. Both athletes competed well, achieving near their best times or faster.
On Thursday, Evert competed in the 50 Free and Harm competed in the 200 IM. Evert swam a lifetime best time with a 23.87, and Harm came close to his best time with a 2:09.79. On Friday, Harm competed in the 100 Fly and the 100 Breast. In his 100 Fly, Harm swam well enough in prelims to gained a spot in the finals that night. Harm went a 55.82 at finals. On Saturday, Evert swam the 100 free which was the final race for the Mercersburg swimmers. His time was an outstanding 53.74.
The swimmers traveled to the meet with swim coach Steve Fowler, who said, “Just having the opportunity to represent Mercersburg Academy on literally a world stage is pretty impressive.”
Overall, the team was impressed by the famous swimmers that they saw and competed against. Evert remarked upon how memorable it was “warming up next to Ryan Lochte and seeing so many Olympians and world record holders.” Among the notable swimmers that were in attendance were Olympians Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, and Simone Manuel.
Harm has competed in national meets before. Fowler said that Harm took this in stride. However, for Evert, it was his first time swimming at this level. Fowler described Evert as “a little starstruck and a little overwhelmed at first, but as the meet progressed they both settled into a routine and it was just another swim meet.”
Both athletes had a successful meet and represented Mercersburg Academy well. As Fowler said, “They both focused on the job to be done and they excelled at it.”