Rylee Erisman Sets Personal Best of 4:39.77 to Secure Top Seed in 500 Free
2025 Winter Junior Championships – East
Dates: December 10–13, 2025
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Prelims start at 9 a.m. EST; Finals begin at 5 p.m. EST
Course: Short Course Yards (SCY, 25 yards)
Meet Center: https://www.usaswimming.org/eventmvc/2025/12/10/default-calendar/speedo-winter-junior-championships-east
Psych Sheet: https://websiteprod coresa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/eventsdocuments/events-posting/2025-speedo-winter-junior-championships/juniors-east-psych-sheet2.pdf?sfvrsn=23681932_2
How to Watch: https://swimswam.com/how-to-watch-the-2025-winter-junior-championships-east-west/
Live Results: https://swmeets.com/Realtime/SCJuniors/2025/
Live Recaps:
- Prelims: Day Two recap: https://swimswam.com/2025-winter-junior-championships-east-day-2-prelims-live-recap/
- Finals: Day One recap: https://swimswam.com/2025-winter-juniors-east-day-1-finals-live-recap/
Girls’ 500 Freestyle – Prelims
1) Rylee Erisman (LAKR) – 4:39.77
2) Brinkleigh Hansen (SPA) – 4:43.03
3) Emily Wolf (FAST) – 4:43.24
4) Elizabeth Eichbrecht (NOVA) – 4:44.54
5) Clare Custer (SYS) – 4:44.88
6) Quinn White (SAC) – 4:45.93
7) Ellie Clarke (CSC) – 4:47.01
8) Izzy Riva (SPA) – 4:48.01
Erisman opened this morning’s eastern Speedo Winter Junior Nationals prelims with a lifetime best in the 500 free, clocking 4:39.77. She shaved 3.58 seconds off her previous best of 4:43.35, which she set at the Florida G.O.A.T. TYR Team Challenge in January. That swim ranks as the 27th fastest girls’ 15–16 500 free in history.
Split notes (distance in meters, times in seconds):
50m: 24.51
100m: 27.14 (51.65)
150m: 27.79 (1:19.44)
200m: 28.21 (1:47.65)
250m: 28.33 (2:15.98)
300m: 28.68 (2:44.66)
350m: 28.77 (3:13.43)
400m: 28.86 (3:42.29)
450m: 28.98 (4:11.27)
500m: 28.50 (4:39.77)
Entering the meet as the 500 free top seed, Erisman’s morning performance widened the gap between her and the next-fastest swimmer heading into finals. Prelims had her seeded just 0.17 seconds ahead of Elizabeth Eichbrecht; after the session, her edge over the second seed Brinkleigh Hansen extended to over three seconds.
Behind Erisman, a tight quartet is forming for the remaining podium spots. Second seed Hansen, third seed Emily Wolf, fourth seed Eichbrecht, and fifth seed Clare Custer are separated by only 1.83 seconds combined, promising an exciting race in finals.
Erisman is also slated to race the 50 freestyle later today, where she enters as the top seed with an entry time of 21.61 seconds. That seed places her nearly half a second ahead of second-seeded Charlotte Crush and third-seeded Mena Boardman.
Her 21.61 seed in the 50 free stands as the second-fastest time ever by a girl in the 15–16 age group for that event. She’s just 0.11 seconds shy of tying the all-time mark of 21.50 set by Claire Curzan, who swam that time as a 15–16-year-old in 2021.
In This Story
- Claire Curzan
