Kennedy captures TYR Jax 50 sprint dual challenge

Avon’s Madison Kennedy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Avon’s Madison Kennedy won three straight 50-meter freestyle races on Saturday to win the TYR Jax 50 Sprint Dual Challenge. Kennedy beat SwimMAC Elite teammate Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace in the final by 0.15 of a second to win the championship.

Organizers set up a bracket of eight swimmers. Two swimmers race head-to-head to advance in the bracket. In two other lanes, ordinary swimmers as young as eight, get the chance to swim in outer lanes against some of top Olympic, national and NCAA championship swimmers.

In the quarterfinals, Kennedy beat Kasey Schmidt of Florida with a time of 21.96 seconds. Schmidt, one of four age group champions in the final bracket of eight swimmers, swam the 50 in 23.19. 

In the semifinals, Kennedy swam a 21.91 to beat U.S. Olympian Amanda Weir, who swam a 22.82. In the final, Kennedy swam the 50 meter course in 21.92 seconds, beating Vanderpool-Wallace, who swam in the Olympics for the Bahamas.

The event is also a fundraiser for the Planet Swim Foundation that uses money to provide free lesson programs to underprivileged children in the Jacksonville area to help kids be water safe. Last year, the event raised over $13,000.