Aquazots’ Corey Okubo Impressive With Double at Fran Crippen Memorial TYR Swim Meet of Champions

MISSION VIEJO, California, June 27. IT was a strong night of swimming with quite a few in-season bests throughout finals of the Fran Crippen Memorial TYR Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo. The top performer of the night, however, wound up being Aquazots Corey Okubo with a successful double in the 200 fly and 200 back.

Okubo blitzed the men’s 200-meter fly with a time of 1:58.60 for the win. That’s his in-season best, clearing the 1:59.68 he had set previously at the Speedo Grand Challenge a month ago. That’s an impressive time considering he was in the midst of a double tonight, and was by himself in the butterfly finale. KING’s Mathias Oh finished second in 2:01.21 with California’s Dane Stassi taking third in 2:02.00.

Okubo doubled up with a winning effort in the men’s 200-meter back. He topped the finale in 2:02.08, his in-season best by a bit as he trumped the 2:02.62 he clocked at the La Mirada meet in April. He had a bit of company in the finale as teammate Thomas Smith took second in 2:03.70, while UCSC’s Russell Wood snagged third overall in 2:03.94.

Canyon’s Abbey Weitzeil, who broke onto the national scene with a pair of national high school records in the sprint freestyles this past high school season, charged her way to victory against some strong swimmers in the women’s 100-meter free. Weitzeil tracked down the title in 55.44. That swim just missed her lifetime best of 55.37 from summer Sectionals last year. Stanford’s Andi Murez finished second in the event with a 55.50 as she nearly caught Weitzeil, while Trojan’s Jessica Hardy wound up third overall in 55.54 in what was an exciting finale.

Trojan’s Cristian Quintero emerged from a stacked men’s 100-meter free heat with a 49.86 for the win. That’s only half-a-second off his best of 49.50 from last summer’s Worlds. It’s just his second time under 50 seconds in-season, beating his previous in-season record of 49.99 from the Speedo Grand Challenge last month. Yuri Kisil took home second-place honors in the event with a 50.43, while Nick Soedel checked in third in 50.52.

Mission Viejo’s Katie McLaughlin enjoyed some home cooking after crushing the women’s 200-meter fly in her home pool. She smashed the field in the finale with a 2:10.58. That’s just off her in-season best of 2:10.37 set last year at the Austin stop of the Arena Grand Prix circuit. Ella Eastin finished a distant second in 2:14.51, while Jasmine Margetts claimed third in the finale with a 2:14.93.

Cascade’s Brooklynn Snodgrass cruised to her second-fastest women’s 200-meter backstroke time ever as she won the finale in 2:11.34. That effort came up short of her lifetime best of 2:10.68 from the 2014 Canadian Trials, but smashed her in-season best of 2:13.85 from the Mel Zajac Jr. meet just a few weeks ago. North Coast’s Kendyl Stewart cruised into second with a time of 2:13.25 with BCH’s Abby Richter taking third overall in 2:14.95.

Minnesota’s Ashley Steenvoorden held off a hard-charging teammate in Kiera Janzen for the women’s 400-meter free title, 4:12.35 to 4:12.95. Janzen came charging home as she was hoping to add the 400 free title to her 800 free win from last night. But, Steenvoorden had put in enough work early to grab the win. Tabitha Baumann chased down third-place honors in 4:14.40.

Island’s Keegan Zanatta won the men’s 400-meter free by almost two seconds with a 3:53.20, while Trojan’s Cristian Quintero took second in 3:55.12. Zanatta’s teammate Jeremy Bagshaw rounded out the top three in 3:55.41.

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