North Coast’s Kendyl Stewart Shines on Final Night of Los Angeles Invite

LOS ANGELES, California, July 20. THE Los Angeles Invite came to a close with quite a few stellar swims on the campus of the University of Southern California.

North Coast’s Kendyl Stewart nearly posted a lifetime best in the women’s 100-meter fly with a winning time of 58.60. That swim fell just short of the 58.52 she clocked at the Fran Crippen Memorial TYR Swim Meet of Champions last month. Both times are just outside the top 20 in the world currently anchored by Daynara De Paula and Alexandra Wenk’s 58.49s.

Stanford’s Felicia Lee placed second in the finale with a 58.80. That’s an in-season best for Lee by a large chuck of time. Her previous mark had been a 59.41 from the Charlotte UltraSwim in 2009. In fact, her time tonight stands sixth on her all-time career chart. Her lifetime best is a 58.41 from the 2010 National Championships.

Australia went 3-4 in the finale with Marieke D’Cruz taking third in 59.78 and Yolane Kukla putting up the only other sub-1:00 time with a fourth-place effort of 59.80.

Phoenix Swim Club’s Giles Smith put up an in-season best in the men’s 100-meter fly with a 52.79 for the win. That performance downed his previous time of 53.14 from the 2013 Santa Clara stop of the Arena Grand Prix. It’s not far off his lifetime best of 52.50 from the 2011 U.S. National Championships either. Australia’s Nathaniel Romeo placed second in 53.57 with Maclin Davis tying Alex Valente for third with matching 54.09s.

In a heavyweight matchup in the women’s 100-meter back, California’s Elizabeth Pelton clipped training partner Missy Franklin, 1:00.57 to 1:00.70, for the win. Australia’s Mikkayla Sheridan touched third in the finale with a 1:02.20. Franklin bounced back in the women’s 200-meter freestyle with a 1:58.38 to 1:58.90 defeat of Australia’s Kylie Palmer. Franklin has been much faster this year with a 12th-ranked 1:56.96 at the Santa Clara stop of the Arena Grand Prix, but she’s saving that type of speed for nationals in Irvine next month. Terrapins’ Chelsea Chenault clinched third place in 1:59.76.

Tucson Ford’s Matt Grevers, who already ranks eighth in the world with a 53.72 from the Austin stop of the Arena Grand Prix, chased down the title tonight in 54.00. Australia’s Ashley Delaney checked in with a second-place time of 54.03, shy of his seventh-ranked 53.67 from Aussie Nationals. That’s a pretty big-time head-to-head in the men’s finale. Charlie Boldison rounded out the top three in 55.34.

Australia’s Jessica Hansen just missed the top 20 in the world with a 1:07.88 to win the women’s 100-meter breast. It was a bit of an upset as Trojan’s Jessica Hardy placed second in 1:08.03. Hardy has been much faster this year with a sixth-ranked 1:06.86 from the Charlotte stop of the Arena Grand Prix. Stanford’s Katie Olsen picked up third-place honors in 1:09.83.

Another near top 20 time went up on the board in the men’s 100-meter breast as Australia’s Jake Packard clinched the title in 1:00.65. Tucson Ford’s Kevin Cordes placed second in 1:01.45 with Australia’s Nicholas Schafer finishing third in 1:01.47. Anton McKee, after setting an Icelandic record in the 200 last night, placed fourth in 1:01.63 tonight.

Justin James dominated the men’s 200-meter IM with a 2:00.49, while Mark Szaranek placed a distant second in 2:05.10. Hayden Duplechain earned third in 2:06.78.

Out of an earlier heat, Sandpipers’ Erin Emery won the women’s 1500-meter free in 16:46.96, while La Mirada’s Taylor Ault topped the heat swum with finals with a 16:48.62 for second overall. Golden West’s Megan Rankin wound up third in 16:55.77. Jack McLoughlin captured the men’s 800-meter free in 8:04.89 with Ryan Kao finishing second in 8:10.41. Logan Houck rounded out the top three in 8:!3.81.

Australia’s Holly Barratt, Jessica Hansen, Marieke D’Cruz and Yolane Kukla clinched the women’s 400-meter medley relay title in 4:07.66. The Aussies then won the men’s 400-meter medley relay to close out the night as Ashley Delaney, Jake Packard, Nathaniel Romeo and Alexander Graham posted a 3:38.98 for the win.

Full results available on Meet Mobile.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use