Caitlin Leverenz and Maya DiRado Produce Thrilling 200 IM Tie At Speedo Grand Challenge

Caitlin Leverenz Maya DiRado

The Speedo Grand Challenge features a unique championship final of only four swimmers, while the B final consists of swimmers ranked fifth through 12th in prelims. The format produced some thrilling swims tonight in Irvine, featuring a few athletes making preparations for the world championships from the Trojan Swim Club as well as those from Stanford University and the University of California.

Caitlin Leverenz and Maya DiRado had a very exciting race in the 200 IM, as the two tied with times of 2:11.57. Leverenz had a slight lead after butterfly, 28.70 to 28.98, but DiRado took over the lead by six tenths after the backstroke leg. Leverenz blazed through the breaststroke leg with a 37.98 to take a one-second lead going into freestyle. DiRado charged home and the two ended up sharing the victory in the event. The two have been just a shade faster, as Leverenz clocked a 2:11.40 at February’s Arena Pro Swim Series in Orlando, while DiRado’s 2:11.48 came at the BPH Super Series in Australia in January. Elizabeth Pelton finished third with a 2:13.46, while Cal teammate Celina Li took fourth with a 2:16.42.

DiRado earned an outright win later in the sessions with a 4:13.06 in the 400 freestyle. She had a three-tenths lead over Trojan’s Tristin Baxter at the halfway mark, but pulled away to win by two seconds. Baxter was second with a 4:15.21, while Melanie Klaren of Cal was third with a 4:19.66. Maryssa McArthur, who just wrapped up her junior year at Utah, was fourth with a 4:22.19. Celina Li put up a 4:18.83 to win the B final, with Sophia Saroukian just behind with a 4:19.31

Trojan Swim Club had a lot to celebrate in the men’s 200 free. Not only did the team go 1-2-3 in the men’s 200 free, led by a 1:47.91 from Nikita Lobintsev. It’s just four tenths off the time he swam at the Russian nationals last month, where he placed third. Cristian Quintero, the reigning NCAA champion in the short course 200 free, was second with a 1:48.36. That breaks his own Venezuelan record of 1:48.44, which he swam last year at the LA Invite, and most importantly, gets him under the automatic qualification time for the world championships by one hundredth of a second. Jonathan Boffa, recently transitioning to the team after a stellar career at NC State, was third with a 1:49.63, just missing his lifetime best of 1:49.58 from last month.

Jessica Hardy had a battle on her hands with Sarah Haase in the 100 breast final. Hardy, the former world record holder who is prepping for the world championships, turned four tenths ahead of NCAA champion Haase at the 50 and held that advantage to the wall with a 1:08.55. Haase was second with a 1:08.91. Hardy was much faster last week at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Charlotte with a 1:06.91, but did what was needed to gain the victory in Irvine.

Hardy was back in the 50 free final, but couldn’t get ahead of the Stanford 1-2 punch of Simone Manuel and Felicia Lee. Manuel got to the wall first with a 25.58, while Lee was second in 25.92. Hardy placed third with a 25.98. Eva Merrell of Aquazots, just 15 years old, will likely never forget making the four-woman championship final against a trio of established stars, finishing fourth with a lifetime best 26.03. Of note was Farida Osman’s 25.50 to win the B final, which would have won the event had she been able to qualify for the final.

The top three in the men’s 100 breast was close, with just two tenths of a second separating winner Glenn Snyders from third-place finisher Chuck Katis. Snyders, who will swim the event at worlds for New Zealand, won with a 1:02.11. Josh Prenot and Katis, both teammates at California, followed with times of 1:02.17 and 1:02.32, respectively. Jason Block of Trojan rounded out the four-man final with a 1:02.90. Notably, Steve West was attempting to qualify for his fifth trip to the U.S. Olympic Trials at 43 years old. After missing the Olympic Trials cut of 1:03.69 in prelims with a 1:03.82, he faltered in finals to place 11th overall with a 1:04.28.

In his first meet since breaking the 1:40 barrier in the 200-yard IM, David Nolan found himself in third place tonight in Irvine in the long course version with a 2:04.41. Stanford teammate Max Williamson got the win with a 2:02.35, while Omar Pinzon led through backstroke but fell to second with a 2:04.19.

Full results available on Meet Mobile.

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