Kevin Cordes and Canadian Olympic hopeful Russell Wood made strong showings tonight at the Mel Zajac International. Cordes blistered the field in the 100-meter breast yesterday and was looking to impose his dominance in the 200-meter event tonight. Wood returned with two events slated for day two after a second place finish in last night’s 200-meter back.
Cordes, unsurprisingly, won the men’s 200-meter breast. His 2:16.55 was simply untouchable in the Mel Zajac Internaitonal field. Mitch Hovis finished second in 2:21.84, while Benjamin Blackmon took third in 2:22.47.
Russell Wood moved up two spots from prelims to win the men’s 50-meter backstroke in 26.27. Carter Griffin turned in a 26.74 to get second, and Mark Thormeyer took third with a 26.95.
Wood added a 200-meter IM victory, winning the event in 2:05.49. Rob Hill (2:06.46) outlasted Tristan Cote (2:06.89) in a close battle for second.
Noemie Thomas continued her fly success, tonight, one night after her win in the 50-meter fly, by taking the crown in the women’s 100-meter fly in 59.92. Thomas was the only competitor under the one-minute mark, as Jacomie Strydom was the closest finisher at 1:01.42. Emily Overholt swam a 1:02.60 to get third.
University of Denver swimmer Andrew Torres topped the men’s 100-meter fly in 54.67. Nicolaas Dekker followed with a 55.26, while Mathias Oh rounded out the top three in 55.65.
German swimmer and University of Denver member Johanna Roas was a mere three tenths of the meet record in the women’s 50-meter back. Her 28.93 was enough to touch out Ingrid Wilm (29.09). Keaton Blovad fell to third, posting a 29.73.
Molly Gowans and Danica Ludlow were in a tight duel in the first 300 meters of the women’s 400-meter free, until Gowans stormed ahead to win in 4:18.41. Ludlow swam a 4:19.34, while Olivia Anderson clocked a 4:21.00 to get third.
In the men’s 400-meter free, Keegan Zannata (3:56.72) was able to hold off Tristan Cote (3:58.55) and Stefan Milosevic (3:58.60) to win the event.
Emily Overholt busted out a 2:15.33 to win the women’s 200-meter IM. Emma Schanz was a close second with a 2:16.59. Rachel Nicol cracked the top three with her 2:21.50.
Vanessa Garcia zipped to a 25.81 win in the women’s 50-meter free. Garcia was the only swimmer to be under 26 seconds. Ashley Sutherland swam a 26.32 to get second, while Rebecca Terejko held on to her third place seed with a 26.57.
Erik Risolvato is continuing on his comeback trail and came out on top of an exciting men’s 50-meter free race. His 23.20 was just enough to finish ahead of Yuri Kisil (23.33) and Oleksandr Loginov (23.35).
Kierra Smith won the women’s 200-meter breast in convincing fashion with a 2:27.86. Emma Schanz added another silver-medal performance with a 2:30.95, and Tera Van Beilen ended up third in 2:31.03.
The Mel Zajac International continues through May 24.