Margo Geer’s 53-Second 100 Free Highlights Friday Prelims At LA Invite

Margo Geer
Photo Courtesy: David Farr

Margo Geer of Tucson Ford Aquatics put up the fastest long course 100 freestyle of 2015 by an American woman at the Los Angeles Invite, posting a 53.95 to lead qualifiers in the event.

Geer, who will participate in the 400 free relay at the world championships for Team USA, made a case that she wants to be in the championship final of that event in Russia with her prelim swim. It’s her first time under 54 seconds, beating her lifetime best of 54.17 from last summer’s nationals that put her on her first world championship squad. Before today, Natalie Coughlin’s 54.18 was the fastest swim by an American this year, and Geer now finds herself ranked 11th in the world.

Stanford’s Simone Manuel, who will represent the American team in the 100 free individual event at worlds, qualified second with a 54.52 in the heat after Geer. Watch for those two to separate from the pack early in the final. Rachael Acker of Cal was a distant third among qualifiers with a 56.24.

The Russian sprint trio of Nikita Lobintsev, Alexander Sukhorukov and Vladimir Morozov will try to take down the Americans in the men’s 100 free final tonight, setting them up for a run at the 400 free relay gold medal at the world championships.

Lobintsev took the top seed for finals with a 48.97 as the only swimmer under 49 seconds. That’s just a couple of tenths slower than his swim from the Russian nationals that ranks him 22nd in the world and fifth among Russians. A swim under 48.64 would put him among the top four in the Russian contingent and a contender for a spot on the lucrative 400 free relay in Russia at worlds in front of a home crowd.

Sukhorukov, already fifth in the world with a 48.33 from the Russian nationals, qualified second in L.A. with a 49.32. American Conor Dwyer prevented a Russian 1-2-3 in prelims with a 49.41, his fastest 100 free of the year. In fourth place is Morozov with a 49.58 to give Trojan Swim Club the top four spots in the final. Cal’s Nathan Adrian will also be in the mix, as the fastest American in the event so far this year coasted to a 50.08. His 48.85 from Charlotte’s Arena Pro Swim Series is his best of the year, so look for him to eclipse that in an attempt to beat the Russians.

Tom Shields, just a few weeks away from making his long course world championships debut, posted a 2:01.00 in the 200 fly prelims, with rising star Justin Lynch right behind with a 2:01.41 to make them the only two swimmers under 2:02 in prelims. Look for Shields to challenge his season best of 1:58.28 in the final.

Ryan Murphy of Cal coasted through the prelims of the men’s 200 backstroke with a 2:02.47 to lead qualifiers. Murphy has already been fast this year with a 1:56.91, so expect him to approach that tonight. Perhaps he’ll be motivated by teammate Jacob Pebley’s 1:56.29 to win at the World University Games, and will look to surpass that to become the fastest American in the event this year.

Maya DiRado of Stanford will be looking for a sub-4:40 in the 400 IM tonight, specifically a 4:37.85 to surpass her season best. She might be racing alone, as SOCAL Aquatics’ Ella Eastin was a distant second with a 4:52.01, and open water ace Haley Anderson third with a 4:52.02.

In the women’s 200 butterfly, Sonia Wang of Aquazots posted a 2:13.4 lifetime best to earn the top seed ahead of the 2:13.90 by Eastin.

Hannah Weiss of Trojan Swim Club swam a 2:15.18 in the 200 back to become the top seed for finals, with UCLA’s Emma Schanz (2:16.51) and Madison White (2:16.81) rounding out the top three. Stanford’s Tara Halsted was right behind them with a 2:16.84 for the fourth seed.

The men’s 400 freestyle prelims was led by 15-year-old Owen Kao of Novaquatics, who posted a lifetime best 3:58.63 to mark his third time under 4:00. Ty Fowler of Ford Aquatics (3:59.04) and Cal’s Adam Hinshaw (3:59.07) also cracked 4:00 to round out the top three qualifiers.

Full results can be found on Meet Mobile.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

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

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x