Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky Impress in Long Course Return in Mesa

Photo Courtesy: David Rieder

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Plenty of NCAA swimmers returned to long course competition for the first time since the summer during the first morning of prelims at the arena Pro Swim Series meet in Mesa. Among those who made their returns were Olympic gold medalists Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky, both of whom posted impressive preliminary marks during day one.

Read below for full coverage of each event.

Women’s 100 Free

Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel cruised to the top seed in the first event of the meet. Representing Stanford, Manuel recorded a time of 54.02 to move into the world top-15 in her first long course 100 free since winning Olympic gold in the 100 free in Rio.

Louisville’s Mallory Comerford edged out Stanford’s Katie Ledecky for the top spot in their heat, 54.62 to 54.71, and just behind was Trojan’s Louisa Hansson in 54.79. Also getting into a strong A-final were Cardinal’s Kelsi Worrell (54.99), SwimAtlanta’s Amanda Weir (55.09), Stanford’s Lia Neal (55.29) and Canyons’ Amanda Kendall (55.76).

Men’s 100 Free

Louisville’s Joao De Lucca posted the top seed in the men’s 100 free with his time of 49.69, and Trojan’s Cristian Quintero was the only other man to go under 50 seconds, coming in at 49.91.

Cal’s Nathan Adrian came in just behind Quintero in the final heat, finishing in 50.20. New Zealand’s Daniel Hunter was fourth in 50.21, followed by Cal’s Jacob Pebley (50.45) and New Zealand’s Matthew Stanley (50.47). Marius Kusch and Cal’s Tom Shields tied for seventh in 50.59, knocking Trojan’s Conor Dwyer (50.65) to the B-final.

Women’s 200 Breast

Texas’ Madisyn Cox paced the field in the women’s 200 breast, finishing with a time of 2:27.02. New York Athletic Club’s Katie Meili came in second at 2:27.95, while New York Athletic Club’s Breeja Larson (2:28.43) and St. Petersburg’s Melanie Margalis (2:28.75) also got under 2:30 to set up a strong middle of the pool for the final.

Fast’s Zoe Baetel came in fifth at 2:31.86, and Louisville’s Andrea Cottrell took sixth in 2:23.46. Tennessee’s Molly Hannis, an Olympic semifinalist in the event, was seventh in 2:32.47, and USC’s Riley Scott qualified eighth in 2:33.27.

Men’s 200 Breast

Chase Kalisz beat out some fellow U.S. Olympians better known as breaststrokers to take the top spot in the finals. Representing North Baltimore, Kalisz touched in 2:11.98 to edge out Kevin Cordes in their heat. Cordes qualified second in 2:12.44, while Louisville’s Carlos Claverie (2:14.13) and Cal’s Josh Prenot (2:14.72) will swim in lanes three and six, respectively.

King’s Daniel Roy, who challenged Prenot in their heat, finished fifth in 2:14.94, followed by New Zealand’s George Schroder (2:16.77), AJ Bornstein (2:17.33) and Crimson’s Calvin Yang (2:17.59).

Women’s 100 Fly

Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell was the class of the field in prelims, recording a time of 58.42 to claim lane four for the final. Trojan’s Louise Hansson qualified just behind in 58.54, and Amanda Kendall was also under 59, finishing third in 58.83.

Trojan’s Kendyl Stewart, who swam the 100 fly at the World Championships in 2015, was fourth in 59.21, followed by Texas’ Lauren Case (59.60), Germany’s Aliena Schmidtke (59.98), Brazil’s Daynara De Paula (1:00.10) and Louisville’s Mallory Comerford (1:00.34).

Men’s 100 Fly

Cal’s Tom Shields led the way into the final of his best event, finishing in 53.54 to edge out the 53.63 of Marius Kusch. SwimMAC’s Tim Phillips was a close third (53.67), and Auburn’s Santiago Grassi (53.90) and Trojan’s Dylan Carter (53.95) also were under 54.

Rounding out the final were Cal’s Long Gutierrez (54.00), Louisville’s Zach Harting (54.12) and City of Plano’s Seth Stubblefield (54.19).

Women’s 400 Free

Competing in the 400 free for the first time since winning Olympic gold and setting a new world record, Katie Ledecky cruised through prelims and established the top time in the world this year. She came in at 4:01.96, well ahead of Virginia’s Leah Smith. Smith qualified second in 4:07.31, improving to tenth in the world.

Club Wolverine’s Sierra Schmidt qualified fourth in 4:12.44, and Taylor Ault was fifth in 4:13.07. Rounding out the A-final were Texas’ Madisyn Cox, Vietnam’s Vien Nguyen (4:15.08) and Neptune Natation’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (4:15.40).

Men’s 400 Free

Louisville’s Marcelo Acosta led the way in the morning’s final event, finishing the 400 free in 3:56.41. He was followed closely by Taylor Abbott, who touched in 3:56.65, while Marc Hinawi (3:57.84) and Nitro’s Sean Grieshop (3:58.40) were third and fourth, respectively.

Pitchfork’s Christian Bayo (3:58.74), Nitro’s Chris Yeager (3:59.53), EKC’s Liam Bresette (4:00.79) and Dynamo’s Matias Koski (4:00.79) also got into the top heat.

Full results

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Conrad Singh

7 years ago

Anyone recommend how I can find a swimming coach to come to work in our academy in China for a few months.