2017 U.S. Open Swimming Championships: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Everything you need to follow along live with day one prelims of the 2017 U.S. Open Swimming Championships in East Meadow, New York. Hit refresh for all the latest coverage.

Events:

Women’s 200 Fly
Men’s 200 Fly
Women’s 100 Free
Men’s 100 Free

Women’s 200 Butterfly:

Cassidy Bayer of Nation’s Capital Swim Club claimed the first place seed headed into finals, with a 2:09.21. Bayer’s time was the only mark under 2:10 of the morning, and she swam only 1.24 seconds off of her entry time.

Athens Bulldog Swim Club’s Haley Flickinger, fresh off of World Championships, posted a conservative 2:10.05 to earn the second seed.

Behind Flickinger, Ruby Martin, the fourth finisher at 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, posted a 2:11.72. The Iowa Flyers Swim Club product’s time was good for the third top spot in finals.

The fourth seed went to Francesca Stoppa, representing Princeton Piranahas Swim Team, in 2:11.77. Stoppa and Martin look likely to have a tight race in the finals.

Swimming unattached in 2:12.63, Vanessa Krause garnered the fifth seed in finals, despite being about three seconds off of her entry time. She may make a vertical leap in the results at finals.

Hannah Saiz of Schroeder YMCA could face a similar ranking improvement, as her 2:12.67 was good for the sixth seed but well off of her seed time.

In the battle for the final spots in the finals, Lauren Case of Longhorn Aquatics and Sharli Brady of the University of Missouri ultimately won. Case enters the finals in seventh place with a time of 2:13.03, while Brady squeaked into the eighth-seed position with a 2:13.23.

1 Bayer, Cassidy   17 Nation's Capital  2:07.97    2:09.21  q837  
    r:+0.71  28.81      1:01.42 (32.61)
        1:34.90 (33.48)     2:09.21 (34.31)
  2 Flickinger, Hal  23 Athens Bulldog S  2:06.67    2:10.05  q821  
    r:+0.78  29.54      1:02.23 (32.69)
        1:35.93 (33.70)     2:10.05 (34.12)
  3 Martin, Ruby     17 Iowa Flyers Swim  2:09.96    2:11.72  q790  
    r:+0.74  29.74      1:02.72 (32.98)
        1:36.94 (34.22)     2:11.72 (34.78)
  4 *Stoppa, France  20 Princeton Piranh  2:12.56    2:11.77  q789  
    r:+0.67  29.99      1:02.57 (32.58)
        1:37.71 (35.14)     2:11.77 (34.06)
  5 Krause, Vanessa  19 Unattached Mich/  2:09.54    2:12.63  q774  
    r:+0.67  30.00      1:03.94 (33.94)
        1:38.45 (34.51)     2:12.63 (34.18)
  6 Saiz, Hannah     26 Schroeder YMCA S  2:09.61    2:12.67  q773  
    r:+0.86  30.29      1:03.92 (33.63)
        1:37.52 (33.60)     2:12.67 (35.15)
  7 Case, Lauren     19 Longhorn Aquatic  2:10.36    2:13.03  q767  
    r:+0.73  29.75      1:03.61 (33.86)
        1:38.25 (34.64)     2:13.03 (34.78)
  8 Brady, Sharli    21 U. of Missouri    2:14.30    2:13.23  q764  
    r:+0.79  30.27      1:03.87 (33.60)
        1:37.59 (33.72)     2:13.23 (35.64)

Men’s 200 Butterfly:

Gunnar Bentz of Athens Bull Dog Swim Club earned the top seed for the finals in 1:59.20. His time is over three seconds off his entry time, so Bentz will look to drop significant time in the evening. Bentz tops a jam-packed heat of six times under two minutes.

Just behind Bentz, swimming unattached, is Miles Smachio, who posted a 1:59.39. The two men are similarly matched with pacing.

In the third seed, Marlins of Raleigh’s Zach Brown swam a solid morning time of 1:59.46, just a half second off of his entry time. Brown will look to crack into the top two seeds.

Sam Pomajevich of Nation’s Capital Swim Club will be the fourth seed in the evening, thanks to a steady swim in 1:59.77 in the prelims.

In the fifth seed, Cardinal Aquatics’ Zach Harting finished in 1:59.79, only two hundredths behind Pomajevich. The two are likely to have a close race in the evening, amid an otherwise tight field.

Just after Harting, Mike Thomas of California Aquatics took the sixth seed for the A-Final, in 1:59.83.

The only two swimmers over two minutes, Mick Litherland of Dynamo Swimming (2:00.16) and Australian Bowen Gough (2:00.20), are also close to one another going into the finals.

 1 Bentz, Gunnar    21 Athens Bulldog S  1:55.51    1:59.20  q818  
    r:+0.79  27.01        57.27 (30.26)
        1:27.79 (30.52)     1:59.20 (31.41)
  2 Smachlo, Miles   19 Unattached Mich/  1:57.64    1:59.39  q814  
    r:+0.71  27.19        57.42 (30.23)
        1:28.61 (31.19)     1:59.39 (30.78)
  3 Brown, Zach      17 Marlins of Ralei  1:59.00    1:59.46  q813  
    r:+0.71  27.51        58.26 (30.75)
        1:28.83 (30.57)     1:59.46 (30.63)
  4 Pomajevich, Sam  18 Nation's Capital  1:57.62    1:59.77  q807  
    r:+0.71  26.59        57.42 (30.83)
        1:28.92 (31.50)     1:59.77 (30.85)
  5 Harting, Zach    19 Cardinal Aquatic  1:56.65    1:59.79  q806  
    r:+0.70  27.37        57.78 (30.41)
        1:28.48 (30.70)     1:59.79 (31.31)
  6 Thomas, Mike     19 California Aquat  1:57.98    1:59.83  q805  
    r:+0.73  27.05        57.49 (30.44)
        1:28.43 (30.94)     1:59.83 (31.40)
  7 Litherland, Mic  21 Dynamo Swim Club  1:57.04    2:00.16  q799  
    r:+0.69  27.27        57.94 (30.67)
        1:28.84 (30.90)     2:00.16 (31.32)
  8 *Gough, Bowen    19 W Australia IS    2:00.02    2:00.20  q798  
    r:+0.75  27.22        58.10 (30.88)
        1:29.22 (31.12)     2:00.20 (30.98)

Women’s 100 Freestyle:

The first place seed went to Marie Wattel, representing France, in 55.15. Wattel’s time is just two-hundredths slower than her fourth-place seed time of 55.13, and she headlines a field completely filled with 55-second 100 freestyles.

Courtney Caldwell of Wolfpack Elite took the next top seed in 55.43, but she will look to improve in the evening and match her seed time of 54.80.

Similarly, Margo Geer of Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics posted a 55.50 to earn the third seed in finals, but her entry time indicates her capable of a 54.66.

Swimming unattached, Amanda Kendall earned the fourth seed in the A-Final with a 55.69. Kendall’s second fifty was a speedy 28.42, the fastest in the field, so she may make a move in the evening.

Claire Rasmus of Aggie Swim Club (55.91) finished just one hundredth ahead of teammate Kristin Malone (55.92), and both look likely to remain close in the evening swim.

The seventh seed for the final went to Rebecca Millard of Longhorn Aquatics in 55.94.

Finally, Claire Adams of Carmel Swim Club rounds out the top heat of the final with a 55.97, just three hundredths behind Millard and sixth hundredths off of the fifth-place seed.

  1 *Wattel, Marie   20 France              55.13      55.15  q841  
    r:+0.71  26.34        55.15 (28.81)
  2 Caldwell, Court  20 WOLFPACK ELITE/N    54.80      55.43  q828  
    r:+0.72  26.59        55.43 (28.84)
  3 Geer, Margo      25 Tucson Ford Deal    54.66      55.50  q825  
    r:+0.69  26.87        55.50 (28.63)
  4 Kendall, Amanda  26 Unattached IST      55.34      55.69  q817  
    r:+0.76  27.27        55.69 (28.42)
  5 Rasmus, Claire   20 Aggie Swim Club     55.10      55.91  q807  
    r:+0.70  27.48        55.91 (28.43)
  6 Malone, Kristin  21 Aggie Swim Club     55.72      55.92  q807  
    r:+0.73  26.99        55.92 (28.93)
  7 Millard, Rebecc  22 Longhorn Aquatic    55.05      55.94  q806  
    r:+0.74  26.86        55.94 (29.08)
  8 Adams, Claire    19 Carmel Swim Club    55.64      55.97  q805  
    r:+0.74  27.00        55.97 (28.97)

Men’s 100 Freestyle:

The top seed of the men’s 100 freestyle went to Tate Jackson of Longhorn Aquatics, who posted a 48.99–the only 48 of the morning–early in the circle heats.

The second top finisher, in a time of 49.19, was the University of Alabama’s Robert Howard, whose back half split of 25.40 predicts him as a force to be reckoned with in the evening.

BJ Hornikel, swimming unattached, and Maxime Rooney of the Pleasanton Seahawks, tied for the third seed in the event, both posting the time of 49.33 in the final heat. Hornikel took out his swim fast (23.39), while Ronney chose to finish quickly (25.75).

The next top seed belonged to Jeff Newkirk, representing Quest Swimming, in 49.77.

Just behind Newkirk, Brett Ringgold of the North Texas Nadadores also went sub-fifty–49.88–for the sixth seed in the final.

Andrew Loy of Ohio State University laid claim to the seventh seed, in 50.35. His splits were nearly identically to those of eighth seed LongYuan Gutierrez, who posted a 50.38.

1 Jackson, Tate    20 Longhorn Aquatic    49.60      48.99  q877  
    r:+0.69  23.42        48.99 (25.57)
  2 Howard, Robert   21 Univ Alabama Swi    49.97      49.19  q867  
    r:+0.73  23.79        49.19 (25.40)
  3 Hornikel, BJ     25 Unattached          49.62      49.33  q859  
    r:+0.69  23.39        49.33 (25.94)
  3 Rooney, Maxime   19 Pleasanton Seaha    49.00      49.33  q859  
    r:+0.70  23.58        49.33 (25.75)
  5 Newkirk, Jeff    20 Quest Swimming/U    50.92      49.77  q837  
    r:+0.67  23.94        49.77 (25.83)
  6 Ringgold, Brett  22 North Texas Nada    50.48      49.88  q831  
    r:+0.73  23.76        49.88 (26.12)
  7 Loy, Andrew      19 Ohio State Unive    50.19      50.35  q808  
    r:+0.70  24.15        50.35 (26.20)
  8 *Gutierrez, Lon  22 California Aquat    50.52      50.38  q807  
    r:+0.63  24.14        50.38 (26.24)

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