2017 USA Swimming AT&T Winter Nationals: Melanie Margalis Claims 2 Top Seeds

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Melanie Margalis was dominant on the third morning of the 2017 USA Swimming AT&T Winter Nationals, claiming the first place seed in both the women’s 400 IM and 100 breast, plus a second place seed in the 200 free.

Reece Whitley bested World Champion Chase Kalisz in prelims of the men’s 400 IM, claiming the top seed by more than two seconds. Kelsi Worrell, Josh Prenot, and Mallory Comerford also claimed top seed times in prelims.

Schedule of events:

Women’s 400 IM
Men’s 400 IM
Women’s 100 Fly
Men’s 100 Fly
Women’s 200 Free
Men’s 200 Free
Women’s 100 Breast
Men’s 100 Breast
Women’s 100 Back
Men’s 100 Back

Women’s 400 IM

Melanie Margalis delivered a smooth, consistent swim in prelims of the women’s 400 IM, easily picking up the top seed with a time of 4:08.17. Margalis finished first in her heat by close to three seconds.

Emma Muzzy and Louisville’s Rachaele Bradford-Feldman, both swimming out of heat two, grabbed the second and the third place seeds respectively. Muzzy stopped the clock at a time of 4:09.22, while Bradford-Feldman posted a 4:10.08.

Ohio State swimmers Meg Bailey and Kathrin Demler posted times of 4:11.00 and 4:13.63 to pick up the fourth and fifth place seeds.

Bailey Bonnett (4:14.95), Ohio State’s Molly Kowal (4:15.08), and Louisville’s Margaret Jahns (4:16.47) rounded out the top eight swimmers.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 7.44.18 AM

Men’s 400 IM

Reece Whitley, high school breaststroke phenom, utilized his breaststroke abilities to catch and pass World and Olympic medalist Chase Kalisz in the prelims of the men’s 400 IM. Whitley posted a time of 3:44.71 to qualify as the top seed for tonight’s final, with his time doubling as the sixteenth All-Time fastest in the men’s 17=18 age group.

Kalisz, who holds the American Record at a time of 3:33.42, qualified second overall with a time of 3:46.86.

Casey Storch picked up the third place seed with a time of 3:47.45 from heat two, followed by close qualifying times from Jason Louiser (3:49.19) and Sean Conway (3:49.60).

Phillip Meffert (3:49.68), Jarrett Jones (3:49.96), and Christopher Jhong (3:50.26) completed the top eight qualifiers.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 7.44.42 AM

Women’s 100 Fly

Kelsi Worrell flew ahead of the competition in prelims of the women’s 100 fly, posting the fastest time of the morning by close to one second. Worrell has swum very few short course yards meets since she posted the American Record of 49.43 in March of 2016. Today, the World medalist posted a 50.32 for the top seed in tonight’s final.

Fellow Louisville swimmer, Mallory Comerford, picked up the second place seed with a time of 51.18, while Amanda Kendall posted a 51.66 to return as the third place seed.

Grace Oglesby, also of Louisville, turned in a time of 52.35 for the fourth place seed, followed by Aliena Schmidtke’s time of 52.53.

Alexa Cuomo (52.89), Joyce Kwok (53.48), and Nasty Govejsek (53.50) were sixth through eighth in prelims.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 7.43.45 AM

Men’s 100 Fly

Josh Prenot topped the competition in prelims of the men’s 100 fly, leading four other swimmers to sub-47 second swims. Primarily a breaststroker, Prenot flexed his butterfly muscles and produced a top time of 46.15.

Picking up second in tonight’s final was Ohio State’s Michael Salazar, who stopped the clock at a time of 46.41. Teammate Noah Lense grabbed a close third place seed with a 46.52.

Michael Andrew grabbed fourth overall in prelims, stopping the clock at a 46.75. Qualifying close behind Andrew was a tie between Bryce Bohman and Khalil Fonder, as both swimmers posted final times of 46.75 from heat six.

‘The Batman’ of USA Swimming, Zach Harting, and fellow Louisville teammate, Nicholas Albiero, picked up the seventh and eighth place seeds with times of 47.31 and 47.38 respectively.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 7.51.39 AM

Women’s 200 Free

Shortly after picking up the second place seed in the women’s 100 fly, Louisville’s Mallory Comerford was back in the water and dominating the 200 free. Comerford swam to a top qualifying time of 1:43.37 in heat four, earning her a second chance at a National Championships medal for night three, and putting her within two seconds of Missy Franklin’s championship record of 1:41.40.

Isabel Ivey, also swimming out of heat four, grabbed the second place seed with a time of 1:44.75, while the third place seed went to Melanie Margalis and her time of 1:45.87.

The fourth place seed was picked up by Ashley Neidigh and her time of 1:46.56, followed by Louisville’s Arina Openysheva (1:46.84) and Sophie Cattermole (1:46.87).

Ali Galyer grabbed the seventh place seed with a 1:46.92 and Miranda Heckman was eighth with a 1:46.95.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 8.05.05 AM

Men’s 200 Free

Zane Grothe, fresh off an American Record in the 500 free, powered to the top seed in the men’s 200 free. Grothe posted a time of 1:34.07 to return to the middle of the pool.

Mitch D’Arrigo grabbed the second place seed with a time of 1:34.28, followed closely by Joshua Fleagle’s third place seed time of 1:34.41.

The sub-1:35 times continued with Matias Koski as he delivered a 1:34.65 to earn the fourth place seed.

Corey Main took the fifth place seed with a 1:35.25, just ahead of backstroke All-Star Ryan Murphy and his time of 1:35.49.

Andrej Barna and Samuel Steele concluded the top eight swimmers with times of 1:36.10 and 1:36.55.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 8.19.13 AM

Women’s 100 Breast

Melanie Margalis’ all-star morning continued with a top showing in the women’s 100 breast. Margalis led a quad of women beneath the one-minute mark, posting the fastest time of the morning at a 58.77.

Andrea Cottrell grabbed the second place seed with a time of 59.17, followed closely by Danielle Herrmann (59.41) and Breeja Larson (59.48).

The fifth place seed was picked up by Maria Astashkina and her time of 1:00.25, while Rachel Bernhardt qualified close behind with a 1:00.27.

Hanna Gresser and Bailey Bonnett rounded out the top eight with times of 1:00.43. and 1:00.93 respectively.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 8.26.22 AM

Men’s 100 Breast

Cody Miller dashed to a new Championship meet record in prelims of the men’s 100 breast, lowering the previous record of 51.10, set by Kevin Cordes in 2012, to a 51.04. Miller’s time puts him exactly one second off Cordes’ American Record of 50.04, set in Austin, Texas in 2014.

Nic Fink posted the only other sub-52 second swim in the men’s 100 breast, stopping the clock at a time of 51.80.

18-year-old Michael Andrew picked up the third place seed with a time of 52.24, followed by Nick Zito’s fourth place qualifying time of 52.63.

Josh Prenot grabbed the fifth place seed with a 52.70, just ahead of Reece Whitley’s 52.79.

The ‘A’ final was rounded out by Carlos Claverie (53.33) and Nicholas Leshok (54.30).

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 8.40.04 AM

Women’s 100 Back

Isabel Ivey, representing Gators Swim Club, posted the fastest time of the morning in the women’s 100 back. She stopped the clock at a time of 52.27, leading a quad of swimmers beneath the 53-second mark.

Olivia Smoliga turned in the second fastest time of the morning at a 52.30 from heat six, followed closely by Bridgette Alexander’s 52.77, also from heat six.

Nation’s Capital’s Phoebe Bacon posted a sizzling 52.79 from heat four, qualifying the 15-year-old fourth overall. Bacon’s time shifts her from 40th to 30th on USA Swimming’s All-Time Top 100 list for the 15-16 age group.

Alina Kendzior picked up the fifth place seed with a 53.20, just ahead of Rebekah Bradley’s 53.32.

Ashlyn Schoof (53.35) and Emma Muzzy (53.41) also qualified for tonight’s ‘A’ final.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 8.55.09 AM

Men’s 100 Back

Grigory Tarasevich, who represented Russia at the 2016 Olympics, ended the morning session by claiming the top seed in the men’s 100 back. Tarasevich posted a time of 46.61 for first, qualifying a shy .02 seconds ahead of Bryce Bohman and his 46.63.

Corey Main picked up the third place seed with a time of 46.90, while former Cal teammates Ryan Murphy (47.00) and Jacob Pebley (47.10) qualified fourth and fifth.

Nikolaos Sofianidis grabbed the sixth place seed with a time of 47.35, just ahead of Brendan Burns’ 47.53.

The eighth place seed was earned by Nicolas Albiero and his time of 47.74.

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 9.15.15 AM

Name*

Email*

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