American Women Make Statement on Night 3 in Mesa

by Diana Pimer

14 April 2018, 04:17pm

A handful of American women had successful races on the third night of the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series at Mesa. Olivia Smoliga set the tone by racing to a new American Record in the 50 Backstroke Knockout Finals. Her time of 27.43 broke the old mark set by Kathleen Baker in 2017.

Leah Smith won two more events after winning the 200 and 800 Freestyles earlier in the meet and a grueling triple on night two. In the 50 Breaststroke knockouts, Molly Hannis posted the second-best time in the world this year, runner up only to her own time from Austin. Breeja Larson also raced to the top of the rankings, as she is now the second-fastest performer in this event so far this year.

DAY THREE FINALS COMPLETE RESULTS

Order of events

Men’s Freestyle 400m

El Kamash won his second event of the meet by claiming the 400 Free in 3:49.52. The swim was just a few tenths off his swim from the Atlanta stop of this Series. El Kamash dominated the race as he was the only swimmer to break the 4:50 barrier.

Zane Grothe was well off his 3:48 from Austin, but did enough to earn a second place finish in 3:53.86. He was able to hold off a charging Jordan Wilimovsky who took third in 3:54.37. UNC’s Dimitrios Dimitriou was in the third position throughout the 350, but could not hold off a closing split of 28.46 from Wilimovsky.

Women’s Butterfly Knockout 50m

Tonight’s Women’s 50 Fly Quarterfinals started with Alyssa Marsh, Mallory Comerford, Farida Osman, Kelsi Dahlia, Louise Hansson, Aliena Schmidtke, Hellen Moffitt and Sarah Gibson as the top eight competitors.

In the first round, Dahlia (26.12), Hansson (26.26), Osman (26.37) and Moffitt (26.39) charged their way into the top four. Dahlia was just off her prelims swim of 25.97 which currently sits eighth in the world rankings. Hansson raced to a now twelfth-ranked swim, as Osman is now thirteenth and Moffitt moved up to fifteenth.

Schmidtke (26.52), Comerford (26.65), Marsh (26.99) and Gibson (27.12) rounded out the heat.

Roughly ten minutes later, Dahlia took the heat in 26.18 while Osman earned the second spot in the finals in 26.30.

In the third race in about seventeen minutes, Dahlia used her underwaters to help her surge out front. She posted a huge 25.74 bumping her up to sixth in the world rankings. She was only .26 off her own American Record in this event.

Men’s Butterfly Knockout 50m

Kyle Robrock, Giles Smith, Marcus Schlesinger, Michael Andrew, Tim Phillips, Meiron Cheruti, Pace Clark and Runar Borgen started things off in tonight’s 50 Fly Quarterfinals.

In this round, Andrew reclaimed his top seed in 23.46. He was followed by Phillips (23.77), Schlesinger (24.08) and Cheruti (24.21). The swim ranks Andrew seventh in the world so far this year. Phillips now sits nineteenth.

Smith (24.26), Clark (24.49), Robrock (24.52) and Borgen (24.63) placed fifth through eighth.

Minutes later, Andrew powered his way to a Semifinals win in 23.40, lowering his time even further. Phillips went his same exact time from the previous round to warn the last spot in the finals. Schlesinger was third in 24.28 while Cheruti was fourth in 24.77.

Once again, Andrew blasted a world top-ten time in this event, winning the race in 23.38. He took the lead right from the start to get the win over Phillips

Women’s Backstroke Knockout 50m

Karolina Hajkova, Amy Bilquist, Katharine Berkoff, Olivia Smoliga, Ali Deloof, Isabella Arcila Hurtado, Hellen Moffitt and Anika Apostalon.

In the Quarterfinals, Smoliga cruised to victory in 28.08, followed by Deloof (28.43), Berkoff (28.68) and Bilquist (29.00). The swim was just off Smoliga’s 27.89 from Austin.

Hurtado (29.09), Apostalon (29.09), Hajkova (29.28) and Moffitt (29.53) placed fifth through eighth.

In the semis, Smoliga did not waste any time taking the lead. She won the heat in 27.89, tying her sixth-ranked swim and personal best. Deloof earned the other spot in the final coming in at 28.45. Berkoff took third in 28.75 while Bilquist was fourth in 28.85.

Smoliga proved her backstroke dominance by successfully completing a sweep of all three distances at this Mesa stop of the 2018 Pro Swim Series. Her swim of 27.43 set a new American Record and is now the top time in the world this year.

Men’s Backstroke Knockout 50m

The first round of the Men’s 50 Back Knockout in Mesa was a race between Yeziel Morales, Luke Pechmann, Youssef Said, Mark Nikolaev, Matt Grevers, Kyle Robrock, Jack Anderson and Joshua Ries.

In the opening round, Nikolaev had an easy win in 25.55, a bit off his prelims swim of 25.15 that ranks him ninth in the world for 2018. Veteran Grevers was next in 25.92, followed by Said (25.98) and Robrock (26.55).

Anderson (26.76), Pechmann (26.78), Morales (27.10) and Ries (27.47) rounded out the heat.

Grevers snuck in for the top seed in the finals with a 25.53. The Olympic Gold Medalist took an early lead, let up in the middle to second-place Nikolaev (25.65), but had enough to claim the win. Said was third in 26.03 and Robrock took fourth in 26.82.

Grevers then used his “old man strength” (via his post-race interview) to claim the Mesa 50 Back Knockout title in 25.42. Nikolaev took second-place honors in 26.19.

Women’s Freestyle 400m

Leah Smith claimed her third title of the meet by taking the 400 Free in 4:07.25. Smith was also victorious in the 200 and 800 distances. Her swim in the 400 gives her a seventh-place world ranking and is faster than she swam at this meet last year. Despite being second through the halfway point (Leonie Kullman split 1:59.49 while going for a 200 time), Smith swam through the adversity for the win.

Hali Flickinger ended up second in 4:09.68, followed by Cierra Runge (4:14.37) and Ashley Neidigh (4:15.05). The latter were nearly dead even at the 250 meter mark, but Runge ended up with the touch.

Women’s Breaststroke Knockout 50m

The women’s 50 Breast Knockout featured Morganne McKennan, Tjasa Pintar, Peyton Kondis, Molly Hannis, Breeja Larson, Zoe Bartel, Silja Kansakoski and Mallory Korenwinder.

Hannis sprinted her way to the top of the Quarterfinals in 30.44. The swim is second in the world so far this year, only behind her own swim of 29.71 from Austin. Larson took second in 30.78 while Bartel (31.65) and Kondis (31.79) also earned spots in the semifinals. Larson’s race was her first sub-31 swim of the season bumping her into the top ten worldwide rankings.

Kansakoski (32.57), Pintar (32.60), McKennan (32.72) and Korenwinder (32.88) rounded out the heat.

Larson then got her hands on the wall first to win the Semifinals in 30.47, giving her the second best swim in the world so far this year. Hannis was just .03 behind in 30.50 to punch her ticket to the final round. Bartel took third in 31.57 while Kondis was fourth in 31.82.

Hannis then stole back the victory in the Finals, winning in 29.97. Larson lowered her time once again for second in 30.42. The women are now the fastest two 50 breaststrokers in the world so far this year.

Men’s Breaststroke Knockout 50m

The 2018 50 Breast Knockout competitors started with Carlos Claverie, Chuck Katis, Nic Fink, Ian Finnerty, Itay Goldfaden, Youssef El Kamash, Kevin Cordes and Levi Jensen.

In the opening round, it was Goldfaden who took the win in 27.59. Finnerty was just behind in a season best 27.60 while Fink (27.69) and El Kamash (27.76) took third and fourth.

Cordes missed out on the final with a fifth-place finish of 27.81. Katis (28.20), Claverie (28.25) and Jensen (28.65) also missed out on making the semifinals.

Goldfaden was then bumped out of the finals at Fink was dominant in 27.74 and Finnerty was right behind in 27.82. They were the only two to break 28 as Goldfaden went 28.02 and El Kamash ended his busy night in 28.17.

Fink stayed on top in the Finals by racing to a 27.69. The swim was two tenths better than Finnerty who took runner-up honors in 27.89. Fink posted the most consistent trio of the night, spanning just .05 seconds from prelims to finals.

Women’s Freestyle Knockout 50m

The top eight women in the 50 Freestyle after the morning prelims were Mallory Comerford, Margo Geer, Madison Kennedy, Kelsi Dahlia, Lia Neal, Anika Apostalon, Louise Hansson and Isabella Arcila Hurtado.

Comerford dipped under 25 seconds to win the Quarterfinals in 24.94, followed closely by Margo Geer in 24.96. Kennedy was next in 25.07 and Dahlia took fourth in 25.24. Neal originally took fifth in 25.36, but was awarded a spot in the final after Kennedy scratched.

Apostalon (25.52), Hansson (25.62) and Hurtado (25.92) finished sixth through eighth.

Neal them capitalized on her opportunity by getting second in the Semifinals in 25.42. Comerford took the win once again in 25.00. Geer and Dahlia both narrowly missed the Finals as they tied in 25.48.

The women went stroke-for-stroke through fifteen meters, but Comerford swam away with the race in 25.10. Neal finished in 25.59.

Men’s Freestyle Knockout 50m

Michael Andrew, Michael Chadwick, Nathan Adrian, Bruno Blaskovic, Cullen Jones, Nikola Miljenic, Andrej Barna and Kyle Robrock competed in the Quarterfinals of the Mesa Men’s 50 Free Knockout.

Andrew won yet another heat in tonight’s session with a time of 22.25. This is a bit off his 21.93 sixth-ranked swim from Atlanta. Chadwick earned the second position in 22.41 while Adrian (22.44) and Blaskovic (22.72) also earned their spots in the Finals.

Jones (22.80), Mijenic (22.90), Barna (23.08) and Robrock (23.35) rounded out the heat.

Adrian then asserted his sprint freestyle dominance by taking the semis in 22.52. Andrew had just enough left on his fifth race of the night to get second in 22.69. Despite a late charge, Chadwick narrowly missed out on another swim by racing to a 22.77. Blaskovic was fourth in 23.24.

While the men were even throughout the first half of the race, Adrian powered to the finish for a distinct victory in 22.94. Andrew earned second place in 23.70.

Mystery 200 IM

Smith earned her second victory of the night from lane one in the women’s Mystery IM. Randomly given the order of freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, she had just enough room to hold off 18-year-old Callie Dickinson (2:18.79) for the win in 2:18.19.

Smith split 28.07, 35.47, 34.68, 39.97 while Dickinson split 37.01, 33.83, 35.97, 31.98 racing breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, freestyle. Eleanna Koutsouvelli was also in the mix in 2:18.85.

16-year-old Gianluca Urlando provided the upset in the final event of the night by winning the men’s Mystery IM in 2:06.09. His order of butterfly, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke gave him the win with the following splits: 26.00, 29.19, 33.65 and 37.25. Urlando placed fourth in the 200 IM earlier in the meet.

Runner up Jarod Arroyo finished just behind in 2:06.89 and was followed by Isaac Stump in 2:07.35.

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Safia Khan

6 years ago

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