2018 TYR Pro Swim Series Mesa: Kalisz, Smoliga, Chadwick Earn Top Seeds

Chase Kalisz. Photo Courtesy: Brooke Wright

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Several big stars had strong prelims during Day 2 of the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Mesa, Arizona.

Chase Kalisz, Michael Chadwick, Jacob Pebley, Olivia Smoliga, Hali Flickinger, Melanie Margalis and Josh Prenot were among the swimmers to earn top seeds for the Day 2 finals.

DAY 2 PRELIMS COMPLETE RESULTS

Event Schedule:

Women’s 100 back
Men’s 100 back
Women’s 200 fly
Men’s 200 fly
Women’s 100 breast
Men’s 100 breast
Women’s 100 free
Men’s 100 free
Women’s 200 IM
Men’s 200 IM

Women’s 100 Back

Athens Bulldog’s Olivia Smoliga cruised to the top seed with a time of 1:01.19, putting her in position for a backstroke sweep after a pair of 2:10s in the 200 back on Thursday. Missoula’s Katharine Berkoff joined Smoliga under 1:02 as she qualified in 1:01.88.

Club Wolverine’s Ali DeLoof took third in 1:02.02, and Cal teammates Amy Bilquist (1:02.63) and Keaton Blovad (1:02.79) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Mission Viejo’s Isabella Arcila (1:02.95), Sonnele Oeztuerk (1:02.99) and Team Elite’s Hellen Moffitt (1:03.31) also made the A-final.

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Men’s 100 Back

Cal’s Jacob Pebley finished just ahead of teammate Ryan Murphy in prelims, 55.95 to 55.98. Murphy won the 200 back ahead of Pebley on Thursday. The two will have some competition in the final from Grand Canyon’s Mark Nikolaev, who qualified third in 56.00, and from Tucson Ford’s Matt Grevers. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist finished fourth in 56.14.

Arizona State’s Zachary Poti was fifth in 56.46, ahead of Youssef Said (56.74), Louisville’s Nikkos Sofianidis (57.15) and Tennessee’s Joey Reilman (57.28).

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Women’s 200 Fly

Athens Bulldog’s Hali Flickinger unleashed a quick time of 2:09.50 in prelims to qualify first for the final by more than two seconds. That’s not too far off Flickinger’s best time this season, a 2:08.04 from the last stop of the TYR Pro Swim Series in Atlanta that ranks her No. 5 in the world so far.

Eastern Iowa’s Ruby Martin qualified second in 2:11.86, and Cardinal’s Kelsi Dahlia finished third in 2:13.08. Enfinity’s Olivia Carter took fourth in 2:14.31, followed by Duke’s Isabella Paez (2:14.48). Tucson Ford’s Leah Smith made a rare butterfly appearance, qualifying sixth in 2:14.84, and she was followed by Louisville’s Grace Oglesby (2:16.13) and Team Elite’s Sarah Gibson (2:16.78).

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Men’s 200 Fly

Athens Bulldog’s Chase Kalisz was the only swimmer to break 2:00 in prelims, coming in with a top time of 1:59.98. Kalisz already won the 400 IM earlier in the meet. Arizona’s Justin Wright took second in 2:01.18, and South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth was third in 2:01.42.

Louisville’s Zach Harting (2:01.67) and Athens Bulldog’s Pace Clark (2:02.10) were the next two qualifiers, with Georgia’s Camden Murphy (2:03.39), Louisville’s Daniel Sos (2:05.46) and Pitchfork’s Jarod Arroyo (2:06.12) also getting into the final.

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Women’s 100 Breast

Tennessee’s Molly Hannis posted the only performance under 1:08 to lead the way into the championship final. She was followed by NYAC’s Breeja Larson (1:08.69) and Chattahoochee Gold’s Micah Sumrall (1:09.45). Also breaking 1:10 were Fort Collins’ Zoe Bartel (1:09.71) and Condors’ Emily Escobedo (1:09.79).

The last three qualifiers for the final were Houston teammates Peyton Kondis (1:10.89) and Angela Mavrantza (1:11.28) and Arizona State’s Silja Kansakoski (1:11.35).

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Men’s 100 Breast

Race Pace Club’s Michael Andrew blasted a prelims time of 1:00.52 to finish almost a second ahead of a strong field. The No. 2 qualifier was Grand Canyon’s Youssef El Kamash in 1:01.40, and Louisville’s Carlos Claverie took third in 1:01.58.

Sandpipers’ Cody Miller took fourth in 1:01.67, and Ian Finnerty,Miller’s Indiana training partner and double NCAA champion, took fifth in 1:01.71. American record-holder Kevin Cordes took sixth in 1:01.73, ahead of Cal’s Josh Prenot (1:01.85) and Longhorn’s Andrew Wilson (1:02.00).

So strong was the field that Athens Bulldog’s Nic Fink ended up ninth in 1:02.47.

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Women’s 100 free

Mission Viejo’s Margo Geer used a strong first half of the 100 free to earn the top seed in a packed event in 54.85.

Louisville’s Mallory Comerford took the second seed at 54.90, followed by USC’s Louise Hansson (55.15), Olympian Lia Neal (26.80), Georgia’s Veronica Burchill (55.40), Athens Bulldogs’ Olivia Smoliga (55.66), Pitchfork Aquatics’ Allison Schmitt and Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil (55.49).

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Men’s 100 Free

Michael Chadwick continued his strong meet by tying for the top seed in the 100 free with Nathan Adrian. Both finished at 49.72. Adrian had a stronger first 50 and Chadwick had a faster back half.

Bruno Blaskovic took the third seed in 50.07, followed by Trojan’s Jesse Novak (50.30), Athens Bulldogs’ Matias Koski (50.79), Scott McGillivray (50.82), Louisville’s Andrej Barna (50.86) and Cal’s Ryan Murphy (51.06).

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Women’s 200 IM

St. Petersburg’s Melanie Margalis took the top seed in the 200 IM, cruising to the wall in 2:15.59.

Tuscon Ford’s Leah Smith finished with the second seed in 2:16.84, followed by Connie Dean (2:17.06), Vien Nguyen (2:17.65), Zoe Bartel (2:19.01), Ilektra Lebl (2:19.41), Emily Escobedo (2:19.89) and Callie Dickinson (2:20.30).

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Men’s 200 IM

Cal’s Josh Prenot took the top seed in the 200 IM with a 2:03.95, setting up a finals showdown with Athens Bulldogs’ Chase Kalisz (2:05.07), who took the second seed.

Isaac Stump took the third seed (2:05.84), followed by Gianluca Urlando (2:06.01), Daniel Sos (2:06.18), Danny Comforti (2:07.07), Carlos Claverie (2:07.73) and Jarod Arroyo (2:08.14).

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