2018 US Winter Nationals: Fink, Flickinger Post Solid Times In Greensboro

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The last session of the 2018 US Winter Nationals from Greensboro, North Carolina featured some solid times from Georgia pros Hali Flickinger and Nic Fink while National Team members Jordan WilimovskySimone Manuel and Jacob Pebley took care of business in their respective finals.

Michael Chadwick upset Nathan Adrian in the 100 free in the significant race of the night. Ashley Twichell also put up a solid time in the 1500 while Canadian visitors Kylie Masse and Kelsey Wog won two events.

Ryan Vipavetz won his first national title in the 200 fly to close out the session.

Women’s 1500 Free

Trials Cut: 16:49.19

Ashley Twichell and Erica Sullivan had a good duel going on in the 1500 final at the US Winter Nationals in Greensboro as the two Open Water swimmers looked like they were going to go down to the wire. Sullivan briefly took over the lead from Twichell at the 1000 but Twichell responded and never looked back.

Twichell pulled away from Sullivan over the last 500 as the former won the 1500 final with a 16:09.80. Sullivan finished in second place with a 16:14.84 after hanging with Twichell for 1000 meters. She could not hang on over the last 500. She will be going to USC in January.

NBAC’s Chase Travis (16:27.15) and TAC Titans’s Hannah Moore (16:32.50) finished third and fourth as the Open Water swimmers took the top four spots in the pool race.

Julia Hassler (16:34.98), Paige McKenna (16:42.22), Madelyn Donohoe (16:43.02) and Katy Campbell (16:47.58) rounded out the top eight.

 

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Men’s 1500 Free

Trials Cut: 15:44.89

Jordan Wilimovsky showed his dominance in the 1500 final on Saturday night at the US Winter Nationals in Greensboro by pulling away from the field and winning the race at 15:05.96. Wilimovsky won the final by almost 10 full seconds with 2018 NCAA Champion Anton Ipsen (15:15.32) coming in second.

Wilimovsky won his second title of the weekend after starting the meet with a gold in the 800. Wilimovsky has showed he basically does not get tired when swimming these long distance races as he has showed consistency time and time again with his swims.

Brennan Gravley of Sandpipers finished in third place with a 15:38.36, well back from the top two guys. He has committed to swim at the University of Florida.

Gordon Mason (15:42.76), Ross Dant (15:43.09), Lleyton Plattel (15:44.94), Joseph Gutierrez (15:47.28) and Sawyer Grimes (15:52.27) also placed in the top eight.

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Women’s 200 Back

Trials Cut: 2:14.69

Kylie Masse, one of the best backstrokers in the world, muscled out a strong 200 back swim on Saturday night at the 2018 US Winter Nationals in Greensboro. Masse, who represents Canada internationally, made a strong impression this weekend as this was her second win of the meet this weekend.

Masse swam a 2:09.92 to win the 200 back final. She tied up the last 15 meters and held off a hard charging Hali Flickinger (2:10.77). Flickinger ran down Ali Galyer (2:11.02) and Phoebe Bacon (2:11.13) to steal second place. She will also have the 200 fly later on in this session.

Mabel Zavaros (2:12.25) and Bridgette Alexander (2:12.58) also competed hard in placing fifth and sixth.

Kennedy Goss (2:14.10) and Sophie Lindner (2:15.35) finished seventh and eighth.

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Men’s 200 Back

Trials Cut: 2:02.99

Jacob Pebley won the 200 back final with relative ease as he led from start to finish in the event on Saturday night in Greensboro, North Carolina, as he won with a 1:56.96. Pebley won by over a second ahead of Crimson Tide’s Christopher Reid (1:58.28) and Markus Thormeyer (1:59.10).

Reid and Thormeyer represent South Africa and Canada respectively in international meets.

Jay Litherland and Kane Follows made it interesting for third place after Follows was leading the third place charge the whole race. Litherland finished ahead of him at 1:59.65 after flipping in last at the 100. Follows was fifth at 1:59.78.

Harry Homans (2:02.07), Drew Carbone (2:02.83) and Nick Vance (2:03.28) also swam in the A-Final.

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Women’s 100 Free

Trials Cut: 56.29

Superstar Simone Manuel won the 100 free final on Saturday night at the 2018 US Winter Nationals in Greensboro with a 53.38. Manuel won her second National title of the weekend after winning the 50 free to start her meet on Thursday night.

Manuel won by a full second over Margo Geer (54.38) and Amanda Kendall (54.52). Geer and Kendall were both well accomplished college swimmers at Arizona and LSU respectively, yet both of them are still searching for their first Olympic teams. Both of them have punched their tickets to the 2020 Olympic Trials to put their names in the running for the Tokyo team.

Arkansas’s Anna Hopkin out of Great Britain finished just out of the top three with a 54.53 as she finished fourth.

American superstar Katie Ledecky, who elected to go with the shorter event than her usual 1500, finished in fifth at 54.76.

Gabby DeLoof (55.79), Rebecca Smith (55.85) and Grace Cooper (56.84) also swam in the championship final.

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Men’s 100 Free

Trials Cut: 50.49

Michael Chadwick, who just moved out to San Diego to train with Team Elite, held off Nathan Adrian in the 100 free final on the last night of the 2018 US Winter Nationals in Greensboro. Chadwick was out quick and hung on to win the final at 48.57. Chadwick held off the 2012 Olympic Gold medalist Adrian who was a 48.59 for second, despite coming home in a blistering 25.01.

Those two were well in front of the rest of the field with Markus Thormeyer finishing in third place at 49.71 and Destin Lasco in fourth at 49.84. Those four were the only swimmers under 50 seconds in the final.

Carson Olafson (50.04), Aaron Greenberg (50.41), Josh Fleagle (50.70) and Jesse Novak (50.71) also swam in the A-Final.

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Women’s 200 Breast

Trials Cut: 2:33.29

The Canadians won their second final on Saturday night at the 2018 US Winter Nationals in Greensboro with Kelsey Wog on top of the 200 breast with a 2:26.10. Wog won the final ahead of two solid swimmers in Emily Escobedo (2:27.34) and Micah Sumrall (2:28.76).

Madisyn Cox finished in fourth with a 2:28.83 as she was within striking distance of the top three the whole way but could not quite catch Sumrall at the end. This is Cox’s first meet since March since she had to sit out the whole summer because of a doping suspension.

Ashley McCauley (2:31.70), Bailey Bonnett (2:32.08), Abby Arens (2:33.37) and Hanna Newby (2:35.36) also swam in the A-Final.

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Men’s 200 Breast

Trials Cut: 2:17.89

Nic Fink used a great back half to run down Kevin Cordes in the 200 breast final on Saturday night at the 2018 US Winter Nationals in Greensboro. Fink swam a 2:10.24 thanks to a 1:06.4 second 100, compared to Cordes who came home in a 1:08.64. Cordes finished in second at 2:11.34.

Fink, who was probably extra motivated after watching Georgia lead the SEC football championship game, won his first national title of the weekend.

Fink and Cordes both swam in this event at the World Championships last summer where Fink was fifth and Cordes was sixth. Both swimmers also did not make the Pan Pac team this summer and are looking to gain momentum into 2019 to get back on to the team.

Aggie’s Jonathan Tybur (2:13.77) finished in third, just out-touching Chuck Katis (2:13.95) and Canada’s Eli Wall (2:14.04).

Alex Evdokimov (2:15.15), Matt Fallon (2:15.25) and Scott Tolman (2:15.58) also swam in the A-Final.

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Women’s 200 Fly

Trials Cut: 2:14.59

The Georgia pro group won their second straight event on Saturday night at the 2018 Winter Nationals in Greensboro with Hali Flickinger following Nic Fink with a win in the 200 fly. Flickinger won the 200 fly with an impressive swim of 2:07.22, which was faster than her 2:07.35 she swam to win the gold medal at Pan Pacs this summer. Flickinger was a 2:05.87 earlier this year with her swim at the Summer Nationals.

Flickinger won the final handily over Olivia Bray, who was second at 2:11.38, despite leading at the 100. Bray held off a strong late charge from 14-year-old Charlotte Hook (2:11.93) of the TAC Titans. She was a 2:11.0 this summer and did not move up the 13-14 NAG rankings.

Megan Kinglsey, another member of the Georgia pro group, finished fourth at 2:12.61.

Alicia Finnigan (2:13.37), Bryanna Cameron (2:13.92), Meg Bailey (2:13.93) and Mabel Zavaros (2:16.50) also swam in the A-Final.

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Men’s 200 Fly

Trials Cut: 2:01.19

Virginia Tech commit Ryan Vipavetz won his first national title in the 200 butterfly to close out the 2018 US Winter Nationals on Saturday night in Greensboro. Vipavetz won the final with a 1:59.43 ahead of Scarlet’s Dare Rose (1:59.98).

Those two were the only ones under two minutes in the final as it was a very evenly matched final. The eight swimmers were separated by two seconds from this morning’s prelims. Indiana commit Brendan Burns finished in third at 2:01.09.

Alex Colson (2:01.55), Tim Slanschek (2:02.21), Noah Bowers (2:02.24), Clay Hering (2:03.76) and Harry Homans (2:04.36) also swam in the A-Final.

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