The third leg of the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series kicked off last night in Richmond, VA. World record holder Katie Ledecky and Olympic medalist Leah Smith rattled the world rankings in the women’s 800 Freestyle while U.S. Open record holder Zane Grothe took the men’s race.
Five individual races were held for both men and women on the first day of preliminaries. Michael Andrew and Claire Curzan highlighted the morning. Andrew set a new TYR Pro Swim Series Record in the 50 Backstroke (24.66) while Curzan set a new 13-14 National Age Group Record in the 100 Butterfly (59.00).
Women’s 200 Freestyle
As predicted, Katie Ledecky (1:57.08) and Leah Smith (1:58.15) cruised to the top seeds in the 200 Freestyle. Ledecky will look to build on her current worldwide third-ranked swim (1:55.78) in tonight’s final. Smith improved her season best by three tenths, moving up twenty-sixth to twenty-second in the world rankings.
Hali Flickinger led the remaining qualifiers in 1:59.26, about one second off her lifetime best. Madisyn Cox raced to a 1:59.84 and the fourth seed, her first time under two minutes since 2016. Stanford teammates Katie Drabot (1:59.98) and Brooke Forde (2:01.05) took fourth and fifth while swimming unattached. Boilermaker’s Kaersten Meitz posted a 2:01.16 for seventh and Leonie Kullman was eighth in 2:01.97.
Big names Claire Tuggle (2:02.13), Ella Eastin (2:03.61), Natalie Hinds (2:03.81) and Amanda Weir (2:03.95) qualified for the ‘B’ final.
Men’s 200 Freestyle
Zane Grothe (1:49.46) and Caeleb Dressel (1:49.67) took the top two spots out of heat nine of the men’s 200 Freestyle. The swim was a season-best for Grothe who went 1:49.91 at the Des Moines TYR Pro Swim Series stop earlier in the year.
Zach Harting was also in the mix at 1:49.84, just one one hundredth off his lifetime best. Jack Conger was not far behind in 1:49.96. Mohamed Samy was fifth in 1:50.53. He was followed by Jacob Pebley in 1:50.54 and Jan Switkowski in 1:50.58. Jack Wright and Norbert Szabo tied for eighth in 1:51.18.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Annie Lazor posted a 1:07.71 for the top seed in the 100 Breaststroke, faster than her 1:08.08 prelims swim in Des Moines where she blasted a 1:06.66 at finals. After a successful NCAA debut, Sophie Hansson nearly went a best time in the event, swimming a 1:07.82. She has gone two tenths faster at the European Championships. Her swim puts her twentieth in the current world rankings.
Katie Meili swam a 1:08.88 for third and was followed by Molly Hannis in 1:09.01. Rounding out the top qualifiers in this event were Breeja Larson (1:09.71), Zoe Bartel (1:09.80), Bethany Galat (1:09.88) and Emily Escobedo (1:09.91).
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
Cody Miller led the men’s 100 Breaststroke this time around in a 1:00.80. The swim is right on his season-best of 1:00.22 from Des Moines in March. Kevin Cordes put up a 1:01.20 for the second seed. He was followed by Nic Fink (1:01.27) and Andrew Wilson (1:01.31). The four should battle for honors in tonight’s final, as they are all within striking distance of the world’s top ten rankings. It will take a 59.58.
Chuck Katis (1:01.40), Josh Prenot (1:01.69), Nils Wich-Glasen (1:01.71) and Jan Delkeskamp (1:01.93) will also be in the mix in the final.
Women’s 50 Backstroke
Olivia Smoliga raced to her fastest prelims swim of the year in the 50 Backstroke. She finished in 27.97 for the top seed. Missoula’s 18-year-old Katharine Berkoff was second in 28.26 and TAC Titans’ 14-year-old Claire Curzan took third in 28.58. Ali DeLoof was fourth in 28.69.
Also earning a spot in the ‘A’ final were Gabi Fa’amausili (28.81), Klaudia Nazieblo (29.09), Anika Apostalon (29.09) and Isabella Arcila Hurtado (29.10).
Men’s 50 Backstroke
Michael Andrew posted a new TYR Pro Swim Series Record in the 50 Backstroke. His time of 24.66 broke his own mark of 24.68 set in January of this year in Knoxville. The swim maintains his current worldwide ranking of second. The event is led worldwide by Xu Jiayu of China in 24.47.
He was followed closely by Ryan Held, who put up a 24.99 for the second seed. The time ties him for sixth in the world rankings. Matt Grevers was third in 25.41, one one-hundredth faster than his time in April of last year.
Also finishing in the top eight were Jacob Pebley (25.64), Ryan Murphy (25.75), Hennessey Stuart (25.82), Mohamed Samy (25.89) and Nikos Sofianidis (25.95).
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Kelsi Dahlia stayed consistent with her 58.03 100 Butterfly. She has gone 57.8 twice this year in this event. Farida Osman was second in 58.83, also close to her season-best of 58.68. Claire Curzan earned another top-three finish, this time in a lifetime best 59.00. The swim is a new USA Swimming 13-14 National Age Group Record. Coming into the meet, Curzan’s best time of 59.82 ranked fifth all-time.
Curzan was followed by Amanda Kendall (59.19), Hali Flickinger (59.51), Katie Drabot (1:00.07), Leah Gingrich (1:00.34) and Aliena Schmidtke (1:00.45).
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Caeleb Dressel raced to the top time of the morning in the 100 Butterfly. His 52.55 was enough to edge out Michael Andrew (52.84), Santiago Grassi (52.94), Giles Smith (52.97) and Zach Harting (52.98). The men will be joined by Jack Conger (53.12), Jack Saunderson (53.34) and Antani Ivanov (53.35) in the final.
Women’s 400 IM
Leah Smith (4:40.38) cruised to the top seed in the 400 IM ahead of Ella Eastin (4:45.82) and Madisyn Cox (4:46.19). Smith now sits fourteenth in the world rankings, one spot ahead of Cox who went 4:40.39 earlier in the year. Brooke Forde (4:49.05) and Katie Ledecky (4:50.16) will also offer some pressure to the leaders after taking the fourth and fifth seeds. Ledecky is currently tenth in the world marks from her swim in Knoxville.
16-year-old Mia Abruzzo will join the star-studded field after swimming a lifetime best of 4:52.28. Her time is less than half of a second off the 2020 Olympic Trials standard. She will be joined in the final by Megan Kingsley (4:53.84) and Lauren Poole (4:56.50).
Men’s 400 IM
Tomas Peribonio stole the top seed in the 400 IM with his 4:18.40. The swim puts him inside the top twenty in the world rankings for this event. Chase Kalisz swam a 4:21.08 for the second seed and will be the one to watch in tonight’s final.
17-year-old Sean Faikish dropped two seconds for the third seed in 4:27.65. He, too is closing in on the 2020 Olympic Trials cut of 4:25.99. 15-year-old Zachary Tan was fourth in 4:28.33.
Rounding out the top final will be James McGuire (4:31.05), Matias Lopez (4:31.31), David Dixon (4:32.06) and Santi Corredor (4:32.46).
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Congratulations to you both