TYR Pro Series San Antonio, Day Three Finals (Men’s Events): Caeleb Dressel, Hubert Kos Tie For 100 Butterfly Win

Caeleb Dressel -- Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron

TYR Pro Series San Antonio, Day Three Finals (Men’s Events): Caeleb Dressel, Hubert Kos Tie For 100 Butterfly Win

Two of the world’s most prominent men’s swimmers were scheduled to swim in their signature events Friday evening at the TYR Pro Swim Series in San Antonio, Texas. Fresh off another record-smashing performance at the NCAA Championships, Leon Marchand swam in a 400-meter IM final for the first time since breaking Michael Phelps’ world record in the event at last year’s World Championships, while Caeleb Dressel continued his resurgence in the 100 butterfly.

Marchand indeed got the win over defending Olympic gold medalist Chase Kalisz while Dressel ended up in a tie for the win with Hungarian star Hubert Kos. The event slate also included the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke to begin the session.

Men’s 200 Freestyle

Fresh off a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard free at last month’s NCAA Championships, Rafael Miroslaw jumped out ahead of a strong group of American mid-distance freestylers in San Antonio, and the German national representing Indiana University never gave up the lead, even though he faded on the last length and ended up with the slowest split in the field coming home.

Miroslaw finished in 1:46.11, just off his best time of 1:45.83 clocked at the U.S. Open in early December, and the performance was enough to edge out Carson Foster, with the versatile swimmer from the Mason Manta Rays closing in 27.22 to clock 1:46.58. Foster recently split an absurd time of 1:43.94 on the U.S. men’s 800 free relay at the Doha World Championships.

A pair of swimmers who have been part of the U.S. men’s 800 free relay the past three years were in the field, with Kieran Smith taking third in 1:47.41, one hundredth clear of a charging Luca Urlando, while Drew Kibler ended up sixth in a tight finish in 1:47.58. A large collection of times in the 1:47-range included Grant House (1:47.51) and Lucas Henveaux (1:47.63).

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Men’s 200 Backstroke

Virginia swimmer Jack Aikins had the lead for the majority of the 200 backstroke final, with NC State’s Hunter Tapp more than a second back heading into the final turn. But Aikins had one final surge remaining. As Aikins and Gavin Keogh fell off their quick early pace, Tapp came through with a 29.64 final split, the only sub-30-second effort in the field.

Aikins finished in 1:58.52, three tenths ahead of Aikins’ 1:58.81, while Keough placed third in 1:59.19. Aikins ranks fourth in the world thus far for 2024 at 1:56.21, a mark he swam on the way to a fourth-place finish at this winter’s World Championships. Tapp, meanwhile, owns a top time of 1:56.45. Hubert Kos, the Hungarian who became world champion in this event last year, is in San Antonio, but he scratched the 200 back.

Men’s 400 IM

He is unbeaten in the 400-meter IM since placing sixth in his first Olympic final three years ago, and Friday night in San Antonio, Leon Marchand began his campaign to back up a pair of world titles and a world record with Olympic gold in his home country later this year. The Frenchman was facing the swimmers who won gold and silver, respectively, at the Tokyo Olympics, but he has plenty of familiarity with Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland as both Americans are his training partners under coach Bob Bowman.

Indeed, Marchand handled Kalisz and Litherland with ease, jumping out by more than a half-second after butterfly and by almost two seconds at the halfway point before he went to work with his typically-dominant breaststroke leg, clocking 1:10.09 on this occasion. Kalisz had a swift freestyle performance to close the gap, but Marchand claimed the win in 4:11.21, which ranks No. 6 in the world in the early going this year.

Kalisz, meanwhile, clocked 4:12.45, jumping ahead of David Johnston and Carson Foster for No. 7 in the global rankings for this year. Litherland was third in 4:16.61, with 800 and 1500-meter free Olympic champion Bobby Finke taking fourth (4:18.04).

Men’s 100 Butterfly

Hubert Kos chose to pass on his signature event, the 200 backstroke, and focus on the 100 butterfly Friday evening in San Antonio, and the Hungarian produced an impressive swim, nearly earning a wire-to-wire victory before Caeleb Dressel drew even on the final stroke. Dressel, the world-record holder and Olympic champion in the event, has been particularly strong on the back end in his recent in-season races, and he went from a halfway split of 24.37, fifth in the field, before he closed in 26.47.

In the end, the two men finished in a tie for the win at 50.84. That ranks both swimmers third in the world this year behind Switzerland’s Noe Ponti (50.16) and Australia’s Matt Temple (50.61). The only other men to break 51 in 2024 are Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto (50.96) and Kos’ fellow Hungarian Kristof Milak (50.99). Milak, like Dressel, is making a comeback to the sport after a layoff, and he has been solid at this week’s Hungarian Nationals.

Third place went to Eric Friese, a University of Florida swimmer alongside Dressel, in 51.84, while Ilya Kharun, an Arizona State Sun Devil alongside Kos, won the B-final in 51.97.

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