TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Regan Smith Swims 57.46 in 100 Back for Seventh-Fastest Time Ever
The final evening of racing in Fort Lauderdale began with a bang as Katie Ledecky dropped a world record for the first time since 2018. Three heats later, Regan Smith put a scare into yet another record as she was dominant in the women’s 100 backstroke.
Smith already owns the two quickest times ever in the 100 back, most notably the world record of 57.13 she posted at last summer’s Olympic Trials to dethrone Kaylee McKeown from the global pinnacle. McKeown would edge Smith for Olympic gold in the event in Paris, but Smith blasted back with an Olympic-record time of 57.28 leading off the U.S. women’s 400 medley relay, which eventually secured gold.
Now, at the end of a Pro Series performance in which she has already won the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke, Smith took out the final in 28.02, just eight hundredths shy of her record split of 27.94. She finished off the race in 29.44, more than a second quicker than the Olympic medalists on either side of her, and that was good for a time of 57.46.
That mark is the fastest in the world this year and the seventh-fastest in history, with only Smith and McKeown having ever posted quicker swims. Smith took down her own Pro Series record while surpassing McKeown’s 57.65 for the fastest time in the world this year.
Finishing second was Katharine Berkoff in 58.79, with Canada’s Kylie Masse third in 58.90. Those swimmers became the third and fourth-fastest swimmers in the world this year, respectively. Claire Curzan got to the wall third in 59.46, with Charlotte Crush and Rhyan White also under the 1:00-barrier.
Later in the evening, Gretchen Walsh would provide a third world record with her incredible time of 54.60 in the 100 butterfly. The session would also include the men’s 800 free, 100 back and 100 fly plus competition for both genders in the 200 breaststroke, 200 IM and 50 freestyle.
- Results
- Wednesday Recap
- Thursday Recap
- Thursday Recap (Ledecky)
- Friday Recap (Walsh Record/Sprints)
- Friday Recap (Finke/Kos)
- Friday Recap (Weinstein)
Men’s 800 Freestyle
After watching training partner Katie Ledecky put up a stunning world record in the women’s event, Bobby Finke tried to follow that up with a big performance in the men’s event. Finke is not known for swimming sensational times in-season, typically waiting to shine until the biggest international meets of the year, but he swam a mark of 14:54.49 three days earlier in the 1500 free.
In the 800, Finke was not challenged ay any stage of the race, opening up a lead of one-and-a-half seconds by the 100-meter mark, and he split sub-30 on each length of the pool to pull 12.44 seconds ahead of the field by the finish. Finke clocked 7:50.79, good for No. 15 in the world this year and the top time among Americans.
A pair of swimmers from the Sandpipers of Nevada rounded out the top three, with Gabriel Manteufel coming in at 8:03.23 and teammate Luke Ellis third in 8:04.60.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Hubert Kos added to his win in the 200 back with a dominant performance over 100 meters, crushing the field on both lengths. Fresh off a dominant NCAA Championships and then a national-record time of 52.24 in this event at the Hungarian National Championships in April, Kos finished this race in 53.14.
Jack Harvey, a Bermuda native who competed for Penn State, finished second at 54.56, while the top American finisher was Jack Aikins, who came in at 54.69 to hold off the fast-finishing Gavin Keough (54.72).
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
The versatile Kate Douglass has surged to the forefront of global swimming in a wide variety events, including sprint freestyle and butterfly and the 200 IM, but her signature race is the 200 breaststroke. That was the distance in which she captured Olympic gold in Paris, and she broke the world record in the short course version of the event twice last fall.
This year, Douglass will face a new challenger with Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova, the world-record holder in the event, returning to international long course competition after a three-year hiatus. Chikunova might be the only swimmer in the world capable of beating Douglass, and she’s the only swimmer to go faster than the 2:20.78 Douglass swam in a wire-to-wire victory Saturday evening in Fort Lauderdale.
Douglass initially challenged her own American-record pace before settling for a more-than-solid 2:20. The only swimmer remotely close to her was University of Virginia training partner Alex Walsh, who finished just a half-second off her best time of in 2:22.91, moving to No. 4 in the world rankings. Third went to another Cavalier, Leah Hayes, in 2:27.60.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
A pair of international swimmers representing ACC schools faced off in the 200 breaststroke final. Carles Coll Marti, a native of Spain who swims for Virginia Tech, had the lead the entire race, but Denis Petrashov, of Louisville and Kyrgzystan, surged on the third length before closing in 33.47 to secure the victory.
Petrashov touched in 2:10.29, with Coll Marti second in 2:11.09 and Lyubomir Epitropov third in 2:11.82. The top American was Noah Cakir, who came in at 2:11.82.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Last summer, Ilya Kharun scored a breakthrough on the international level with Olympic bronze medals in both butterfly events. He will be in position to challenge the world’s elite swimmers again this year after he swam a 100-meter best time in Fort Lauderdale. A lead of three tenths at the halfway point turned into a 1.53-second clobbering of the field as Kharun swam to a time of 50.42. That is three hundredths ahead of his time from the Olympic final and behind only Noè Ponti in the world rankings.
Tennessee’s Bjoern Kammann moved up from a fourth-place tie at the halfway point to second at the finish, touching in 51.95, with Pitt’s Julian Koch coming in third at 52.29, two hundredths ahead of Kammann’s Tennessee teammate who won the 200 fly Thursday night, Martin Espernberger.
Women’s 200 IM
Regan Smith was dominating the 200 IM final through the halfway mark, with the eight-time Olympic medalist showing off her well-known skills in butterfly and backstroke. Smith turned in 59.54 after 100 meters while Alex Walsh split 1:01.16, but breaststroke was a different story. Walsh went 36.92 on that leg, tops in the field, while Smith’s 40.40 was merely sixth-best, and the 2022 world champion in the event was never challenged after that.
Walsh came in at 2:08.84, making her the fourth-fastest swimmer in the world this year. The only women to go quicker are Canada’s Summer McIntosh, Great Britain’s Abbie Wood and Australia’s Kaylee McKeown. Smith came in second at 2:10.25, also putting herself among the global top-10, while Leah Hayes came in at 2:11.52 for her second top-three finish of the session.
Men’s 200 IM
Beating Leon Marchand in a medley event has been a nearly impossible feat in recent years, but two Americans have gotten the job done at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Series. Bobby Finke’s closing speed got the better of the gold-medal-winning Frenchman in the 400 IM, and over 200 meters, it was Marchand’s Texas training partner Shaine Casas who excelled throughout to secure the win.
Casas led after the butterfly as he was under world-record pace before Hubert Kos, another Longhorn-trained swimmer who had just won the 100 back, pulled ahead on his best stroke. Marchand seemed poised to take over on breaststroke, but Casas split 33.71, just a tenth behind Marchand, giving him a chance on the freestyle leg, and he took advantage by coming home in 28.36.
Casas finished in 1:56.52, with Marchand finishing three-quarters of a second behind in 1:57.27. Casas improved to No. 4 in the world this year, trailing Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, Kos and Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, while Marchand now ranks seventh. Carson Foster, who also trains at Texas, surged from fifth to third on the freestyle leg to take third in 1:58.78, ahead of Kieran Smith (1:59.01) and Kos (1:59.35).
Women’s 50 Freestyle
Her 100 butterfly world records will garner the most attention, but Gretchen Walsh finishes the Fort Lauderdale meet as the world’s sprint queen, on top of the world rankings in four events. She was the first woman this year to crack 53 in the 100 free, and she broke the American record in the 50 fly. Finally, she came back less than a half-hour after her latest world record to swim the top time so far this year in the 50 free.
Walsh blasted her way to a time of 24.33, beating the 24.42 from Belgium’s Florine Gaspard for the top spot in the world rankings. Walsh did not win by much, though, as Torri Huske tied with Poland’s Kasia Wasick for second in 24.47. Both swimmers moved into a tie with China’s Cheng Yujie for No. 5 in the global standings.
Men’s 50 Freestyle
The last championship final of the meet saw Serbia’s Andrej Barna come in 14-hundredths ahead of American Michael Andrew in the 50 freestyle. Barna finished strong to touch in 21.83, ahead of Andrew (21.97) and NC State’s Quintin McCarty (22.13). Lithuania’s Jokubas Keblys placed fourth (22.13) while American-record holder and Tokyo Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel, a crowd favorite swimming in lane eight, finished fifth in 22.15.
Those 200 IM womens times seem REALLY fast. Just saying. LOL.