U.S. World Short Course Trials, Day Two Prelims: Tyler Ray, Van Mathias Hit Records
Tyler Ray and Van Mathias started the first full day of U.S. World Short Course Trials with record swims Thursday morning.
Ray equaled the U.S. Open record in the men’s 100 butterfly by going 48.47 in the first event of the morning in Westmont, Illinois. Mathias lowered Nic Fink’s American record in the 100 breaststroke with his time of 55.48 seconds, which is also the U.S. Open mark.
All the action from the first prelims session:
Men’s 100 butterfly
Tyler Ray upstage a star-studded field, at least in prelims. His time of 48.47 matches what Noe Ponti did in this same pool last October during the World Cup for the U.S. Open record. It gives Ray a middle lane for the night when the competition is going to be chasing him.
Luca Urlando was second in 48.66. American-again Ilya Kharun was third in 48.93, with Caeleb Dressel fourth in 49.76. Dare Rose is also lurking in fifth at 50.02.
Women’s 50 backstroke
It’s an easy lift to fill out the finals, with only eight Americans among 10 swimmers all advancing. Katharine Berkoff led the way in 25.50. She is ahead of Olivia Smoliga’s 25.73 and Claire Curzan’s 25.77. It’s a gap back to fourth-place Isabelle Stadden, who went 26.21.
Men’s 200 backstroke
Destin Lasco was head and shoulders out in front of the field, winning prelims in 1:48.96, a margin of 2.52 seconds over any of the chasers. Second was Gabriel Jett in 1:51.48, with Owen McDonald .06 seconds behind. Jack Dahlgren finished fourth in 1:52.55.
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Speaking of domination, Kate Douglass was more than four seconds clear of the field, going 2:16.83 to get the top seed. Second is her UVA training mate Alex Walsh, but it’s a distant one at 2:20.99. There’s another two-plus seconds back to Mia Cheatwood in third, followed by Maddy Huggins.
Men’s 100 breaststroke
Van Mathias is off to a rocketing start, the Indiana swimmer going 55.48 to down the American record set in 2021 by Nic Fink (55.56) and the U.S. Open Record set in 2019 by Adam Peaty during the International Swimming League season (55.92).
Mathias was a second up on one-time training mate Brian Benzing, who went 56.54. There’s a gab in finals back to Andy Dobrzanski’s 57.59, which starts a cluster of five swimmers within .15 seconds.
Third in prelims was Swedish international Oliver Munn in 57.30. That is a national record, downing Erik Persson’s 2021 mark of 57.51, but he won’t be in the Americans-only finals.
Women’s 400 freestyle
Rylee Erisman is putting herself in position for a worlds berth in the 400 free to join her brother. She led the eight-swimmer field in prelims at 4:08.47, six tenths up on Claire Weinstein. Chloe Stepanek was a second back in 4:09.60, the only other swimmer to crack 4:11.
Women’s 50 freestyle
Back in the water again, Kate Douglass topped the field in the 50 free with a time of 22.87. That’s .12 off the newly minted world record of Gretchen Walsh, who coasted into the second seed in 23.20.
Liberty Clark is the third seed in finals after a time of 23.49, a tenth up on Camille Spink. Caroline Larsen was third, followed by Cadence Vincent, Torri Huske and Olivia Smoliga. That leaves no room for Simone Manuel, who finished 11th.
Men’s 50 freestyle
Chris Guiliano leads a crowded pack in the 50 free with a studded final eight. He topped the field in prelims with a time of 20.63 seconds, .03 up on Jack Alexy. Next came three swimmers facing doubles, with Ilya Kharun third in 20.73, Caeleb Dressel fourth in 20.84 and Van Mathias fifth in 20.87.
Tolu Young of Arizona State was sixth in 20.89, with the Fijian international likely not in the final despite being designated as such. There’s a tie for seventh between Jonny Kulow and Adam Chaney in 21.05 that for the love of god doesn’t require a double swim-off. Brendan Whitfield is the first alternate though should take Young’s spot in 21.12.
Among those on the outside looking in are Matt King, Patrick Sammon and Brooks Curry.
Women’s 200 butterfly
Regan Smith dominated the prelims field with a time of 2:03.73 in the same pool where she set her American and U.S. Open records last October. Alex Shackell was second in 2:05.28, less than two tenths up on Rachel Clinker. Lillie Nordman was fourth in 2:08.55, followed by a pair of internationals in Lea Polonsky and Julia Ullmann.
Men’s 400 freestyle
Luke Hobson was the narrow first choice in prelims of the 400 with a time of 3:40.38. American record holder Kieran Smith was .05 seconds behind, and Mitchell Schott was a tenth back of that in 3:40.59 to lead the way. It’s a small gap back to Ryan Erisman’s 3:41.58. The next American is more than nine seconds back in Luke Brennan.
Fifth overall in the morning was Alabama’s Leonardo Alcantara in 3:41.93.
Women’s 100 individual medley
In her second race of the morning, Gretchen Walsh went 57.84 to ease to the top seed in the IM. She was 1.09 seconds clear of Phoebe Bacon, who went 58.93. Torri Huske was third in 59.63. Walsh is the world record holder at 55.11.
Men’s 100 individual medley
Maximus Williamson capped the morning with the top seed in 51.36. He’s a half-second up on Grant House’s 51.84, with Owen McDonald a further hundredth behind. Logan Robinson was fourth. Caeleb Dressel, in his third swim, was fifth in 52.14, a spot up on Michael Andrew.