World Championship Medal Hopefuls On Display In Friday Finals At L.A. Invite

Ryan Murphy
Photo Courtesy: JD Lasica

The times were a little bit slower than expected, but the women’s and men’s 100 freestyle finals tonight at the Los Angeles Invite on the campus of the University of Southern California offered up some exciting finishes.

After posting a lifetime best 53.95 in the 100 free prelims, Margo Geer of Tucson Ford Aquatics was unable to replicate the swim in the championship final. She found herself placing second behind Stanford’s Simone Manuel, 54.26 to 54.55. Manuel nearly swam her fastest time of the season, almost beating the 54.20 she swam in Mesa last May. California Aquatics’ Camille Cheng was the only other swimmer under 56 seconds, placing third with a 55.76.

The men’s 100 free final featured Trojan Swim Club’s Vlad Morozov and Cal’s Nathan Adrian, who are likely to face each other in a few weeks in the world championships. Morozov took the win with a 49.00 over Adrian’s 49.03. Morozov was well off his best of the season, a world-leading 47.98, while Adrian missed his best of 48.85. Expect these two to be much faster in August at worlds. Morozov’s teammate at Trojan (and on the Russian worlds team), Nikita Lobintsev, placed third with a 49.18 after posting a 48.97 in prelims. Another Russian representing Trojan Swim Club, Alexander Sukhorukov, was fourth in 49.20 to beat the 49.40 by Trojan’s Conor Dwyer.

Tom Shields was on a mission in the men’s 200 fly final, going out in 55.75 at 100 meters. It was a strong pace that Shields paid for in the final 50 meters with a 31.14 split, but he won with a strong 1:57.49. That is his best time of the season, moving him up to a tie for 37th in the world rankings and 2.4 seconds off the time he swam last summer to win the national title. Cal teammate Justin Lynch, regarded by many as a future butterfly star (especially after breaking a Michael Phelps national age group record), bided his time and nearly tracked down Shields in the final 50 meters to place second with a 1:58.22. That’s just four tenths off his lifetime best.

Ryan Murphy just barely clipped his season best of 1:56.91 in the 200 backstroke, winning in L.A. with a 1:56.65. His teammate Jacob Pebley will stand as the fastest American in the event with his 1:56.29 from the World University Games for now. Murphy had no peer in the race, with Aquazots’ Thomas Smith placing a distant second with a 2:02.01 and Anton Panerfov of Riptide third in 2:03.52.

Stanford’s Maya DiRado was also racing the clock in her championship final, and won the 400 IM by six seconds with a 4:39.93. It’s only her third time under 4:40 at an in-season meet, with her 4:37.85 from January’s Aquatic Super Series in Australia remaining the benchmark. Elizabeth Beisel’s 4:36.71 from January remains the fastest American time heading into championship season. Open water Olympic medalist Haley Anderson of Trojan breezed by SOCAL’s Ella Eastin on the freestyle leg, placing second with a 4:46.11 to Eastin’s 4:47.24.

Earlier in the session, Eastin won the 200 fly with a 2:11.63. Sonia Wang of Aquazots took second with a 2:12.50 thanks to a strong final 100, while Tara Halstead of Stanford was third with a 2:13.82.

In the men’s 400 free, Adam Hinshaw of Cal pulled away from Tucson Ford’s Ty Fowler in the closing strokes to win with a 3:57.88. Fowler posted a personal best time of 3:58.35 to place second, while Trojan’s Ted Singley took third with a 3:59.04.

2015 Los Angeles Invite, Day Two – Results

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