{"id":131284,"date":"2015-04-16T18:14:51","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T01:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=131284"},"modified":"2015-04-16T19:03:05","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T02:03:05","slug":"2015-arena-pro-swim-series-mesa-katie-ledecky-tops-katinka-hosszu-in-200-free-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2015-arena-pro-swim-series-mesa-katie-ledecky-tops-katinka-hosszu-in-200-free-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa: Katie Ledecky Tops Katinka Hosszu in 200 Free Finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editorial content for the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa\u00a0is sponsored by Arena<\/a>.\u00a0For full Swimming World coverage, check out our coverage page<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the first high profile head-to-head finale between Swimming World<\/em> World Swimmer of the Year<\/a> Katie Ledecky and FINA Swimmer of the Year<\/a> Katinka Hosszu, Ledecky managed to pick up the women’s 200-meter free triumph at the Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa.<\/p>\n

Ledecky raced her way to a 1:56.79 to win the finale by a wide margin. \u00a0That swim fell just a bit shy of her third-ranked 1:56.16 from the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series. \u00a0Only Femke Heemskerk (1:54.68) and Emma McKeon (1:55.88) have been faster this year.<\/p>\n

Katie Ledecky 200 free:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I\u2019m excited about the 200 free. I try to do the best I can every time I step on the blocks. I feel really good about where I\u2019m at. I\u2019ve put together two good months of training since my last meet.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hosszu, meanwhile, snatched second overall in 1:57.51. That’s a bit off her season best of 1:57.19 that ranks her 11th in the world.<\/p>\n

NBAC’s Allison Schmitt raced her way to third with a 1:57.86 as she initially moved ahead of Hosszu but couldn’t hold her off in the final 50.<\/p>\n

Katie McLaughlin (1:58.00), SMU’s Nina Rangelova (1:59.40), NBAC’s Lotte Friis (2:01.79), Vien Nguyen (2:02.32) and Patricia Castro Ortega (2:02.82) closed out the finale.<\/p>\n

Stanford’s Maya DiRado turned in a strong backhalf to win the B final in 2:00.51 with fellow Cardinal Simone Manuel taking second in 2:00.91.<\/p>\n

SCHEDULED EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n