{"id":306130,"date":"2018-04-14T17:49:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-15T00:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=306130"},"modified":"2018-04-16T12:24:41","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T19:24:41","slug":"olivia-smoliga-sets-new-american-record-in-50-back-knockout-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olivia-smoliga-sets-new-american-record-in-50-back-knockout-final\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Olivia Smoliga Sets New American Record in 50 Back Knockout Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Karolina Hajkova<\/b>, Amy Bilquist<\/b>, Katharine Berkoff<\/b>, Olivia Smoliga<\/b>, Ali Deloof<\/b>, Isabella Arcila Hurtado<\/b>, Hellen Moffitt <\/b>and Anika Apostalon<\/b>.<\/p>\n

In the Quarterfinals, Smoliga cruised to victory in 28.08, followed by Deloof (28.43), Berkoff (28.68) and Bilquist (29.00). The swim was just off Smoliga’s 27.89 from Austin.<\/p>\n

Hurtado (29.09), Apostalon (29.09), Hajkova (29.28) and Moffitt (29.53) placed fifth through eighth.<\/p>\n

In the semis, Smoliga did not waste any time taking the lead. She won the heat in 27.89, tying her sixth-ranked swim and personal best. Deloof earned the other spot in the final coming in at 28.45. Berkoff took third in 28.75 while Bilquist was fourth in 28.85.<\/p>\n

Smoliga proved her backstroke dominance by successfully completing a sweep of all three distances at this Mesa stop of the 2018 Pro Swim Series.<\/p>\n

Her swim of 27.43 set a new American Record and is now the top time in the world this year. The old American Record she broke was a 27.48 by<\/a> Kathleen Baker\u00a0<\/strong>set at last summer’s World Championships in Budapest.<\/p>\n

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