Special thanks to SpeedoUSA for sponsoring our coverage of Winter Nationals. For complete coverage, check out our event coverage page<\/p>\n
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, December 7. THE final day of prelimins is complete at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals with plenty of strong times going up on the scoreboard. <\/p>\n
Women’s 200 back
\nAmerican-record holder Elizabeth Pelton will be battling long course world record holder and teammate Missy Franklin in the finale as the two California teammates went 1-2 in the distance dorsal this morning. Pelton threw down a 1:51.75 in the morning, which is a fairly consistent time for Pelton as she was in the 1:48s around this time of the year last year. <\/p>\n
Franklin had a bit more conservative of a swim with a 1:53.27, but could be looking to topple her teammate in her signature 200 back event later this evening. There’s little doubt the pair will challenge Franklin’s meet record of 1:49.18 from last year.<\/p>\n
Indiana’s Brooklyn Snodgrass put in a swift 1:53.34 to qualify third, while Cal’s Melanie Klaren wound up fourth in 1:54.06.<\/p>\n
Indiana’s Cynthia Pammett (1:55.98), California’s Stephanie Au (1:56.39) and California’s Sophie Batchelor (1:56.59) rounded out the top seven. Meanwhile, IU’s Allie Day and NCAP’s Janet Hu set up a swimoff with matching 1:56.60s for eighth overall.<\/p>\n
It’s stunning how top-heavy the California versus Indiana finale looks to be, with both teams demonstrating some ridiculous depth in the longer distance backstroke event. Teri McKeever has a lot stronger top-end talent pool in the event, but IU’s Ray Looze has definitely been putting in time recruiting the next tier of backstroke talent.<\/p>\n
Men’s 200 back
\nCalifornia’s Ryan Murphy will be looking to take a shot at his 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record this evening after clearly qualifying ahead of the pack this morning in the distance dorsal. <\/p>\n
Murphy put up a time of 1:41.52, and could be looking at a sub-1:38 this evening to take down his own record of 1:38.15 from last year. There’s a definitely chance for the Golden Bear to make a serious run at that mark.<\/p>\n
Louisville’s Aaron Greene was feeling it this morning as he cracked 1:43 for the first time and beat Russian Olympian Arkady Vyatchanin to the wall in his heat. Greene posted a 1:42.21, crushing his lifetime best of 1:43.74 from last year’s Winter Junior Nationals. <\/p>\n
Indiana’s Eric Ress clinched third-place honors this morning with a 1:42.76, while Utah’s Kristian Kron took fourth in 1:42.82.<\/p>\n
Vyatchanin put in an easy speed 1:42.90 to qualify fifth, while Queens University of Charlotte’s Matt Josa cut his personal best by two seconds with a 1:43.03 to qualify sixth. With that swim, Josa broke the NCAA Division II record of 1:43.41 set by Florida Southern’s Jeff Halfacre in 2012.<\/p>\n
Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich (1:43.29) and California’s Jacob Pebley (1:43.40) comprised the rest of what should be an exciting finale. <\/p>\n
Women’s 100 free
\nAll three records could be in trouble tonight if the top-level sprinters can drop a second from their strong morning swims.<\/p>\n
California’s Natalie Coughlin, one of the best swimmers of all time, qualified first in 47.58. That could put her in line to take a run at her American record of 46.84 from 2011 and her meet record of 46.85 from 2007. She also might be able to try Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace’s astonishing U.S. Open record of 46.61 from 2012.<\/p>\n
SwimAtlanta’s Amanda Weir, who is always in the discussion at nationals in the women’s sprint events, took second in 47.68., while Vanderpool-Wallace, swimming for SwimMAC, put up a 48.08 to qualify third.<\/p>\n
California’s Missy Franklin, who is swimming a much more NCAA-specific event schedule this week, qualified fourth in 48.19, while NCAP’s Janet Hu, 17, qualified fifth in 48.34. Hu could have Franklin’s 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record of 47.28 in her sights this evening if she has enough left in her tank.<\/p>\n
Utah’s Traycie Swartz (48.47), Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell (48.53) and California’s Rachael Acker (48.57) also made their way into what is a pretty solid championship heat in terms of star power. <\/p>\n
Men’s 100 free
\nAlthough the backstrokes are certainly getting the bulk of the “wow, that’s a stacked field” responses, the men’s 100 free is filled with some strong stars as well. <\/p>\n
California’s Nathan Adrian, who is celebrating his 25th birthday today, checked in with a 42.03 this morning to lead qualifying. He could have a chance to challenge his American record of 41.08 from 2009 depending on how this evening goes. <\/p>\n
Adrian, along with NYAC’s Adam Brown’s 42.04 from this morning, definitely have a legitimate shot of rewriting Matt Grevers’ meet record of 41.35 from 2010 as Adrian and Brown will be battling throughout the entire swim.<\/p>\n
NYAC’s Darian Townsend, already having an unbelievable meet thus far, qualified third in 42.41, while another NYAC representative in Josh Schneider took fourth overall in 42.49. <\/p>\n
Louisville’s Joao De Lucca (42.51), Grevers (42.68), SwimAtlanta’s Karl Krug (42.69) and Utah’s Nicholas Soedel (42.79) also made their way into the top eight. <\/p>\n
Women’s 200 breast
\nSoFlo’s Alia Atkinson, a Jamaican Olympian having a career fall, demolished her lifetime best in the longer distance breaststroke event with a 2:05.63. Her top time coming into today had been a 2:06.99 from the 2009 NCAA Division I Championships. Now, it’s looking like she will have a legitimate chance to take down Laura Sogar’s 2:05.04 meet record from 2012, and maybe even take a run at fellow Aggie Breeja Larson’s U.S. Open mark of 2:04.48. Atkinson, who had a strong FINA World Cup circuit this year, just continued on through the rest of the year with her big swims.<\/p>\n
SwimMAC’s Micah Lawrence qualified a distant second in 2:10.59, while Indiana’s Bronwyn Pasloski took third overall in 2:10.74.<\/p>\n
Utah’s Stina Colleou (2:11.21), California’s Marina Garcia Urzainqui (2:11.23), Michigan’s Angela Chokran (2:11.30), Minnesota’s Haley Spencer (2:11.66) and T2’s Justine Mueller (2:11.68) picked up the rest of the transfer spots into the big final. <\/p>\n
Men’s 200 breast
\nNCAP’s Chuck Katis, who recently left Harvard and is now training with NCAP, put up the top time of the morning with a 1:55.26, just ahead of Louisville’s Addison Bray’s 1:55.27. The two will be vying for a national title this evening, but likely will lose some of their thunder depending on what times American record holder Kevin Cordes puts up over in Austin. <\/p>\n
Tennessee’s Brad Craig took third in 1:55.74, while Michigan’s Richard Funk placed fourth in 1:55.91. <\/p>\n
Louisville’s Kameron Chastain (1:56.38), California’s Josh Prenot (1:56.99), Trojan’s Mike Alexandrov (1:57.03) and Indiana’s Cody Miller (1:57.09) also earned spots in the finale, although it will be missing some of the luster that the Arizona Wildcats’ phenomenal breaststroke crew would have brought to this meet. <\/p>\n
Women’s 200 fly
\nLouisville’s Kelsi Worrell had a barrier-breaking swim this morning as she clocked a lifetime best of 1:54.82 to lead the way this morning. That’s her first time under 1:55 as she nearly cut a second from her personal record of 1:55.71 from just last month. It’s been an amazing year for Worrell, as she previously topped out at 2:01.28 in 2011 and hadn’t had a breakthrough until last month. Now, she’s challenging for a national title.<\/p>\n
California’s Rachel Bootsma turned in a second-seeded time of 1:56.68, and has more in her this evening as she’s also been in the 1:54s. Cal post-grad Caitlin Leverenz finished third in 1:56.87, and is usually known for her breaststroke and IM events, but could be in the mix for a national title in the distance fly event.<\/p>\n
Indiana’s Brenna MacLean (1:56.97), Western Kentucky’s Claire Donahue (1:57.44), California’s Sophie Batchelor (1:57.73), Indiana’s Gia Dalesandro (1:57.97) and Schroeder’s Hannah Saiz (1:58.23) also earned spots in the finale. <\/p>\n
Remedy Rule, however, had her disqualification overturned to move her into the top eight with a 1:57.69 for sixth overall, bumping Saiz into the B final. <\/p>\n
Men’s 200 fly
\nMichigan’s Dylan Bosch led the way in prelims with a 1:43.04 or 1:42.95, depending on which set of results one believes. Bosch’s entire heat had a massive technical malfunction with times changing all over the place. Either way, Bosch is likely to put up a huge time this evening as he has several 1:41s to his credit in the past year. He might even make a push for Tom Shields’ meet record of 1:40.24 from last year. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, initial indications have the following at the rest of the top eight in the event, but we will update when times become official:<\/p>\n
NCAP’s Andrew Seliskar (1:44.42), Arizona State’s Alex Coci (1:44.55), Cal’s Will Hamilton (1:44.66), Michigan’s Kyle Whitaker (1:45.27), Michigan’s John Wojciechowski (1:45.79), Cal’s Josh Prenot (1:45.97) and Michigan’s Peter Brumm (1:46.26).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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