{"id":530814,"date":"2023-06-29T10:08:52","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T17:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=530814"},"modified":"2023-06-29T10:08:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T17:08:53","slug":"u-s-nationals-hunter-armstrong-justin-ress-a-hundredth-apart-in-50-backstroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-nationals-hunter-armstrong-justin-ress-a-hundredth-apart-in-50-backstroke\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Nationals: Hunter Armstrong, Justin Ress a Hundredth Apart in 50 Backstroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Nationals: Hunter Armstrong, Justin Ress A Hundredth Apart in 50 Backstroke<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The men’s 50 backstroke closed out the Thursday prelims session at the U.S. National Championships from Indianapolis at the Indiana University Natatorium.<\/p>\n

Several big names ended up within four tenths of a second of each other.<\/p>\n

Shaine Casas<\/strong> had a strong 100 butterfly and switched gears for the 50 backstroke and turned in a 24.65 to win the first circle-seeded heat.<\/p>\n

The second circle-seeded heat went to Justin Ress<\/strong>, who turned in a 24.21.<\/p>\n

The final heat at U.S. Nationals saw Hunter Armstrong<\/strong> get to the wall in 24.20.<\/p>\n

Ryan Held<\/strong> had a strong swim in the fourth heat at 24.69 out of Lane 2, setting up a fast and close final at U.S. Nationals.<\/p>\n

Armstrong took the top seed in 24.20, followed by Ress (24.21), Casas (24.65), Held (24.69), Tommy Janton<\/strong> (24.84), Jack Dolan<\/strong> (24.89), Wyatt Davis<\/strong> (24.91) and Jack Aikins<\/strong> (25.00).<\/p>\n

It was an impressive double for Casas, who made the final in both events. Held threw a fast swim in the early heats to disrupt the pecking order, though not surprising with Held’s success in the 50s.<\/p>\n

Ryan Murphy<\/strong> and Destin Lasco<\/strong>, who made the team in the 200 backstroke, scratched the 50 backstroke, but plenty of star power is still present in the event at U.S. Nationals.<\/p>\n