{"id":572953,"date":"2023-11-18T20:19:06","date_gmt":"2023-11-19T03:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=572953"},"modified":"2023-11-18T20:19:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T03:19:06","slug":"texas-invitational-phoebe-bacon-emma-sticklen-krzysztof-chmielewski-hit-no-1-times-as-meet-concludes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/texas-invitational-phoebe-bacon-emma-sticklen-krzysztof-chmielewski-hit-no-1-times-as-meet-concludes\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Invitational: Phoebe Bacon, Emma Sticklen, Krzysztof Chmielewski Hit No. 1 Times as Meet Concludes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Invitational: Phoebe Bacon, Emma Sticklen, Krzysztof Chmielewski Hit No. 1 Times as Meet Concludes<\/strong><\/p>\n

A pair of swimmers who have previously won individual NCAA titles faced strong competition in their signature events Saturday evening at the Texas Invitational, but neither one had any trouble coming through for big wins, both of which resulted in the fastest time in the country. Also reaching the top spot in the rankings was a new arrival to the college swimming ranks who has already captured a senior-level international silver medal.<\/p>\n

The field that Wisconsin’s Phoebe Bacon<\/strong> faced in the women’s 200 backstroke included fellow 2023 NCAA A-finalist\u00a0Olivia Bray<\/strong> of Texas as well as her freshman teammate\u00a0Berit Berglund<\/strong>, fresh off an impressive win in the 100 back Friday, but no one could get within two seconds of Bacon. She led wire-to-wire and finished in 1:50.36, a time more than two seconds faster than any other swimmer had recorded this season. In fact, Bacon’s prelims time of 1:51.94 was also the country’s quickest.<\/p>\n

Bacon, the 2021 NCAA champion in the 200 back and the runnerup the last two years, ranks tied for 10th all-time in the event at 1:50.36. Three swimmers, including Bacon, broke 1:50 at last year’s NCAA Championships, but every swimmer who has ever beaten the Wisconsin senior at the national meet will be absent this year, with\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong> having turned professional and\u00a0Claire Curzan<\/strong> redshirting.<\/p>\n

Stanford’s\u00a0Natalie Mannion<\/strong> placed second behind Bacon in 1:52.42, with Bray finishing well to take third (1:52.68) and Berglund coming in fourth (1:52.92).<\/p>\n

A bit later on,\u00a0Emma Sticklen<\/strong> took care of business in the 200 butterfly, leading by nearly seven tenths after 50 yards before pulling away on the final two lengths to beat teammate\u00a0Kelly Pash<\/strong> by almost two seconds. Sticklen touched in 1:50.31, which made her the country’s first swimmer under 1:51 and under 1:52 this year. She was just 36-hundredths off her own best time of 1:49.95, which ranks her fifth all-time.<\/p>\n

Pash ended up placing second in 1:50.31 while Stanford occupied the third through fifth spots with\u00a0Lillie Nordmann<\/strong> (1:53.12),\u00a0Charlotte Hook<\/strong> (1:53.96) and\u00a0Lucy Bell<\/strong> (1:54.26).<\/p>\n

Chmielewski Pulls Intense 1650 Free-200 Fly Double<\/h2>\n

On the men’s side, USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski<\/strong> will be a force in his first season in the college ranks. The World Championships silver medalist in the 200-meter fly was utterly dominant in the 1650 freestyle Saturday evening. He entered the weekend with the country’s top time at 14:41.62, and after NC State’s\u00a0Owen Lloyd<\/strong> briefly took over the top spot with his 14:41.31 in Greensboro, Chmielewski fired back with a 14:37.74 swim to win in Austin by almost 22 seconds. That time by Chmielewski would have been good enough for fifth place at last year’s NCAA meet.<\/p>\n

Stanford’s\u00a0Liam Custer<\/strong> also got under 15:00 as he placed second in 14:59.62, with USC’s\u00a0Yigit Aslan<\/strong> placing third in 15:02.20.<\/p>\n

Chmielewski, however, was not content with just rocking the 1650 free on the final night. He was back in the pool later on for the 200 fly, and he took the win in that event as well. Chmielewski took an early lead but appeared to fade on the third 50 as Wisconsin’s\u00a0Dominik Mark Torek<\/strong> almost caught up, but the Polish swimmer restored order coming home. He touched in 1:41.61 for the win, 15-hundredths clear of Torek’s 1:41.76, while Chmielewski’s twin brother\u00a0Michal<\/strong>, also representing the Trojans placed third in 1:42.17.<\/p>\n

In other action, USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler<\/strong> posted a solid effort in the women’s 200 breaststroke after swimming a nation-leading time in Friday’s 100 while Texas freshman\u00a0Will Modglin<\/strong> continued his breakout meet.<\/p>\n