Men’s 100 Free Prelims
The Texas A&M men, after a disappointing 9th-place finish in the 400 medley relay on Friday evening, came out on fire in the 100 free on Saturday morning. That started with a first-heat 43.6 from senior William Wagner, the man who was fudged into the vacant breaststroke spot on their medley relay. Then in heat 3, Hendrik Lindau was a 42.7 for what was at the time gave A&M the top two seeds (he was only seeded at 46.20). Canadian Kyle Troskot came a few heats later, with those three, the team’s best swimmers, all making the B-Final.
In the last heat, though, the team’s lone superstar this season really broke through. John Dalton swam a 42.82 for the 3rd seed overall and breaking the 2011 school record held by All-American Balazs Makany. Based on the results of this race, if A&M can keep the momentum going, they have a chance at pulling off a huge upset in the 400 free relay this evening. No other school, even the mighty Auburn, had four swimmers make the A & B finals.
The top seed in this race goes to Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini in 42.09. Just like the 50, he’s Auburn’s lone representative in this sprint final. Tennessee’s Sam Rairden, after two silver medals already at this meet, is positioned for another one with a second-seeded 42.64. Alabama’s BJ Hornikel (42.92) and Georgia’s Matt Ellis (43.00) round out the top 5.
LSU’s Andrei Tuomola also made this A-Final, placing 7th in 43.22. That ties the 25-year old School Record held by former LSU head coach Adam Schmitt, the man who recruited Tuomola.
Women’s 100 Free Prelims
Georgia won’t be quite as dominant in this 100 free as they were in the 200, but they can certainly get some speed up here as well. The Bulldogs got 4 into the A-Final, led by a top-seeded 47.66 from Megan Romano. Florida freshman Natalie Hinds, who has been everything the Gators needed her to be at this meet, is 2nd in 48.06, followed very closely by Tennessee’s Lindsay Gendron (a heat winner) in 48.15 and another Gator Ellese Zalewski (48.17) in 3rd and 4th.
The other three Bulldogs in this A-Final were Chantal van Landeghem (5th – 48.39), Allison Schmitt (6th – 48.50), and Shannon Vreeland (8th – 48.59). When Tennessee freshman Faith Johnson (48.57) is added in, that makes three freshman in the top 8 of this morning’s prelims. And yes, that means it took a 48.5 to make the A-Final of the 100 free.
Georgia should seal the meet when this final rolls through tonight. A&M’s Lili Ibanez qualified 9th in 48.83 and Erica Dittmer 16th in the 49.44, but two in the B won’t keep up with 4 in the A.
Other breakout swims include Tennessee’s Harper Bruens in 49.00.
Men’s 200 Backstroke Prelims
This 200 backstroke wasn’t one of the “headline” races that everyone was looking at for this SEC Championship meet, perhaps jaded by what we’ve seen from high school swimmers this year, but it’s turning into a highlight after the two fastest times in the coutnry went down in prelims. There, Auburn senior Kyle Owens in 1:40.71 lead a trio of freshman for the top seed going toward the finals. Tennessee’s Sean Lehane was 2nd in 1:41.26, followed by Georgia’s Ty Stewart (1:43.00) and Florida’s Corey Main (1:43.17). Owens won the 100 back in a much faster time than Lehane, but the young Lehane is by far primarily a 200 backstroker (at least coming into this met).
Another race, and three more A-finalists for the Gators, with Connor Signorin in 5th in 1:43.12,
Women’s 200 Backstroke Prelims
Another reminder of the Canadian presence at this meet. Much like we saw in the 100 backstroke, the crew from north-of-the-border is showing up big in this 200 back. The two in a tie atop the prelims standings are both Canadian Olympic Trials finalists, with Missouri’s Dominique Bouchard and Florida’s Sinead Russell both touching in 1:51.28. They each won their respective seeds, as did American Olympian Elizabeth Beisel, who will head to finals with the 3rd seed after a 1:52.37.
Those three should be the race tonight for the win, but Georgia’s Kelsey Gaid, the 4th seed, once again give the Georgia’s at least a scoring stop-gap in a race they’re not as deep in. That’s been the key to their lead over A&M: the ability to put swimmers into A-Finals of these kinds of races. A&M will have two of their own in the top 8, with Tess Simpson and Melanie McClure going 7th and 8th.
Just as we’ve seen nationwide, freshmen women’s backstrokers are incredible this year. Besides Russell, Auburn’s Vitarius and Florida’s Linn also made the A-Final. Tennessee’s Maddie Hahn was the top seed in the B-Final, another freshman, followed by 4 others in that heat. I’m already looking forward to the NCAA Championships c. 2016, where it’s going to probably take under 51 seconds just to place.
Men’s 200 Breast Prelims
Georgia’s Nic Fink has already defended his 100 breaststroke SEC title this week, and now he’ll try and do the same in this 200. He takes a big lead into finals with a 1:54.43, most of which was done by working a 55.23 first 100 yards.
There weren’t a lot of big surprises in this race. Florida’s Matthew Elliott (1:55.22) and Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (1:55.32) took the 2nd and 3rd seeds, followed by Georgia’s Chase Kalisz in 1:55.86. Expect Kalisz, with two titles already under his belt, to make a run for Finc in the final. Only small shocks are Georgia’s Brett Roberson giving them a second A-Finalist in 1:57.00 (his season best by 5 seconds) and Auburn’s Stuart Ferguson slipping into the B-Final in 9th.
Women’s 200 Breast Prelims
The 200 breast SEC Championship Record, coming into this meet, still stood at 2:08.56. With a pair of Olympians and a handful of National Teamers (American and otherwise) in this race, there was no way that would stand up. Breeja Larson blew it away with an easy 2:06.99 in prelims: a time she is probably looking to better by at least two seconds in finals (she was an American and NCAA Record in the event already this year in a 2:04-low). Georgia’s Annie Zhu was 2nd in 2:07.69, also under the old record.
There were quite a few swimmers who were right on top of the mark, and based on performances so far should be better than that old mark in finals. That includes the 3rd-seed Ashley McGregor, a freshman and another in the recent run of great Aggie breaststrokers, and Tennessee’s Molly Hannis in 2:08.78. Auburn’s Micah Lawrence, who represented the U.S. in this race at the Olympics, is the 5th seed in 2:09.26.
The old record holder, South Carolina’s Amanda Rutqvist, will also be in the final, seeded 7th in 2:10.06.
If Georgia women aren’t taper – watch out Cal and USC….the GA freestylers depth cant’t be touched and with Zhu, Margalis and Flickinger balancing out the IM, Breast and Fly spots, I think the Lady Dawgs will be the favorite on the women’s side.
AU’s Kyle Owens split an 18.83 on the 200FR. Florida has Cieslak and Rousseau waiting in the wings. I’m thinking 3rd for A&M. Tennessee might have other plans.
Yeah, that will be the catch here. A&M’s best four all swam this race. Auburn and Florida have a few guys they can stick in who aren’t pure-sprinters.
Keith
Based on a pic of Chiereguinni with facia hair and stuff.. should we consider that Auburn did not tapper for the meet?
Based on that picture and what we’ve been told, yes that’s absolutely true. The whispers are that Georgia women are not tapered either.