2015 Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara: Hosszu doubles up wins on day 3

The third day of action at the Santa Clara Pro Swim Series sees a pair of swimmers in search of double-wins. Saturday night looks like a great night for Longhorn Aquatics’ Clark Smith and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, both of whom are the top seed in the 200 fly in their respective gender. Smith, the NCAA champ in the 500 free for Texas, also leads the men’s 400, while Hosszu is the top qualifier in the women’s 100 back.

Michael Phelps will be chasing Smith in that 200 fly as will Chase Kalisz and 2014 national champ Tom Shields. That should be one of the highlight races of the evening.

Saturday night also features the splash-and-dash, with both 50 freestyle titles on the line. Brazilian Bruno Fratus leads a loaded men’s field, while Simone Manuel is the frontrunner for the women.

Laura Sogar and Cody Miller top the 200 breaststrokes after great morning swims for both. Miller is coming off a huge 100 breast last night and will look to keep his momentum going.

California’s Ryan Murphy leads a star-studded 100 back for the men that includes former international medalists David Plummer, Matt Grevers and Nick Thoman among others.

Lotte Friis is the top seed in the women’s 400 free, just ahead of Hosszu, who will look to wrap up her second-consecutive Pro Swim Series points title this weekend. The night also includes the 50 butterflys, with Giles Smith and Ivy Martin leading the way.

Keep refreshing this page for event-by-event recaps of all the action, and check out our live Twitter recap on our @SwimSwamLive Twitter handle.

2015 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES AT SANTA CLARA

• Thursday, June 18 – Sunday, June 21, 2015
• George F. Haines International Swim Center, Santa Clara, California
• Prelims 9AM/Finals 5PM Pacific Time (Fri-Sun), Thursday: 4PM
• Psych sheets
• Unofficial timeline
• Live video
• Live results
• Day 3 finals heat sheets

Women’s 200 Fly

The opening event was all Katinka Hosszu, the Hungarian sensation going after three individual wins tonight. Hosszu led handily by the 100-mark, and given her legendary endurance, there didn’t seem to be much chance she’d give up that lead.

A couple youngsters surged late, but the veteran Hosszu held them off, going 2:09.77 for the win. That adds to her already-insurmountable lead in the Arena Pro Swim Series points. A pair of teenagers followed her in, with Emily Overholt of West Vancouver going 2:10.75 and Chattahoochee Gold’s Lauren Case putting up a 2:11.06.

UCLA Bruin Noelle Tarazona finished just outside the money-spots, going 2:11.97 for fourth. A couple of internationals took fifth (Argentina’s Virginia Bardach at 2:12.82) and sixth (Mexico’s Diana Luna Sanchez at 2:13.28) before Texas Longhorn Kelsey Leneave touched at 2:13.34.

Stanford’s rising sophomore Ally Howe was 2:13.43 for eighth, just touching out Gator Swim Club’s Andreina Pinto (2:13.46).

Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz crushed the field in the B final, going 2:11.80 for 10th place overall.

Men’s 200 Fly

Today’s 200 fly for Michael Phelps was a night-and-day difference from his performance at Charlotte just a month ago. Phelps went out with a vengeance, pushing out to a big lead and then holding on through some pain to win the event in 1:57.62. That time is obviously far from Phelps legendary Beijing and London Olympic days, but is a huge improvement from the 2:00.64 he swam at Charlotte.

Phelps had a commanding lead at the halfway-point, but the field really made up ground on him late. Leading that charge was 21-year-old Chase Kalisz, an NBAC teammate whom Phelps compared to a little brother in his postrace interview. Kalisz went 1:58.06, making up a ton of ground in the last 25 meters.

Last summer’s national champion Tom Shields finished third. Shields swam his race last summer similar to how Phelps swam it tonight, going out fast and visibly hurting on the way home but persevering for the win. Shields was much more balanced tonight, splitting 30.5/30.6/30.2 over his last three 50s to go 1:58.28 for third.

Brazil’s Kaio Almeida was 1:58.98 for fourth, eking out that spot over American Tyler Clary (1:59.62). Kyle Whitaker was 1:59.66 for Club Wolverine and Cal’s rising sophomore Justin Lynch was the last guy under two minutes at 1:59.73.

Gunnar Bentz, who swims in the same recruiting class as Lynch, but across the country in Georgia, was 2:00.20 and Bobby Bollier rounded out the A final in 2:01.16.

Mexican national and Cal Bear Long Gutierrez touched out former NCAA champ Dylan Bosch, a South African national who trains with and competes for Club Wolverine, to win the B final 2:00.63 to 2:00.66.

Women’s 50 Free

Swimming against a veteran field loaded with international experience, 18-year-old American Simone Manuel came up big in the women’s 50 free, gritting out a tough win against Dutch Olympian Femke Heemskerk and American Olympian Natalie Coughlin.

Manuel, who just wrapped up her freshman year at Stanford and is among the most exciting young sprinters in the nation, was 24.75 for the win, just four hundredths up on Heemskerk (24.79). Coughlin also cracked 25, going 24.97.

SwimMAC’s Madison Kennedy was fourth in 25.13 – both she and Heemskerk are 27, while Coughlin is 32, compared to the 18-year-old Manuel.

Cal’s Farida Osman brought things back to youth in fifth place, going 25.20. Arizona grad Margo Geer and Brazil’s rising sprinter Etiene Medeiros tied for sixth at 25.21, and a couple of college standouts (Stanford’s Lia Neal at 25.35 and Wisconsin’s Ivy Martin at 25.52) rounded out the A heat.

Brazil’s Daynara de Paula won the B heat at 25.60.

Men’s 50 Free

Nathan Adrian topped a tough field of 50 freestylers and cracked 22 in one fell swoop to win the men’s splash and dash. His 21.97 was just enough to beat the speedy Brazilian Bruno Fratus (22.02) as well as Russia’s superstar Vlad Morozov (22.27).

South African sprinter Brad Tandy, who just wrapped up his collegiate career at Arizona, was fourth at 22.28, just a hundredth behind Morozov.

34-year-old American Anthony Ervin beat a trio of Brazilians for fifth, going 22.43. Marcelo Chierighini was 22.63 and Henrique Martins 22.71, with Italo Duarte going 22.73 for eighth.

USC’s Nikita Lobintsev rounded out the heat in 22.79 while his teammate Alexander Sukhorukov won the B final in 22.72.

Women’s 100 back

Katinka Hosszu made it 2-for-2, winning the 100 back by a wide margin. Her 59.69 was the only time under a minute in a tough field that included two of Cal’s major backstroke stars.

Those two are Elizabeth Pelton and Missy Franklin, who took second and third in 1:00.31 and 1:00.65, respectively. Most of the Cal swimmers have been relatively quiet this spring, especially Franklin, who has not competed since the NCAA Championships in March.

Mexico’s Fernando Gonzalez Ramirez was fourth in 1:01.41 as the top three really ran away from the field.

Michigan’s Ali DeLoof took fifth in 1:01.59, with high schooler Erin Voss of Greater Holyoke YMCA cutting a good chunk from her prelims swm to go 1:01.63.

Brazil’s Etiene Medeiros completed a very tough back-to-back, going 1:02.09 for seventh after also swimming the 50 free A final. She only added a tenth from this morning’s swim, which is a pretty solid feat, considering how little time she had to recover between races.

Gisela Morales (1:02.19) and Tasija Karosas (1:02.56) rounded out the A final, and Grand Canyon’s Iryna Glavnyk was 1:02.24 to win the consolation heat.

Men’s 100 back

Top-seeded Ryan Murphy of Cal continued his ascent into the elites of American backstroking, beating the best of the American contingent handily in the 100 back. Murphy was 53.83, a very-nice in-season time, and held off a surging Matt Grevers. The Olympic gold medalist was 54.45 for second, and World Champs team member David Plummer nearly nipped him for silver, going 54.55.

The top international was Japan’s Junya Koga, who took fourth for Club Wolverine in 54.88. Olympic silver medalist Nick Thoman was 55.25 leading another trio of Americans: Jacob Pebley in 55.34 and Eugene Godsoe in 55.79.

Mohamed Hussein (55.88) and New Zealander Corey Main (55.93) rounded out the top 9.

16-year-old Michael Andrew won the B final in 55.78, just .05 off his lifetime-best, swum at both last summer’s nationals and junior nationals.

Women’s 200 breast

Russia’s Yulia Efimova blew out the field to win the 200 breaststroke, proving that her great closing speed in last night’s 100 breast was no fluke. Efimova competes for Club Trojan a little farther south in California, but is a Russian international who will make her major return from a doping ban at this summer’s World Championships in Kazan.

Gator Swim Club’s Hilda Luthersdottir was second, just about two seconds back in 2:25.61. The Icelandic national was a full second ahead of third place herself. That spot went to top prelims qualifier Laura Sogar, who graduated from Texas but now represents Bluefish, where she grew up swimming. Sogar was 2:27.04.

Auburn’s Annie Lazor was 2:28.10, and former NCAA champ Haley Spencer out of Minnesota Aquatics was fifth in 2:28.39.

Recent Stanford grad Sarah Haase pulled off sixth in 2:31.37, just a tenth ahead of Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson (2:31.47). Rounding out the A final were Mexico’s Melissa Rodriguez and Arizona’s Emma Schoettmer. Rodriguez was 2:31.53 and Schoettmer 2:32.88.

The B final went to Argentina’s Julia Sebastian in 2:30.70, which would have been 6th in the championship heat.

Men’s 200 breast

100 breast champ Cody Miller and Cal’s standout Josh Prenot dueled in the middle of the pool in the men’s race, with Prenot leading most of the way until Miller surged to a great finish and his second win in as many days. Miller hit a lifetime-best just as he did in the 100, going 2:09.71, and Prenot was also impressive in 2:09.91.

Those times will rank both of them just inside the top 15 in the world, and though neither will swim the race in Kazan, that’s still a big plus for the American breaststroking corps.

They both beat Brazil’s Thiago Pereira, who will should a heavy event load this summer, representing Brazil at Worlds and Pan Ams. Pereira was well behind the top two, though, going 2:14.11.

College standouts took most of the next few spots: Wisconsin’s Australian import Nick Schafer (2:14.80) and Louisville’s Venezuelan sophomore Carlos Claverie (2:15.05) were fourth and fifth. The exception to the NCAA trend was South Florida’s Jorge Murillo Valdes (2:17.30), but the next two spots went to college swimmers with Louisville’s Thomas Dahlia (2:17.47) and Georgia’s Chase Kalisz (2:18.83), who now competes for North Baltimore.

Stanford pro BJ Johnson was 2:14.55 to win the B final. That would’ve been fourth in the A heat.

Women’s 50 fly

Cal Aquatics’ Farida Osman tore away with the women’s 50 fly title, going 26.08. That ranks the Egyptian national inside the top 10 internationally, and she crushed this field by three tenths.

Brazil’s Daynara de Paula was second in 26.37, touching out Wisconsin grad Ivy Martin (26.42) by five hundredths.

Ohio State’s Aliena Schmidtke touched out Jamaican Alia Atkinson 26.55 to 26.65 to round out the next wave of swimmers.

After that was Felicia Lee, the Stanford pro, who was the last swimmer under 27 at 26.98.

North Carolina Aquatics’ Helen Moffitt was 27.04 for seventh. 50 free winner Simone Manuel took 8th at 27.39, and Lee’s Stanford teammate Lia Neal took 9th in 27.45.

Princeton grad and Texas Longhorn pro Lisa Boyce won the B final, going 27.12 with Stanford’s Leah Goldman right behind in 27.21.

Men’s 50 fly

Arizona grad Giles Smith showed off his speed in winning the 50 fly. Now swimming for Phoenix Swim Club, Smith had a great swim, going 23.30 to move to #3 in our 2015 World Rankings:

Brazil’s Henrique Martins, representing Fiat, was 23.57. The top three were very spread out compared to the rest of the field, with third place going to Tuscon Ford’s Masa Kishida going 23.92.

16-year-old Indie Swimming athlete Michael Andrew was 24.00 for fourth, a lifetime-best for him by two tenths.

USC’s Dylan Carter was just a tick behind in 24.01, and only a few hundredths back of that was Santiago Grassi of Argentina (24.06).

Hong Kong’s Geoff Cheah, another postgrad in the Michigan training group, was 24.31 for seventh. 21-year-old Erik Risolvato took 8th in 24.37. Risolvato was a former high school standout in the U.S. who disappeared from competitive swimming for a time, but is now training in Arizona with Phoenix Swim Club and representing Puerto Rico internationally.

The final place in the A heat went to Glauber Silva at 24.49, and the B final was won by Auburn’s Brazilian Arthur Mendes at 24.36.

Women’s 400 free

The first two races went well for Katinka Hosszu, but Denmark’s Lotte Friis was too much to overcome in the third event. Friis powered away with the 400 free win, going 4:07.17, while Hosszu dropped off a bit after a busy night.

17-year-old Emily Overholt picked up her second runner-up finish of the night. The young Canadian was 4:07.93, getting within a second of Friis.

Cierra Runge is back with North Baltimore in representation after her freshman season with Cal, and she took third place in 4:08.38. It was only after that that Hosszu came in, going 4:08.77 and rounding out the lead pack.

Indiana grad Lindsey Vrooman, now with Badger, was 4:10.73 for fifth, just ahead of NBAC youngster Becca Mann (4:11.07). Gillian Ryan, who grew up swimming at North Baltimore but now swims for Michigan and Club Wolverine, was 4:11.46. Her Big Ten rival Kiera Janzen, who just graduated from Minnesota, was 4:13.02, and yet another NBAC swimmer rounded out the heat in 17-year-old Sierra Schmidt (4:13.19).

The B final went to Gator Swim Club’s Andreina Pinto at 4:13.83.

Men’s 400 free

Last night was all about Connor Jaeger as the Club Wolverine distance man showed his speed in winning the 200 free. But tonight was Michael McBroom‘s night, as the other 24-year-old distance man picked up the 400 free win.

Jaeger and McBroom battled back and forth for the full 400 meters, but McBroom eventually picked up the win by just over a tenth of a second, 3:48.59 to 3:48.75. That holds up as a season-best for McBroom.

Just behind them, Trojan’s Mads Glaesner overcame top-qualifying Clark Smith 3:49.51 to 3:49.72 for the final prize check.

Another Club Trojan international, Ous Mellouli, was fifth in 3:50.57 and Georgia Bulldog Matias Koski was 3:51.96 representing the Dynamo Swim Club.

Florida’s Mitch D’Arrigo, who competes against Koski in the SEC, was 3:52.82 for seventh, and another SEC alum was eighth in former Auburn Tiger Zane Grothe (3:53.94).

Fiat’s Lucas Kanieski was 3:55.66 to round out that heat, and Club Wolverine’s Michael Klueh won the B final in 3:53.73.

Women’s 4×200 free relay

Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics won the women’s 800 free relay in 8:17.36, with their best split coming from Karlee Bispo in 2:03.15. That came in the second leg, but leadoff swimmer Jennifer Campbell was also impressive at 2:03.18 from a flat start.

Also on that winning relay: Leah Goldman (2:05.64) and Isabelle Henig (2:05.39).

Mexico was second in 8:20.50, about three seconds back. They had a great leadoff in Lili Ibanez‘s 2:03.59, but didn’t have another 2:03 to match Stanford’s squad.

Wisconsin rounded out the top three, getting a 2:06.35 from Chase Kinney and a 2:06.47 from Annie Tamblyn to go 8:27.49. Kinney in particular will be huge for Wisconsin’s hopes moving forward, as she’s the team’s top returning sprinter after the graduation of All-American Ivy Martin.

Men’s 4×200 free relay

Brazil’s Fiat club won the men’s relay, going 7:28.43. That was keyed on a huge 1:49.31 leadoff leg from Nicolas Oliveira, who is a major part of Brazil’s national team this summer. Joining him on the winning relay were Nathan Bighetti (1:52.29), Miguel Valente (1:53.74) and Lucas Kanieski (1:53.09).

About four seconds back of the winners were Mexico, with Luis Campos Alpizar posting a 1:51.60 to lead the team. Mexico was 7:32.77, and third place went to Argentina at 7:34.30, with Federico Grabich going 1:52.53.