2016 Arena Pro Swim Series – Orlando Day Three Finals Live Recap

2016 ORLANDO PRO SWIM SERIES

• Thursday, March 3- Saturday, March 5
• YMCA of Central Florida Aquatic Center
• Orlando, FL
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results

The last round of finals of the 2016 Orlando Pro Series will be missing a few big names in signature events, but should still be an exciting evening of racing.  Katie Ledecky opted not to swim the 800 free, but tonight’s fastest heat will still feature plenty of big names, including Olympian Lotte Friis.  Instead, Ledecky will swim the A-final of the 100 free, alongside other stars like Simone Manuel, Missy Franklin, and Natalie Coughlin.

On the men’s side, Michael Phelps will be swimming the 100 free instead of the 200 IM.  The newly minted American short-course record holder, Caeleb Dressel scratched out of finals in that event, but Phelps will still face Luca Dotto and Nathan Adrian, among others.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE

1. Lotte Friis, 8:29.81
2. Lindsay Vrooman, 8:30.98
3. Andreina Pinto, 8:31.64

The 800 was competed as a timed final, with the slower heats contested earlier in the day.  The race in the fastest heat this evening began as a battle between Lindsay Vrooman and Lotte Friis.  Friis was ahead early on, but Vrooman took the lead by the 200.  Friis battle back, was ahead at the 400, and never looked back.  She continued to build her lead over the next few laps.  Meanwhile, Adreina Pinto began to outsplit Vrooman Friis, but she didn’t have enough time to overcome their early lead.  Friis touched first in 8:29.81, followed by Vrooman in 8:30.98 and Pinto in 8:31.64.

In the same heat this evening, Ashley Twitchell finished 4th in 8:36.45 and Cierra Runge finished 5th in 8:37.84.  Three swimmers from earlier heats rounded out the top eight overall: Kristel Kobrich (8:40.45), Vien Ngyuen (8:44.56) and Delfina Pignatiello (8:47.74).

WOMEN’S 200 IM FINALS

1. Maya DiRado, 2:10.77
2. Melanie Margalis, 2:11.72
3. Elizabeth Beisel, 2:12.43

Maya DiRado went out hard, looking strong, and building almost a two second lead after the backstroke leg.  Yuliya Efimova, who’s won both breaststroke events this week, took the lead after a blistering 35.98 split on the breaststroke leg.  But DiRado outsplit everyone other than Katie Ledecky to take the lead over the final 50 and win in 2:10.77.  DiRado was followed by fellow Americans Melanie Margalis (2:11.72) and Elizabeth Beisel (2:12.43).  Efimova touched 4th in 2:12.96.  Ledecky rode a 29.55 free split to a 5th place finish (2:14.36).  Vien Nguyen (2:16.36), Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir (2:16.93), and Emma Reaney (2:17.50) rounded out the A-final.

MEN’S 200 IM FINAL

1. Thiago Pereira, 1:59.82
2. Henrique Rodrigues, 1:59.97
3. Conor Dwyer, 2:00.03

The host country for this summer’s Olympic Games swept the top two spots in this event tonight.  London silver medalist Thiago Pereira led from start to finish.  Fellow Brazillian Henrique Rodrigues outsplit Pereira over the final 100, but couldn’t quite close the gap, with Pereira winning 1:59.82 to 1:59.97.

American Conor Dwyer used a 28.02 freestyle leg to take 3rd ahead of Eduardo Solaeche, 2:00.03 to 2:01.20, and prevent the USA from getting locked out of the podium positions.  Sebastian Rousseau (2:03.45), Marcin Tarczynski (2:03.97), Michael Weiss (2:05.18) and Austin Surhoff (2:06.30) finished 5th through 8th.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK FINALS

1. Missy Franklin, 2:08.77
2. Dominique Bouchard, 2:08.90
3. Elizabeth Beisel, 2:09.75

Argentina’s Andrea Berrino was out first, hitting the first wall in 30.86.  Elizabeth Beisel took the lead next, touching at the 100 in 1:03.84, and followed by closely by Missy Franklin and Dominique Bouchard.  The split 32.43 over the third length to become the third leader in the race, but Franklin stormed home over the final meters and touched out Bouchard 2:08.77 to 2:08.90.  Beisel was the only other woman under 2:12, finishing third in 2:09.75.

Taylor Ruck, the only teenager in the field, finished 4th in 2:12.50.  Yin Yan Lau and Berrino tied for 5th, at 2:14.45.  Silvia Scalia (2:14.69) and Fnanda Gonzalez (2:19.12) took the final two spots.

MEN’S 200 BACK FINALS

1. Ryan Murphy, 1:57.23
2. Jacob Pebley, 1:57.78
3. Grigory Tarasevich, 1:58.04

In what could be a preview of the NCAA championship in a few weeks, a trio of college stars swept the top three spots tonight.  Cal Bear Ryan Murphy led the whole way, winning in 1:57.23.  His teammate Jacob Pebley was right behind him, keeping in second the whole race, and touched  just only half a second behind Murphy, in 1:57.78.  Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich, who represents Russia internationally, was the only man to split under 30 for the last 50, took 3rd in 1:58.04.

Olympian Arkady Vyatchanin, the old man of the group at 31, took 4th in 1:59.28.  16 year-old Austin Katz had the second-fastest final 50, and finished 5th in 2:01.32.  Brazilian Fabio Santi took 6th in 2:01.43.  Yet another Cal Bear, Jeremy Dezwirek, took 7th in 2:03.63.  Chase Kalisz finished in 8th at 2:04.34.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE FINALS

1. Simone Manuel, 54.27
2. Allison Schmitt, 54.56
3. Katie Ledecky, 54.67

Simone Manuel, who’s redshirting from Stanford to focus on the Olympic this year, took the win in 54.27, a little off her time from December’s Winter Nationals.  London gold medalist Allison Schmitt closed hard and finished 2nd, in 54.56.  Ledecky, who competed in the 200 IM earlier in the evening, outsplit Manuel and Schmitt by about 0.3s over the second 50, and touched 4rd in 45.67.  Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus finished 4th in 55.00, followed by Polish swimmer Kataryzyna Wilk in 55.33.  A trio of Americans, Felicia Lee (55.64), Natalie Coughlin (55.79), and Missy Franklin (55.83) rounded out the final.

MEN’S 100 FREE FINALS

1. Nathan Adrian, 48.05
2. Luca Dotto, 49.33
3. Michael Phelps, 49.57

Defending Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian blasted a 48.05 to tie Canadian Santo Condorelli for the third-fastest time in the world this year.  That’s Adrian fastest in-season time, just ahead of the 48.08 he registered at the 2013 Santa Clara Grand Prix.  The audio feed caught Adrian talking to Dwyer immediately after the race, and you could hear Adrian expressing his happiness in going under 25.0 for the second 50, a point he reiterated in the post-race interview.

No one finished within a second of Adrian.  Italy’s Luca Dotto took 2nd in 49.33, followed by Michael Phelps in 49.57.  Dwyer finished 4th in 49.65 less than 30 minutes after taking 3rd in the 200 IM. Nicolas Oliveira of Brazil and Nikita Lobintsev of Russia tied for 5th, both touching in 49.69.  Only 0.06s separated 4th through 8th places, as David Williams took 7th in 49.70 and Caleb Weir finished 8th in 49.71.

MEN’S 1500 FREE

1. Marcelo Acosta, 15:13.09
2. Connor Jaeger, 15:14.68
3. True Sweetser, 15:14.92

Marcelo Acosta overcame two American Olympians in this event to blast a new El Salvadorian record and take win the in 15:13.09.  One of those Olympians and the American record holder, Connor Jaeger, held off 18 year-old True Sweetser for 2nd place, touching out Sweetser 15:14.68 to 15:14.92.

16 year-old Andrew Abruzzo, swimming earlier in the day, knocked almost 15 seconds off his seed time to take 4th overall in 15:15.99.  Zane Grothe finished 5th in 15:24.94, followed by Andrew Gemmell (15:28.14), Theodore Smith (15.32.66), and Sean Ryan (15.33.53).