2017 Santa Clara PSS: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2017 Arena Pro Swim Series – Santa Clara

• Thursday, June 1st-Sunday, June 4th
• 50-Meter Course
• Prelims 9 am/Finals 5 pm (PST)
• Santa Clara, California
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results

The 2017 Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara continues tonight at the George F. Haines Aquatic Center in Santa Clara, California. Swimmers are slated to compete in the 200 free, 200 back, 50 free, and 400 IM. Several stars headline tonight’s action, including Olympians Ryan Murphy, Nathan Adrian, Lia Neal, Katie Ledecky, Elizabeth Beisel, Conor Dwyer, and more. Read on for live updates of tonight’s events.

WOMEN’S 400 IM:

1. Madisyn Cox– 4:39.07
2. Elizabeth Beisel– 4:40.00
3. Allie Szekely– 4:41.10

Texas’ Madisyn Cox and Team USA veteran Elizabeth Beisel were neck-and-neck through the halfway point, but Cox made a big push on the breaststroke leg to take the lead and win the race. Her winning time of 4:39.07 was just tenths shy of her lifetime best, which stands at a 4:38.85 from 2016 Trials. Beisel nearly cleared 4:40 herself, touching in 4:40.00.

Stanford’s Allie Szekely dropped another chunk of time tonight, bringing her lifetime best down to a 4:41.10 en route to bronze. That’s a 5 second drop in the event for Szekely at this meet.

MEN’S 400 IM:

1. Jay Litherland– 4:13.79
2. Abrahm DeVine– 4:17.57
3. Kieran Smith– 4:21.49

Georgia’s Jay Litherland, a U.S. Olympian in this event, shifted into a whole different gear tonight, annihilating his prelims time to win in 4:13.79. He narrowly missed cracking the world’s top 10 and is now the 13th fastest swimmer in the world this year.

Stanford’s Abrahm DeVine was the only other swimmer to clear 4:20, touching in a season best time of 4:17.57 for silver. Rounding out the podium was Ridgefield Aquatic Club’s junior standout Kieran Smith, who was just a second shy of his lifetime best with a 4:21.49.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE:

1. Katie Ledecky– 1:55.34
2. Siobhan Haughey– 1:58.14
3. Katie Drabot– 1:58.85

Stanford’s Katie Ledecky blasted her way to the top of the world rankings, tearing through the water en route to a world-leading 1:55.34. That was also a new Meet Record for Ledecky, taking down the former mark of 1:55.68 done by Femke Heemskerk in 2015.

There were 2 members of the Cardinal on tonight’s podium, as Katie Drabot joined her teammate with a 1:58.85 for bronze. Finishing between them was Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey with a 1:58.14. Cal’s Katie McLaughlin was just a few tenths shy of the podium in 1:49.11, while Wisconsin’s Cierra Runge (1:59.82) joined them under 2:00 to take 5th.

MEN’S 200 FREE:

1. Jay Litherland– 1:49.28
2. Long Gutierrez– 1:49.49
3. Conor Dwyer– 1:49.53

Jay Litherland was on fire tonight, grabbing his 2nd gold for UGA in as many events. Litherland threw down a 1:49.28, capitalizing off his back half speed to run down Cal’s Long Gutierrez (1:49.49) and fellow U.S. Olympian Conor Dwyer (1:49.53), giving him golds in back-to-back events tonight.

Using a similar strategy to Litherland’s was teammate Gunnar Bentz, who just missed the podium by a hundredth. Bentz negative split the race, turning in a 54.83 at the 100 and bringing it home in 54.71 for a final time of 1:49.54, which was good for 4th place ahead of Dutch standout Dion Dreesens (1:49.78) and Olympic relay teammate Jack Conger (1:49.96) of Texas.

Cal’s Tom Shields threw down a 1:49.71 to win the B final, just missing his personal best by a few tenths. Georgia’s Chase Kalisz was also tenths shy of best, touching in 1:50.47 to take 7th in the championship final.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK:

1. Hilary Caldwell– 2:09.20
2. Regan Smith– 2:10.35
3. Kylie Masse– 2:10.41

Riptide’s 15-year-old Regan Smith took on Canadian Olympic backstroke medalists Hilary Caldwell and Kylie Masse in tonight’s final. She was neck-and-neck with Caldwell at the halfway mark, but Caldwell shredded through the back half, winning the race in 2:09.20. Smith held off a late charge from Masse, hanging on to take silver in 2:10.35 ahead of Masse’s bronze-winning 2:10.41.

Just off the podium was Stanford’s Erin Voss in a quick 2:10.81, followed by Cal’s Kathleen Baker (2:11.24).

MEN’S 200 BACK:

1. Ryan Murphy– 1:57.09
2. Jacob Pebley– 1:57.41
3. Grigory Tarasevich– 1:59.41

Cal’s Olympic backstroke duo of Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley battled closely in this race. Murphy flipped slightly ahead at the 100 in 57.37, with Pebley hot on his heels in 57.60. They swam their races very similarly, with each coming home in a 29-low on the last 50. At the touch, Murphy hit first in 1:57.09 to Pebley’s 1:57.41.

Russian Olympian Grigory Tarasevich (1:59.41), a Louisville All-American, was the only other man to break 2:00 tonight. Cal’s Andy Song came in behind him with a new best time for 4th. Song’s 2:01.68 knocked over half a second off his former best of 2:02.20.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE:

1. Kelsi Worrell– 25.11
2. Lia Neal– 25.12
3. Abbey Weitzeil– 25.25

Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell and Stanford’s Lia Neal were stroke-for-stroke into the wall, with Worrell getting her hand to the wall first by just a hundredth. Her winning time of 25.11 was just over a tenth shy of her lifetime best. Neal clipped her season best down by 2 hundredths, turning in a 25.12. Also turning in a season best was Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil, who hit the wall in 25.25 for bronze.

Arizona’s Katrina Konopka, a fellow USA National Teamer, touched the wall 4th in 25.31, followed by Cal’s Farida Osman (25.42).

MEN’S 50 FREE:

1. Vlad Morozov– 21.97
2. Ali Khalafalla– 22.12
3. Nathan Adrian– 22.27

Russian rocket Vlad Morozov blasted his way to the top of the podium with yet another sub-22 swim, winning with a quick 21.97. Behind him, Indiana’s Ali Khalafalla rewrote the Egyptian National Record book in this event, touching in a new National Record of 22.12 ahead of U.S. Olympic medalist Nathan Adrian (22.27).