2018 Indianapolis Pro Swim Series: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2018 INDIANAPOLIS PRO SWIM SERIES

• May 16th-20th, 2018
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• 50m
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Omega Results
• Saturday Finals Heat Sheet

World record watch will be in full effect tonight, as Katie Ledecky hits the water for the fastest heat of the women’s 800 free. Ledecky smashed her 1500 world record on Wednesday night by five full seconds in 15:20.48, and while her 800 mark will be tougher to get down to (her 8:04.79 was done in Rio, while her previous best mile was from the 2015 Worlds in Kazan), we can still expect to see a good performance.

After the early heats of the 800 free, Megan Byrnes (8:35.06) and Will Roberts (8:14.54) hold the top times.

Some of the other feature events of the night include the men’s 200 fly and 200 IM, where Chase Kalisz will look to double up on wins, the women’s 100 back, where Taylor Ruck and Olivia Smoliga will go head-to-head, as well as a showdown between Kevin Cordes and Cody Miller in the men’s 100 breast.

There have been several scratches out of tonight’s events, including top seeded swimmers Justin Ress, Katie Drabot and Ella Eastin. Check out the full scratch list here.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY FINAL

• PSS Record: 2:06.76, Cammile Adams, 2012

1. Hali Flickinger, ABSC, 2:08.76
2. Kelsi Dahlia, CARD, 2:09.22
3. Cassidy Bayer, NCAP, 2:12.28

Hali Flickinger of the Athens Bulldogs roared out to the lead in the women’s 200 fly final, and held over a second advantage on Kelsi Dahlia heading into the last 50. Dahlia made up a bit of ground, but Flickinger held strong to take the win in 2:08.76, just over seven tenths off her season-best.

Dahlia did go a season-best for 2nd, touching in 2:09.22 to improve her 2:10.57 by over a second, and coming not too far off her lifetime best of 2:08.61. She also moves into the world’s top 25 rankings for the season with the 24th spot. 18-year-old Cassidy Bayer of NCAP struggled a bit on the last 50, ultimately adding a bit of time from prelims, but had a respectable swim of 2:12.28 for 3rd.

MEN’S 200 FLY FINAL

• PSS Record: 1:55.29, Li Zhuhao, 2017

1. Chase Kalisz, ABSC, 1:55.72
2. Pace Clark, ABSC, 1:57.93
3. Corey Gambardella, IST, 2:00.04

It was a 1-2 in the men’s 200 fly for the Athens Bulldogs, as Chase Kalisz and Pace Clark were the only men sub-2:00 in 1:55.72 and 1:57.93 respectively.

Kalisz had the fastest split of the field on every single 50 to come just under a tenth over his season-best of 1:55.63 which ranks him 9th in the world. Clark dropped his season-best of 1:58.23 by a few tenths.

Indiana’s Corey Gambardella went a best time in the heats and did so once again to take 3rd in 2:00.04, narrowly edging Brendan Meyer (2:00.43) and Nicolas Albiero (2:00.54). Albiero also went a new best time. Cal’s Tom Shields also saw a large improvement from prelims to win the B-final in 1:59.12.

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST FINAL

• PSS Record: 1:05.57, Rebecca Soni, 2011

1. Lilly King, IST, 1:05.90
2. Melanie Margalis, SPA / Emily Weiss, CARD, 1:08.07
3. –

World record holder Lilly King was dominant in winning the women’s 100 breast final, out aggressively in 30.89 before closing in 35.01 to touch in 1:05.90. That swim ties her with Japan’s Reona Aoki for the top time in the world this year, and is the 2nd fastest swim she’s ever done in-season.

The ever versatile Melanie Margalis snuck under her season-best this morning and dropped it a bit more tonight, tying 17-year-old Emily Weiss for 2nd in 1:08.07. Weiss adds a few one hundredths from her morning swim, and shows impressive consistency with her all-time best not far off at 1:07.99. Texas A&M’s Bethany Galat closed well to take 4th in 1:08.20.

MEN’S 100 BREAST FINAL

• PSS Record: 58.86, Adam Peaty, 2017

1. Kevin Cordes, TIGR, 1:00.61
2. Nic Fink, ABSC, 1:00.94
3. Cody Miller, SAND, 1:00.99

Kevin Cordes put together a solid swim to win the men’s event in 1:00.61, leading Nic Fink and Cody Miller by a narrow margin throughout the race. Cordes clocks in his fastest swim of the year by a few tenths.

Fink was just able to hold off Miller at the end, out-touching him 1:00.94 to 1:00.99. Miller manages to dip under his season-best by .01.

Evgenii Somov was back in 4th in 1:02.16, with Jacob Montague of Club Wolverine 5th in 1:02.57. 200 winner Daniel Roy had a nice drop from prelims to take the B-final in 1:02.41.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK FINAL

• PSS Record: 58.96, Emily Seebohm, 2016

1. Olivia Smoliga, ABSC, 59.78
2. Ali Deloof, CW, 59.79
3. Taylor Ruck, HPCO, 1:00.13

The women’s 100 back turned into one of the most exciting races of the meet, with Olivia Smoliga, Ali Deloof and Taylor Ruck all locked in a tight race for the win. After Deloof flipped first in 29.00, Smoliga stormed back in 30.59 to make up two tenths and nab her at the wall by .01, 59.78 to 59.79. Smoliga currently sits 4th in the world at 59.14, while Deloof produces a season-best here and moves into 12th in the world.

Ruck touched 3rd in 1:00.13, and Kentucky’s Asia Seidt was also under 1:01 in 1:00.83 for 4th, missing her best by six one-hundredths. Freestyle specialist Simone Manuel had a solid swim for 5th in 1:01.11, getting under her PB by seven one-hundredths.

MEN’S 100 BACK FINAL

• PSS Record: 52.40, David Plummer, 2016

1. Matt Grevers, FORD, 53.78
2. Jacob Pebley, CAL, 53.98
3. Grigory Tarasevich, CARD, 54.42

33-year-old Matt Grevers used his early speed to open up an early lead in the men’s 100 back, flipping in 25.83 to sit just over half a second clear of Cal’s Jacob Pebley. Pebley made up some ground coming home, splitting 27.61 to Grevers’ 27.95, but it wasn’t enough as the big man claimed the win in 53.78, just missing his best of the season by .05.

Pebley actually missed his season-best time by the exact same margin for 2nd in 53.98, with Grigory Tarasevich of Cardinal Aquatics taking 3rd in 54.42. Shortly after his 200 fly PB, Nicolas Albiero had a solid performance for 4th in 55.99.

WOMEN’S 200 IM FINAL

• PSS Record: 2:08.66, Katinka Hosszu, 2015

1. Melanie Margalis, SPA, 2:10.26
2. Kayla Sanchez, HPCO, 2:12.94
3. Brooke Forde, UN, 2:13.46

Saint Petersburg’s Melanie Margalis finished off an impressive double with a big win in the women’s 200 IM, steadily increasing her lead on every 50 after the fly to post a time of 2:10.26. The 26-year-old improves her season-best by four tenths of a second, but maintains 7th in the world rankings.

HPC – Ontario’s Kayla Sanchez also had no weak legs to take 2nd in 2:12.94, knocking her best of the year down by a almost a second and coming just three tenths off her lifetime best. Brooke Forde made a late push but ran out of room as she tried to catch Sanchez, taking 3rd in 2:13.46, just .03 off her personal best from last summer.

MEN’S 200 IM FINAL

• PSS Record: 1:56.32, Michael Phelps, 2012

1. Chase Kalisz, ABSC, 1:57.63
2. Norbert Szabo, UN, 2:00.43
3. Jay Litherland, DYNA, 2:00.55

Chase Kalisz went wire-to-wire once again for his second win of the night in the 200 IM, narrowly missing his season-best in a time of 1:57.63.

Norbert Szabo was aggressive opening up and just barely managed to hold off Jay Litherland for 2nd, touching in 2:00.43 for a new lifetime best. Litherland’s final 50 of 27.82 wasn’t enough to get by Szabo, but he did pass Daniel Sos to take 3rd in 2:00.55 while Sos was 4th in 2:00.93 (just off his PB of 2:00.64).

WOMEN’S 800 FREE TIMED FINAL

• PSS Record: 8:06.68, Katie Ledecky, 2016

1. Katie Ledecky, STAN, 8:07.27
2. Erica Sullivan, SAND, 8:30.15
3. Ally McHugh, UN, 8:30.23

Katie Ledecky was Katie Ledecky as she dominated the fastest heat of the women’s 800 free, negative splitting the race (4:03.72/4:03.55) to clock 8:07.27 and take over the top time in the world by over ten seconds. That is Ledecky’s 3rd fastest swim ever (and the 3rd fastest of all-time), only trailing her world record from the Olympics (8:04.79) and her swim at the Austin PSS in 2016 that was a world record at the time (and currently the US Open record) at 8:06.68.

Erica Sullivan of the Sandpipers of Nevada produced a big personal best swim of 8:30.15, taking off over three seconds and sliding into 18th in the world rankings. She was just able to hold off Ally McHugh, who charged home in 29.50 to take 3rd in 8:30.23 which is also a big best time. McHugh’s previous best was 8:35.01. Megan Byrnes‘ 8:35.06 from the early heats stands up as the 4th fastest overall.

MEN’S 800 FREE TIMED FINAL

• PSS Record: 7:49.96, Michael McBroom, 2014

1. Zane Grothe, MVN, 7:50.94
2. Felix Auboeck, CW, 7:58.05
3. Logan Houck, SAND, 7:58.18

Zane Grothe of Mission Viejo completed the 400/800/1500 sweep, taking the men’s 800 in a new best time of 7:50.94. His previous best was 7:50.97, done at both last summer’s World Trials and World Championships. Grothe moves to 5th in the world for the year.

Logan Houck from the Sandpipers of Nevada had opened up a slight edge over Club Wolverine’s Felix Auboeck on the back half of the race, but Aubeock’s 27.03 final 50 got him by Houck to take 2nd in 7:58.05. Houck was 3rd in 7:58.18, just two seconds off his lifetime best. Auboeck’s teammate Ricardo Vargas also had a solid swim to take 4th in 8:01.63, just a few tenths off his best time.