2019 BLOOMINGTON PRO SWIM SERIES
- Thursday, May 16 – Sunday, May 19, 2019
- Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center, Bloomington, Indiana
- Long course meters (LCM) format
- Eastern Time zone
- Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (Thursday timed finals 4 PM)
- Meet site
- Live Stream:
- Psych sheets
- Live results
- Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet
Day four finals from Bloomington will feature the 100 back, 200 breast, 100 fly, 200 IM and 50 free. There will also be the fastest seeded heats in the 800 freestyles at the beginning of the session.
Lilly King and Regan Smith both come in looking for sweeps in their respective strokes, with King aiming to sweep the women’s breaststroke events in the 200 while Smith will look to do the same in the women’s back events with the 100 tonight.
Also of note is that Jacob Steele‘s DQ from prelims has been overturned and he’s in the men’s 200 IM ‘A’ final.
WOMEN’S 800 FREE TIMED FINAL
- PSS Record: 8:06.68, Katie Ledecky, 2016
- Katie Ledecky, NCAP, 8:10.70
- Sierra Schmidt, MICH, 8:36.71
- Ally McHugh, WA, 8:37.34
Katie Ledecky negative-split her way to a massive 26-second win in the women’s 800 free, putting up the top time in the world at 8:10.70. Ledecky previously held the #1 time at 8:14.24. She was out in 4:06.17 and back in a scintillating 4:04.53.
Ledecky’s swim is her seventh fastest ever (and seventh fastest in history).
Sierra Schmidt put up her 2nd-fastest swim since 2016 to take second in 8:36.71, and a 29.99 final 50 helped Ally McHugh (8:37.34) edge Becca Mann (8:37.38) for third.
MEN’S 800 FREE TIMED FINAL
- PSS Record: 7:49.96, Michael McBroom, 2014
- Zane Grothe, BCH, 7:53.40
- Felix Auboeck, MICH, 8:04.69
- Mikey Calvillo, ISC, 8:08.56
After Ledecky’s negative-split Zane Grothe followed suit by splitting his 800 3:57.93/3:55.47 to win by over 11 seconds in a time of 7:53.40. That improves his previous season-best of 7:54.28 set in Des Moines.
Felix Auboeck claimed the runner-up spot in 8:04.69, and again similar to the women’s race we saw a late push for third come from Mikey Calvillo as he closed in 28.41 to out-touch Marcelo Acosta 8:08.56 to 8:08.72.
WOMEN’S 100 BACK FINAL
- PSS Record: 58.73, Olivia Smoliga, 2019
- Regan Smith, RIPT, 58.82
- Isabelle Stadden, AQJT, 1:00.26
- Lisa Bratton, AGS, 1:00.88
17-year-old Regan Smith finished off the women’s backstroke sweep in style, winning the 100 in a new best time of 58.82. It takes out her previous best set last summer at Nationals by .01, and puts her fourth in the world for the year.
Isabelle Stadden, just 16, finished just two-tenths off her PB for second in 1:00.26, and Lisa Bratton placed third in 1:00.88. Kylee Alons set a new best time for fourth in 1:00.96.
MEN’S 100 BACK FINAL
- PSS Record: 52.40, David Plummer, 2016
- Grigory Tarasevich, CARD, 54.28
- Nikos Sofianidis, UN, 55.12
- Gabriel Fantoni, ISC, 55.25
Russian Grigory Tarasevich picked up a big win in the men’s 100 back in a time of 54.28, clearing the field by over eight-tenths.
Nikos Sofianidis was second in 55.12, his fastest swim since 2016. Gabriel Fantoni (55.25) and Coleman Stewart (55.60) were the only others sub-56.
WOMEN’S 200 BREAST FINAL
PSS Record: 2:21.41, Yuliya Efimova, 2016
- Annie Lazor, MVN, 2:20.77
- Emily Escobedo, COND, 2:24.51
- Lilly King, ISC, 2:24.60
Annie Lazor dropped a massive best time to win the women’s 200 breast in 2:20.77, over two seconds faster than her previous PB set in Des Moines (2:22.99). She takes over the top spot in the world this year by a wide margin, as Yuliya Efimova previously sat #1 at 2:22.52, and is now the 9th fastest performer of all-time. She is also the 2nd-fastest American ever.
Lazor also broke Efimova’s PSS Record of 2:21.41 set in 2016.
Emily Escobedo produced the 2nd-fastest swim of her career to place second in 2:24.51, making up over eight-tenths on Lilly King on the last 50. King ended up .09 back for third in 2:24.60.
MEN’S 200 BREAST FINAL
- PSS Record: 2:08.95, Andrew Wilson, 2018
- Cody Miller, SAND, 2:08.98
- Will Licon, TXLA, 2:10.97
- Daniel Roy, UN, 2:12.00
Cody Miller drops a new personal best time to win the men’s 200 breast decisively in 2:08.98, improving on his old best of 2:09.08 done way back in 2015. He hadn’t been sub-2:10 since 2016, and his fastest swim in 2018 was a 2:10.59.
He also just missed the Pro Swim Series Record of 2:08.95 set by Andrew Wilson last year.
He used a ton of early speed tonight, out in 1:01.39 at the 100 and 1:34.44 at the 150 (28.93/32.46/33.05 splits) before closing in 34.54.
Miller now moves to 15th in the world this year, and tops amongst Americans.
Will Licon, who came into the meet as the fastest American this year at 2:09.90, put together a strong race to take second in 2:10.97.
Daniel Roy (2:12.00) held off Nic Fink (2:12.28) down the stretch to take third.
WOMEN’S 100 FLY FINAL
- PSS Record: 56.38, Sarah Sjostrom, 2016
- Sarah Gibson, AGS, 58.41
- Regan Smith, RIPT, 58.52
- Lillie Nordmann, MAC, 59.31
Sarah Gibson‘s front-end speed proved to be the difference in the women’s 100 fly, as she held off Regan Smith to claim the win in a season-best time of 58.41.
Smith closed well in 30.33, clocking 58.52 to take second and earn her second best time of the session. She had previously been 58.59 at the 2018 Pan Pacs.
Lillie Nordmann (59.31) out-touched Kylee Alons (59.35) for third. Like Smith, Alons set her second PB of the session.
MEN’S 100 FLY FINAL
- PSS Record: 51.00, Jack Conger, 2018
- Luis Martinez, GUA, 51.81
- Vini Lanza, ISC, 52.72
- Gabriel Fantoni, ISC, 53.71
Guatemalan Luis Martinez didn’t quite hit the National Record he set in the prelims of 51.64, but he still won the men’s 100 fly final easily in 51.81.
Indiana’s Vini Lanza, who has been 51.66 this year, was the runner-up in 52.72, and his teammates Gabriel Fantoni (53.71) and Van Mathias (53.72) took third and fourth by a narrow margin over Miles Smachlo (53.75).
WOMEN’S 200 IM FINAL
- PSS Record: 2:08.66, Katinka Hosszu, 2015
- Madisyn Cox, TXLA, 2:11.10
- Asia Seidt, KYA, 2:15.03
- Allie Szekely, UN, 2:16.23
Madisyn Cox dominated the women’s 200 IM with the win in 2:11.10, finishing less than a second off her season-best of 2:10.27 which ranks her sixth in the world.
Asia Seidt took second in 2:15.03, and Allie Szekely was less than a second off her personal best in 2:16.23 for third.
MEN’S 200 IM FINAL
- PSS Record: 1:56.32, Michael Phelps, 2012
- Jay Litherland, DYNA, 2:00.64
- Will Licon, TXLA, 2:02.03
- Vini Lanza, ISC, 2:02.75
A quick 30.37 backstroke leg proved to be the difference maker for Jay Litherland in the men’s 200 IM, as he won in a new season-best of 2:00.64. His previous best was a 2:02.29 from Des Moines.
Will Licon completed a nice double after the 200 breast, clocking 2:02.03 for his second runner-up finish of the session. He has been as fast as 2:01.17 this year.
Vini Lanza blasted out the fly in 25.24, and managed to hold Sam Stewart at bay on the freestyle to hang on for third in 2:02.75 to Stewart’s 2:02.90.
WOMEN’S 50 FREE FINAL
- PSS Record: 24.17, Sarah Sjostrom, 2016
- Simone Manuel, ALTO, 24.41
- Julie Meynen, FLNS, 25.13
- Margo Geer, MVN, 25.24
American Record holder Simone Manuel knocked over a tenth off her prelim swim to win the women’s 50 free by over seven-tenths in a time of 24.41, falling .02 shy of her season-best 24.39.
Luxembourg native finished just .01 off of her lifetime best to claim second in 25.13. Her 25.12 best time was set at the Rio Olympic Games almost three years ago.
Margo Geer took third in 25.24, and Kylee Alons incredibly nailed down her third-best time of the session in fourth (25.27).
MEN’S 50 FREE FINAL
- PSS Record: 21.56, Nathan Adrian, 2015
- Ali Khalafalla, MVN, 22.05
- Robert Howard, BAMA, 22.19
- Nathan Adrian, CAL, 22.22
Ali Khalafalla threw down a very impressive 22.05 to win the men’s 50 free, tying the second-fastest swim of his career. His PB stands at 21.97.
Khalafalla moves into a three-way for 16th in the world this year.
Robert Howard finished two one-hundredths off of his best time from last summer’s Nationals in 22.19 for second, and Nathan Adrian had a strong showing of 22.22 for third in his fourth race back after surgery.
Blake Pieroni snagged fourth in 22.53, and his Indiana teammate Zach Apple put up a season-best 22.72 for fifth.
Looking forward to Cody’s blog this week!
oh yes
GUYS ITS MAY!!!! SWIMMING IS BROKEN
It isn’t that the field was that strong but I’m still getting impressed with the picture of Ledecky swimming against traffic in the middle of the pool
Very surprised of Robert Howard bringing his dominant sprinting over to long course also!
And now Cody Miller needs to macrocycle his training around this taper and should be able to peek again at 2020 Olympic Trials.
Interesting to see Sam Stewart racing after not swimming for Texas second semester
Nathan with a 22.22 for third !!! Very good come back swim for him
Amazing that he is so close to his usual TYR times after what he has been through
With these new PSS events, it seems there’s a whole lot of fast swimming and PRs happening “in season”. Big picture, how have these meets changed the dynamic from my old school view of train hard until the one taper meet. Are these swimmers doing mini-tapers before these meets or training all-out. Is the new focus on quality over quantity changing the dynamic and enabling people to swim pretty fast all year round. I can’t see the forest for the trees and need some help.
I would hypothesis that unlike other countries, USA team members have never had such good competition and opportunities at non-championship meets without having to travel across the ocean…. until now, with the money making it worth more in season fast swimming. The Europeans seemingly have had a meet a month within 3 hours or so worth swimming in for years. I could be totally wrong, because with garbage yards starting to disappear with smarter programming from coaches it would also follow that fast swimming is easier more often now days from that alone.
Yes, it if recall correctly, in the early days of the Grand Prix meets in the mid-2000s, people didn’t even wear racing suits for it. They were definitely seen as training meets. I like the way things are going now though. Why not give athletes more opportunities to swim fast instead of putting pressure on one big taper that may or may not go well. It was always devastating when I was swimming to miss a taper or get sick before the big meet and not go a best time that season because of it. I went a few years without best times in certain events because 2-3 big meets didn’t go well.
In the 80’s and 90’s teams often had a “rest” meet the end of May. With the advent of super suits these meets are even faster as you just put on a suit instead of shaving and get a big bump in performance. Lazor and Miller were rested. Most of the rest of IU crew wasn’t if you listen to the vlogs and interviews.
Also Pan Ams for Miller and Lazor are still 11 weeks out. Plenty of time for another cycle of training as long as they don’t take time off.
We get to see how the USA Staten versus everyone else’s works out at the Olympics just like we have for many decades. The US system has paid off. Australia seems the country with the most trouble on the biggest stage. Other countries seem to bounce around on percentage of best times in finals at Olympics.
I think the suits are a big factor – almost like a full shave. And there’s clearly been a shift to training regimes that emphasize regular high-intensity, race-pace work. IMO that keeps people ready to go fast more often, without sacrificing end-season times. I have a feeling that trend has a bit further to go…