2020 U.S. Open – Irvine: Saturday AM Live Recap

2020 U.S. Open Swimming Championships

• Thursday, November 12-Saturday, November 14
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
• LCM/timed finals
• Streaming Info/Races to Watch
• Meet Central – Irvine
• Live Results
• Saturday AM results (PDF)

Session Four – Saturday, November 14

Women’s 1500m Freestyle – Timed Finals

• American record: 15:20.48 5/17/2018 Katie Ledecky
• U.S. Open record: 15:20.48 5/17/2018 Katie Ledecky
• U.S. Open Meet record: 15:35.98 12/7/2019 Katie G Ledecky
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 16:49.19

Top 3:

1. Erica Sullivan, SAND – 16:04.37
2. Abby Dunford, SAND – 16:39.54
3. Cathryn Salladin, RMDA – 17:01.37

Erica Sullivan of Sandpipers set the pace early on and swam to a 16:04.37 victory in the 1500 free, in a race with only the clock. She won by over a pool length.

The real excitement came from her 14-year-old teammate Abby Dunford, who chopped nearly 17 seconds off her previous PB and qualified for Olympic Trials with 16:39.54. Dunford moved from 95th in the 13-14 age group to 28th with her swim.

Cathryn Salladin of La Mirada Armada and South Bay’s Juli Arzave battled for 3rd place for much of the race but Salladin pulled away and finished 11.6 seconds ahead of Arzave with 17:01.37.

Women’s 200m Backstroke – Timed Finals

• American record: 2:03.35 7/26/2019 Regan Smith
• U.S. Open record: 2:05.68 6/25/2013 Missy Franklin
• U.S. Open Meet record: 2:08.42 7/30/2008 Hayley McGregory
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 2:14.69

Top 3:

1. Emma Karam, RENO – 2:14.25
2. Kennedy Noble, YWSF – 2:15.24
3. Samantha Pearson, TE – 2:15.63

Emma Karam of Reno dropped over 1 second to win the 200 back with a new Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:14.24. She was in second place at the halfway mark but came back over the next 100 in 1:08 to pass Samantha Pearson from Team Elite, who had led at the 100. Pearson went out very quickly but was outsplit by both Karam and YWSF’s Kennedy Noble over the second half. Pearson split her race 1:04/1:11 for a 2:15.63, while Noble’s second half of 1:09 gave her the second-place spot.

Alana Barthel of Aulea Swim Club won heat 2 in 2:18.22 for a drop of 9/10.

Women’s 100m Freestyle – Timed Finals

• American record: 52.04 7/26/2019 Simone Manuel
• U.S. Open record: 52.54 7/25/2018 Simone Manuel
• U.S. Open Meet record: 53.42 12/7/2019 Erika Brown
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 56.29

Top 3:

1. Bella Sims, SAND – 55.99
2. Ella Mazurek, QSS – 57.00
3. Anna Shaw, TOPS – 57.07

15-year-old Bella Sims of Sandpipers took .77 off her seed time to win the third heat of women’s 100 free and pick up yet another Olympic Trials cut. Her 55.99 was the only sub-57 of the day. Quicksilver’s Ella Mazurek was second to the wall in 57.00, 3/10 off her best. Lily Neumann of KSwim finished 3rd in the heat with 57.09, dropping .45.

Brea Aquatics’ Kenisha Liu won the final heat in 57.24, edging Mission Viejo’s Justina Kozan (57.32) and Anicka Delgado of Gator Swim Club (57.79).

Morgan Brophy of Scottsdale swam fly in the first heat, trying to pick up a Trials cut. She went 1:01.20, just .04 off her PB but .78 better than she had been on Friday night in the timed finals. The OT cut is 1:00.69.

Anna Shaw from Denver Hilltoppers won heat 2 in 57.07 ahead of Lucy Bell from Fort Collins Area (57.65).

Meredith Smithbaker of Team Vortex went for her 50 free cut. She split 26.00, which was .06 better than she had been on Friday morning but .01 off the Olympic Trials standard of 25.99. Still, she came into the meet with 26.55 and improved by over half a second.

Women’s 200m Breaststroke – Timed Finals

• American record: 2:19.59 8/2/2012 Rebecca Soni
• U.S. Open record: 2:20.38 7/7/2009 Rebecca Soni
• U.S. Open Meet record: 2:22.00 12/7/2019 Emily Escobedo
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 2:33.29

Top 3:

1. Isa Odgers, USC – 2:28.69
2. Abigail Herscu, LAC – 2:32.97
3. Mackenzie Miller, CLOV – 2:34.37

Isa Odgers won the final heat of 200 breast with 2:28.69, only .45 off her seed time. She got off to a sizeable lead early on and won the heat by more than 4 seconds. Abigail Herscu of Livermore Aqua Cowboys touched second in 2:32.97, a PB by .01. Manuela Mendolicchio from Clovis was 3rd with 2:35.39.

Mackenzie Miller of Clovis was the heat 3 winner in 2:34.37, a huge 2.4-second improvement from her seed time. 14-year-old Charlotte Burnham of Denver Hilltoppers came in second with 2:38.94, just ahead of La Mirada’s Elizabeth Ramirez (2:39.80).

Women’s 200m Butterfly – Timed Finals

• American record: 2:04.14 7/30/2009 Mary Descenza
• U.S. Open record: 2:05.87 7/25/2018 Hali Flickinger
• U.S. Open Meet record: 2:07.20 12/4/1999 Susan O’Neill
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 2:14.59

Top 3:

1. Katie Crom, MVN – 2:12.94
2. Paige Kuwata, SAND – 2:15.30
3. Lucy Bell, FAST – 2:15.68

Edith Simecek of Flatiron Athletic won heat 1 with 2:17.39, taking 1 second off her seed time. Touching second was Renee Gillilan of Fort Collins with 2:17.70, a big improvement from her previous PB of 2:19.45.

12-year-old Kayla Han of La Mirada won a close heat 2 in 2:20.58 and moved from 17th to 10th on the all-time list for 11-12 girls. Behind her were Pleasanton Seahawks’ Sydney Lu (2:20.93) and Mission Viejo’s Abby O’Sullivan (2:21.53).

Katie Crom of Mission went 2:12.94 to take the final heat with the top overall time. Paige Kuwata of Sandpipers came in 2nd in the heat with 2:15.39. Lucy Bell went 2:15.68 for 3rd. Justina Kozan, the number one seed, was DNS.

Men’s 1500m Freestyle – Timed Finals

• American record: 14:39.48 8/13/2016 Connor Jaeger
• U.S. Open record: 14:45.54 7/6/2008 Peter Vanderkaay
• U.S. Open Meet record: 14:55.46 8/2/2017 Damien Joly
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 15:44.89

Top 3:

1. Will Gallant, MVN – 15:18.39
2. Jordan Wilimovsky, KSWM – 15:30.38
3. Daniel Matheson, SAC – 15:35.76

Swimming in the fastest of four heats, Will Gallant of Mission Viejo handily took care of the top seed in the 1500m free on Saturday. Although he lost to him by .75 in the 800 on Thursday, Gallant beat KSwim’s Jordan Wilimovsky by 12 seconds in the 1500 with a personal best time of 15:18.39. That marks an improvement of 15.5 seconds from his seed time of 15:33. Wilimovsky, seeded with 14:59, touched second in 15:30.38. Mission Viejo’s David Heron was third in the heat with 15:39.00, touching just ahead of KSwim’s Matan Roditi (15:41.65).

Simon Lamar from FAST Swim Team in Fullerton won heat 2 handily, coming to the wall in 15:49.55, just 4.5 seconds off his best. Brice Barrieault of Sandpipers broke 16:00 for the first time, dropping nearly 9 seconds to finish second in the heat with 15:53.99. Mason Carlton of Quicksilver passed Anders Aistars of Mission to place third, 16:09.37 to 16:12.34.

Daniel Matheson of Scottsdale Aquatic Club and Matthew Chai from FAST, who both dropped a ton of time in the 800 on Thursday to score Olympic Trials cuts, traded stroke for stroke throughout the first third of heat 3. Matheson eventually pulled away and won the heat with another new OT cut, 15:35.76. That marks an improvement of 31.2 seconds from his old LCM time. Chai touched second in the heat with 15:46.96, a PB by 28.8 seconds.

Cal Poly’s Kieran McNulty won the final heat in 15:48.72, an improvement of almost 50 seconds from his previous PB of 16:38.07.

Men’s 200m Backstroke – Timed Finals

• American record: 1:51.92 7/31/2009 Aaron Peirsol
• U.S. Open record: 1:53.08 7/11/2009 Aaron Peirsol
• U.S. Open Meet record: 1:54.59 8/5/2009 Nick Thoman
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 2:02.99

Top 3:

1. Andy Song, CAL – 2:02.59
2. Wylie Kruse, FAST – 2:04.09
3. Keaton Jones, NEP – 2:04.20

William Bansberg of Scottsdale opened the men’s 200 back with a 2.8 second drop to win heat 1 in 2:07.64. Luke Hobson from Lakeridge was second in 2:10.96, a second ahead of Kristofer Rogic (2:11.94).

California Aquatics’ Andy Song won the final heat in 2:02.59. Wylie Kruse from Fort Collins touched out top-seeded Keaton Jones of Swim Neptune, 2:04.09 to 2:04.20, for second.

Men’s 100m Freestyle – Timed Finals

• American record: 46.96 7/25/2019 Caeleb Dressel
• U.S. Open record: 47.39 7/31/2019 Ryan Held
• U.S. Open Meet record: 47.69 12/7/2019 Zach Apple
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 50.49

Top 3:

1. Grant House, SUN – 49.57
2. Jorge Iga, FORD – 49.86
3. Carter Swift, SUN – 50.21

DART Swimming’s Zachary Tan went a best time to win the first heat of men’s 100 free with 53.11. Patrick Sammon of AquaSol followed with 51.51 in heat 2, taking .76 off his previous PB. Evan Carlson from Sun Devil Swimming dropped .32 to win heat 3 in 50.28, coming to the wall ahead of Ivan Kurakin of Tritons (51.28, PB by .70), Christopher Mykkanen (51.71), and Jerome Heidrich (51.83).

Sun Devil Swimming’s Grant House won the final heat, going 49.47 to lower his PB by .14. Tucson Ford’s Jorge Iga touched second in 49.86, shaving .01 off his seed time. House’s teammate Carter Swift (50.21) and top-seeded Jesse Novak of Irvine NOVA (50.83) rounded out the top four.

Men’s 200m Breaststroke – Timed Finals

• American record: 2:07.17 6/30/2016 Josh Prenot
• U.S. Open record: 2:07.17 6/30/2016 Josh Prenot
• U.S. Open Meet record: 2:09.67 12/7/2019 Cody Miller
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 2:17.89

Top 3:

1. Brandon Fischer, LAC – 2:13.60
2. Miguel Chavez, TE – 2:15.05
3. Jason Schreiber, MVN – 2:18.85

Aulea Swim Club’s Jonathan Reiter set the tone in heat 1 of the 200 breast with a 4.97 second drop; his winning 2:21.17 was almost 16 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Jacob Grover of Coronado Swim Association dropped 2.6 seconds to win heat 2 in 2:21.59 ahead of Brea’s Kevin Ren, who dropped 4 seconds to go 2:22.75. Evan Yoo of Beach Cities also notched a PB to win his heat; he went 2:21.29, improving by 1.5 seconds.

USC’s Justin Lum marked the first sub-2:21 when he took heat 4 in 2:20.27, beating his seed time by .19. Aidan Simpson of Inland Coastal took second in the heat with 2:21.78.

Brandon Fischer of Livermore Aqua Cowboys cruised to a smooth 2:13.60 in the final heat, beating Team Elite’s Miguel Chavez (2:15.05) and Mission Viejo’s Jason Schreiber (2:18.85).

Men’s 200m Butterfly – Timed Finals

• American record: 1:51.51 7/29/2009 Michael Phelps
• U.S. Open record: 1:52.20 7/2/2008 Michael Phelps
• U.S. Open Meet record: 1:55.60 12/7/2019 Luca Urlando
• U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 2:01.19

Top 3:

1. Zheng Wen Quah, CAL – 1:59.16
2. Michael Tenney, BREA – 2:01.48
3. Brian Wong, CPSU – 2:04.73

Hunter Foehner was 2.4 second faster than his previous best when he won heat 1 of the 200 fly in 2:07.72. Gavin Rogers of Highlands Ranch Aquatics led from start to finish in the next heat, touching first by well over a body length. However, he was DQd for a one-handed touch at the wall. Tona Zinn of SOCAL Aquatics and Irvine NOVA’s Quinn Birtles had been battling it out for second place in the heat; in the end they were 1-2 with 2:05.43 and 2:05.98, respectively.

Zheng Wen Quah of Cal led the final heat from start to finish with Brea’s Michael Tenney following by just over a body length. Quah went 1:59.16 for the win. Tenney touched second in 2:01.48. Cal Poly’s Brian Wong was third from lane 8, clocking a 2:04.73.