Produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Lauren Neidigh.
100 breaststroke national champion Andrew Wilson of Longhorn Aquatics posted the top qualifying 200 breaststroke time of the morning in 2:09.84. That swim moved Wilson into 19th in the FINA world rankings in this event, and makes him the 4th fastest American of 2015.
Wilson’s time will give him lane 4, right next to his summer training partner, Will Licon. Licon dropped a best time of 2:10.10 for the 2nd seed heading into finals ahead of BJ Johnson (2:11.92).
A pair of international swimmers, Craig Benson (2:12.14) and Michael Jamieson (2:12.17), took 4th and 5th. Benson went head-to-head with Michael Phelpsthis morning in heat 11. Phelps held his own against Benson, proving that he can compete nationally in even his “off events.” He was the 6th fastest qualifier in 2:12.68, smashing his previous best of 2:15.06 from 2007.
Across his career, Phelps has already won national titles in every other stroke. If he chooses to swim the event tonight, he could become the 2nd swimmer in history to have won American national championships in all four strokes.
Mizzou graduate Sam Tierney qualified seventh in 2:12.71, followed by Cal’s Chuck Katis (2:13.11).
Other notable swims include Avon Community’s Chandler Bray’s 2:14.55, the 2nd fastest swim in 15-16 age group history. The 15-16 NAG record holder in that event, Reece Whitley, qualified 10th with a 2:13.42, just a second slower than his NAG record swim from last week’s Juniors.
“No… No, I don’t think like that.. Butterflyers don’t think like that!” 😀
The only swimmer to win every stroke at nationals was Tracey Caukins. Still, pretty good for his weakest stroke.
The most refreshing and positive thing is that he’s swimming anything “for fun.” The “fun” part seemed to have been lost for him for so long. It’s great to see him have so much joy in swimming again. Hope he continues to relish every stage of the process from here on out — he deserves it for all he’s done for the sport.
I’m not all that surprised that Phelps could put up such a time. I’m not so sure about another 3-4 seconds tonight, but for how competitive of a guy Phelps is coupled with his natural ability, it’s not surprising that he could put out in breast.
That’s an impressive time he just swam. He should have a go at getting under 2:10. It won’t get in the way of the rest of his program, and will put the finishing touch on his 200IM.
His PB before was 2:15 not 2:12. Bizarre he doesn’t know.
btw are thse annoying “video breaks” necessary? They don’t add anything except time to the video and the noise is louder than than the speech. Separate parts of the interview can be hoined seamlessly with no loss of enjoyment.
He is in the heat sheet for finals so he didn’t scratch during the official period.
Here is his prelim swim in case anyone missed it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzcZfC7ZhOA