2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Minneapolis: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2015 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES MINNEAPOLIS

• Thursday, November 12th – Saturday, November 14th
• University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Prelims at 9am Central/10am Eastern & Finals at 6pm Central/7pm Eastern
• Psych Sheets
• Friday Prelims Heat Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

Top 8: Cammile Adams, Kelsi Worrell, Hannah Saiz, Haley Anderson, Noemie Thomas, Becca Mann, Ruby Martin, Katie McLaughlin

SwimMAC Elite’s Cammile Adams rocked the morning’s top 200m butterfly time, but not without a battle with Louisville stand-out Kelsi Worrell.  Worrell, the two-time NCAA Champion and current American Record Holder in the 100y butterfly event, led heat 7 through approximately 150m, where Adams made her move off the turn. Known for her back-half prowess, Adams didn’t hesitate to turn it on and crank out a 2nd 100 split of 1:06.70 to Worrell’s 1:09.20 to take the top seed.   Adams’ time was 2:09.59 to Worrell’s 2:10.71.

Also making the final is Kenyon graduate and 2013 D3 Champion in the event, Hanna Saiz, who clocked 2:10.87 for the 3rd seed. 2015 Open Water Swimmer of the Year, Haley Anderson, touched in 2:12.92, the 2nd best time of her career, only behind the 2:10.84 from earlier this year at the Fran Crippen Memorial meet. Noemie Thomas, Becca Mann, Ruby Martin and Cal student-athlete Katie McLaughlin will be in the final tonight as well.

Of note, Martin, from the Iowa Flyers club, is just 15 years old and clocked the 7th-swiftest time this morning of 2:13.72. She’s dipped into the 2:12 range twice so far this year, so she could be a player for a minor medal come the final tonight.

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

Top 8: Chase Kalisz, Michael Phelps, Corey Okubo, Tyler Clary, Mack Darragh, Dakota Hodgson, Grant Shoults, Michael Flach

Training mates Chase Kalisz and Michael Phelps wound up as the top 2 seeds in the men’s 200 fly, both swimming in heat 6 this morning. Phelps looked smooth and strong the first 100, then started tightening up on the final 75m, whereas Kalisz was more even-tempoed throughout the race, clocking the only sub-2:00 mark of the field. Splits for these two North Baltimore Aquatic Club swimmers were as follows:

Kalisz – 27.34, 30.53, 31.20, 30.79 = 1:59.86
Phelps – 27.15, 30.13, 32.03, 31.09 = 2:00.40

Phelps has swum the 200 fly 6 times over the last year, with times ranging from 2:00.64 at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Charlotte last May to the 1:52.94 stunner he threw down at August’s U.S. Nationals to top the world rankings.

Last night’s 400m IM bronze medalist, Corey Okubo from Princeton finished as the 3rd seed with his time of 2:01.46, just over a tenth ahead of SwimMAC Carolina powerhouse Tyler Clary. Young Stanford Cardinal commit Grant Shoults also made the final, registering a time of 2:02.26.  Shoults’ best time is a 1:59.15, but swimming in the same final as the Greatest Olympic of All Time, Michael Phelps, may push this 18-year-old to a new territory.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Etienne Medeiros, Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, Ivy Martin, Kelsi Worrell, Farida Osman, Margo Geer, Amanda Kendall

Etienne Medeiros swam her way to a new University of Minnesota Aquatics Center pool record with her speedy swim of 24.73.  She and USA National Teamer Simone Manuel were the only two competitors to dip beneath the 25-second threshold on the morning, with Manuel touching in 24.85 for the 2nd seed headed into tonight. Canyons’ Abbey Weitzeil, deferring her freshman year into Cal, finished in 25.12, while Wisconsin Aquatics’ Ivy Martin finished in 25.30.

Not too many swimmers can make 2 finals in more diverse events than the 200 butterfly and then a 50 freestyle, but leave it to Kelsi Worrell to get the job done in spades.  Have already qualified 2nd in the distance butterfly, she turned right around and punched the wall in a 25.31 to nab the 5th seed headed into tonight. She will also be swimming the 100 backstroke later on this session for a back-to-back-to-back triple.

Also qualifying tonight are Egyptian National Record Holder Farida Osman, NCAA Woman of the Year Finalist Margo Geer and comeback swimmer Amanda Kendall.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Nathan Adrian, Santo Codorelli, Brad Tandy, Marcelo Chierghini, Geoff Cheah, Elvis Burrows, George Bovell, Joao De Lucca

Yes, Nathan Adrian was here in the flesh, as proven by his smooth 22.39 to lead the men’s sprint freestyle this morning.  Adrian cruised to the finish to just beat out Canada’s Santo Condorelli, last night’s 100m butterfly silver medalist, by .05 in the same heat.

Tuscon Ford Aquatics’ Brad Tandy exploded off the blocks in his usual fashion to touch in 22.66 for the 3rd seed, while Brazilian stud Marcelo Chierghini clocked a 22.76 for 4th headed into the final. Club Wolverine Elite’s Geoff Cheah from Hong Kong raced to a time of 22.76 to tie the Bahamas’ Elvis Burrows for the 5th seed.

Trinidad & Tobago’s 2015 Pan American Games bronze medalist in this event, George Bovell, and South American Record Holder in the short course 200m freestyle/ last night’s 200m freestyle bronze medalist,  Joao De Lucca, from Cardinal Aquatics, also made tonight’s 50m free final.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Kylie Masse, Missy Franklin, Dominique Bouchard, Kirsty Coventry, Amy Bilquist, Rachel Bootsma, Maya DiRado, Kathleen Baker

Although no female swimmer went sub-minute in the 100 backstroke this morning, World University Games gold medalist Kylie Masse turned out a solid swim to lead the women’s 100 back field in a time of 1:00.49.  Fresh off the World Cup circuit, Missy Franklin registered a time of 1:00.63 for the 2nd seed.  Franklin sits as the 7th-fastest in the world with her 59.40 from Kazan, while Masse’s time from WUGs was 59.97. Franklin’s speed came in the back-end of this morning’s race, per her usual, where she outsplit Masse, but only by .05.

Kirsty Coventry from SwimMAC Elite is gunning for her 5th Olympic appearance and got a good race under her belt today, clocking a time of 1:01.14 for the 4th seed behind Canada’s Dominique Bouchard, who certainly is a threat after having finished 6th in the 200 backstroke at this summer’s World Championships.

MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

Top 8: David Plummer, Grigory Tarasevich, Ryan Lochte, Michael Andrew, Guy Barnea, Bobby Hurley, Arkady Vyatchanin, Aaron Greene

Coming into the meet, New York Athletic Club’s David Plummer was positioned as the 3rd-fastest 100 backstroker in the world this year with his time of 52.51 from the World Cup stop in Dubai. He didn’t dip much below that to wrangle in the top seed in Minneapolis, scoring the only sub-53 AND sub-54 time of the morning. Plummer’s time of 52.83 not only guaranteed him lane 4 for the final, but it also established a new pool record for the former Minnesota swimmer.

In a time of 54.33 was University of Louisville swimmer Grigory Tarasevich from Russia, followed by multiple Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte who scored a mark of 55.02. Young Michael Andrew had scratched the 200m breaststroke event taking place later on the session to focus on this event, a strategy which paid off nicely as he swam into the 4th seed in 55.44.

Also making tonight’s final are two comeback kids in the form of Club Wolverine Elite’s Bobby Hurley and NYAC’s Arkady Vyatchanin. Hurley, who competes for Australia, had undergone stem cell therapy for elbow issues last year and is just now making his way back to international competition.  Hurley finished 8th in last night’s 200m freestyle final. For Vyatchanin, the gentle giant pulled out of August’s Summer Nationals due to a nagging shoulder injury, which forced the now-Serbian swimmer to also hold off on his annual trek to Bolzano earlier this month.  Rest was on his agenda and he’s now back in the mix, touching in 55.60 for the 7th seed.

Side note – Michael Phelps swam the prelims in a time of 56.97 for 15th, a mark near the slower-end of his 100 back time spectrum. Phelps’ fastest was the 53.01 from 2007 Nationals.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Kierra Smith, Marina Garcia Urzainqui, Andee Cottrell, Martha McCabe, Melanie Margalis, Breeja Larson, Haley Spencer, Sarah Henry

Canadian swimmer/University of Minnesota red-shirt athlete Kierra Smith threw down an impressive swim this morning, stopping the clock in the women’s 200m breaststroke in a time of 2:25.73.  That cleared the field by almost two full seconds and was only a second over the pool record of her home school (2:24.77).

Louisville’s Andee Cotrell scored a bronze medal last night in the women’s 100m breaststroke and sits in a solid position to attempt another podium placement, finishing in 2:29.22 for the 3rd seed for finals. 2012 Olympic finalist, Martha McCabe from Canada will also be in the mix with her prelim swim of 2;29.56, as will former NCAA Champion in the event, Haley Spencer (2:30.89).

Two other NCAA champions will also be battling it out as, Breeja Larson, who won the 100 breaststroke NCAA title in 2012, touched in 2:30.39 for the 6th seed and Texas A&M’s Sarah Henry, last year’s 400 IM at NCAAs, touched in 2:32.05 to squeeze into the final.

One swimmer who will be notably absent, however, is SwimMAC Elite dynamo Micah Lawrence, who suffered a DQ in the event this morning. No details are available at time of publishing.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Carlos Claverie, Nic Fink, Chase Kalisz, Thomas Dahlia, Yannick Kaeser, Cody Miller, BJ Johnson, Nick Schafer

Yesterday’s top seed out of the 100m breaststroke prelims, University of Louisville’s Carlos Claverie, is also today’s top seed for the longer distance. Claverie scored a mark of 2:12.02 out of heat 5, a time not terribly too far off his career-best of 2:11.74 he earned at the 2014 Youth Olympics. Claverie will have his hands full in the final, however, as USA National Teamer Nic Fink is in the hunt with a relaxed time of 2:14.87 to put him right next to Claverie.

North Baltimore’s Chase Kalisz doubled up on his 200 fly top seed from earlier in the session to score the 3rd seed in this event, clocking a mark of 2:14.90, followed by University of Louisville post-graduate Thomas Dahlia who sits right behind by just .02 in 2:14.92.

Cody Miller lurks as the 6th seed for tonight with his time of 2:15.10. He earned silver last night behind Sam Tierney in the 100m breaststroke event and has registered two sub-2:10 200m breast marks already on the year.

WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Katie Ledecky, Leah Smith, Stephanie Peacock, Becca Mann, Cierra Runge, Haley Anderson, Allison Schmitt, Lindsay Vrooman

World Record Holder and 4-time gold medalist at this summer’s World Championships, Katie Ledecky, was in the pool this morning in her usual eye-popping form. Ledecky fired off a leisurely 4:03.05 400m freestyle to take down Allison Schmitt’s pool record of 4:07.78 that stood since 2011. Schmitt would wind up with the 7th seed from prelims.

During her swim, Ledecky was masterfully both attacking yet controlling her strokes, resulting in the following splits for the 18-year-old:

28.73, 29.64, 30.58, 30.28, 31.17, 30.53, 31.57, 30.55 = 4:03.05

Last year’s NCAA Champion in the women’s 500y freestyle, Leah Smith, also did her thing in prelims, touching the wall in 4:06.82 to swim right alongside Ledecky this evening. Smith started her race slower than Ledecky, in opening 50 splits of 28.90 and 30.84, but came home with some nice speed in the final two 50s of 30.44 and 30.17.

Becca Mann made her mark on the meet yesterday by swimming the 9th-fastest 400m IM by an American female in history when she won that event and followed that swim up with a 4:09.73 today for the 4th seed in this 400. Both Mann and Haley Anderson, this event’s 6th seed out of prelims, already both swam and qualified for the 200m butterfly earlier in the session, so we’ll keep an eye on any possible scratches for this evening.  Although, with each of these ladies well-versed in the grueling dynamic of distance open water swimming, a two-event final probably seems like a piece of cake.

MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

Top 8: Conor Dwyer, Marcelo Acosta, Connor Jaeger, Giovanny Lima, Grant Shoults, Trevor Carroll, Michael Weiss, True Sweetser

Trojan Swim Club’s Conor Dwyer kicked off his 8-lap adventure with a super swift 26.39 opening 50, the fastest of the top 8 qualifiers.  Dwyer toned down his swim the remainder of the way and wound up coasting the final 100m to end with a time of 3:52.52 as the top seed.

19-year old Marcelo Acosta, the first swimmer of El Salvador to medal at a Youth Olympics and his country’s flag-bearer at the 2015 Pan American Games, clinched the 2nd seed with his time of 3:54.84, splitting sub-30 on every 50 save for his 4th (30.20).

Ever-a-threat Connor Jaeger nabbed the 3rd seed with his mark of 3;55.65, while Grant Shoults scored his 2nd final of the session, coming in as the 5th seed now in the 400 with his time of 3:56.66. University of Louisville’s Trevor Carroll followed up his impressive 200m freestyle performance from yesterday with another chance to land on the podium, positioned as the 6th seed in 3

:57.96.

Too bad for Ryan Lochte fans, as the swimmer’s entry in the 400m freestyle was one of the “off” events to watch of the meet, but the 31-year-old stud scratched.