2016 Arena Pro Swim Series – Mesa: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

Arena Pro Swim Series at Mesa

• Thursday, April 14 – Saturday, April 16, 2016
• Skyline Aquatic Center
• Mesa, Arizona (same as Pacific Daylight Time, GMT -7 hours)
• Prelims 9AM / Finals 5PM (12PM/8PM Eastern Daylight Time)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Meet Central
• Friday morning heat sheets

Women’s 200 Meter Butterfly – Prelims

• FINA A: 2:09.33
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 2:14.99

New York Athletic Club’s Kim Vandenberg won the first heat of the day with 2:18.67. The 32-year-old took 2.5 seconds off her seed time and earned a second swim tonight. Elise Locke of Santa Clara put up a strong back half to win the following heat in 2:18.38 and move into the lead. Jessica Nava of Pine Crest had taken it out strong but lost to Locke over the final 50; Nava was second in the heat with 2:18.74. Heat 3 was a battle of the outside lanes, as Patricia Castro Ortega edged Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou of Santa Clara, 2:16.67 to 2:17.16, for the win.

Maya DiRado of Stanford Swimming jumped to the top of the leaderboard winning the first circle-seeded heat with 2:12.25. Iowa Flyers’ Ruby Martin moved into the lead at the 150 wall thanks to a strong third 50, but DiRado brought it home for the win. Martin was second with 2:12.94.

Katinka Hosszu found herself surrounded by American record-holders in the next heat, with Kelsi Worrell of Louisville to her left and Ella Eastin of Stanford to her right. Hosszu was unfazed, though, and cruised to a 2:11.52 victory. Eastin’s back half blew Worrell away and she finished second in 2:12.39, more than a half-second ahead of Worrell.

The final heat belonged to Cammile Adams of SwimMAC from start to finish. Out in 1:01.9, she came home in 1:07 to post the morning’s leading time of 2:08.94. Nation’s Capital’s Cassidy Bayer was second in 2:10.39, while Lauren Case of Chattahoochee Gold was third in the heat with 2:12.22.

Top 8:

1. Cammile Adams 2:08.94
2. Cassidy Bayer 2:10.39
3. Katinka Hosszu 2:11.52
4. Lauren Case 2:12.22
5. Maya DiRado 2:12.25
6. Ella Eastin 2:12.39
7. T7 Kelsi Worrell 2:12.94
8. T7 Ruby Martin 2:12.94

Men’s 200 Meter Butterfly – Prelims

• FINA A: 1:56.97
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 2:01.99

With only five heats of men’s 200 fly we were quickly into the championship-seeded heats. After early wins from Ben Olszewski of Arizona Gold (2:07.76) and Palo Alto Stanford’s Alex Liang (2:04.26), the times immediately dipped under the 2:00 mark. Pace Clark of Athens Bulldog Swim Club won the first circle-seeded heat in 1:59.00; he was followed by Jonathan Gomez in 59.67.

Chase Kalisz of North Baltimore outlasted Gunnar Bentz of Athens Bulldogs, 1:59.36 to 2:00.21, to take the penultimate heat and move to second overall. Top-seeded Michael Phelps of North Baltimore cruised to a 1:59.98 win in the final heat, coming to the wall ahead of Long Gutierrez (2:02.07) and Cal’s Andrew Seliskar (2:02.98).

Almost as notable as who swam the event were the names of those who scratched: Tyler Clary, Ryan Lochte, Adam Hinshaw, and Connor Knight all pulled out, guaranteeing a second swim for all who wanted one.

Top 8:

1. Pace Clark 1:59.00
2. Chase Kalisz 1:59.36
3. Jonathan Gomez 1:59.67
4. Michael Phelps 1:59.98
5. Gunnar Bentz 2:00.21
6. Jack Conger 2:00.96
7. Kyler VanSwol 2:01.20
8. Zach Harting 2:01.27

Women’s 50 Meter Freestyle – Prelims

• U.S. Olympic Trials: 26.19

A few good swims in early heats positioned the morning’s sprinters for strong finals placements. Sami Guttmacher nailed a 26.96 to win the first heat; she was followed by Annika Winsnes (26.36) and Cherelle Thompson (26.02) in the next two heats. Ann Ochitwa won heat 4 by a fingernail over Taylor Schick, 25.92 to 26.01, and the pair moved to the top of the leaderboard. Anika Apolstalon of Trojan Swim Club won the final heat before the circle seeds in 25.89 to slip into the lead.

Dana Vollmer of California Aquatics, fresh off her stunning win in the 100 fly last night, destroyed her seed time and won the first of the fastest heats with 25.00. Behind her were Madison Kennedy of SwimMAC (25.18) and Amanda Weir of SwimAtlanta (25.54).

Simone Manuel dominated the next heat with 25.10, moving to second overall behind Vollmer. Worrell, just one of many who hopped out of the warmdown pool after the 200 fly and swam the 50, was second in the heat with 25.36. Madeline Locus of SwimAtlanta took third in 25.69.

Abbey Weitzeil crushed the final heat of women’s 50s with 24.83, the only competitor to crack 25 seconds in the morning. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of SwimMAC took second in 25.22, while SMU’s Isabella Arcila was third in 25.61.

To give an idea of just how tight this A final was, the B final tonight will consist of names that could just as easily have been in the championship final: Margo Geer (25.62), Locus, Lia Neal, Jessica Hardy, Katrina Konopka, Felicia Lee, Apostalon, and Ochitwa (25.92).

There was a swimoff for the first alternate position between Lauren Case of Chattahoochee Gold and SMU’s Nina Rangelova, both of whom went 26.42 in heats. Rangelova moved ahead in the rankings with a 25.69 to win the swimoff. Case also improved her earlier performance with 26.22.

Top 8:

1. Abbey Weitzeil 24.83
2. Dana Vollmer 25.00
3. Simone Manuel 25.10
4. Madison Kennedy 25.18
5. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace 25.22
6. Kelsi Worrell 25.36
7. Amanda Weir 25.54
8. Isabella Arcila 25.61

Men’s 50 Meter Freestyle – Prelims

• FINA A: 22.27
• S. Olympic Trials: 23.29

Chad Idensohn got things rolling with a big 23.32 in heat 1 to set the pace for the men sprinters. Two heats later Alexander Linge of Linkopings took over the lead with a 2:23.25 win over Matthias Lindenbauer (23.67). Adam Powell won heat 5 with 23.04 over Daniel Rzadkowski (23.11); the pair moved to the top of the board. The last of the heats before circle seeding went to Mazen El Kamash in 23.29, .02 ahead of Paul Le.

Cullen Jones of SwimMAC held off Nick Soedel to claim the first circle-seeded heat in 22.62. Soedel was 22.68, while third-place Michael Andrew of Indie Swimming touched in 22.86.

Jones’ lead was short-lived, as Trojan Swim Club’s Anthony Ervin took the next heat in 22.52 over Luis Flores of Puerto Rico (22.68) and Cristian Quintero of Trojan (22.87).

California Aquatics’ Nathan Adrian won the final heat and moved to the top of the leaderboard with 22.49. Erik Risolvato of Puerto Rico (22.67) and Michael Chadwick of Mizzou (22.72) followed.

A couple of swimoffs added a measure of excitement to the 50s. Daniel Ramirez of Oklahoma Baptist crushed his second shot with 22.89 to move ahead of Christopher Fiala (23.38); the pair had finished tied for 25th after heats with 23.41. Rodrigo Caceres edged Alejandro Escudero in the second swimoff, 23.51 to 23.63. Both were faster than their morning swim of 23.73 which had them tied for 35th.

Top 8:

1. Nathan Adrian 22.49
2. Anthony Ervin 22.52
3. Cullen Jones 22.62
4. Erik Risolvato 22.67
5. T5 Nick Soedel 22.68
6. T5 Luis Flores 22.68
7. Michael Chadwick 22.72
8. Derek Toomey 22.73

Women’s 100 Meter Backstroke – Prelims

• FINA A: 1:00.25
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 1:03.39

Eleanna Koutsouveli, entered with a yards bonus time, cracked a 1:03.80 in the opening heat to set the bar in the women’s 100 back. Mary-Sophie Harvey went 1:03.42 in heat 2 to take over, and was able to hang on to her perch through the next heat, won by Anika Apostalon of Trojan Swim Club in 1:03.45.

Kirsty Coventry won the first circle-seeded heat with 1:00.81 ahead of Ella Eastin (1:02.89). Heat 5 pitted Colorado Stars teammates Fernanda Gonzalez and Missy Franklin in neighboring lanes. Franklin appeared to get off to a slow start, while Gonzalez was explosive. Felicia Lee of Stanford also had a nice start. Franklin’s back half kept her in the game, but Gonzalez (1:02.06) and Lee (1:02.24) came to the wall ahead of Franklin (1:02.38).

Katinka Hosszu won the final heat in the only sub-1:01; she nearly broke a minute, too, with her 1:00.07. Second in the heat was Maya DiRado in 1:01.10; Kaitlin Harty of YMCA of the North Shore came in third with 1:01.84.

Top 8:

1. Katinka Hosszu 1:00.07
2. Kirsty Coventry 1:00.81
3. Maya DiRado 1:01.10
4. Kaitlin Harty 1:01.84
5. Fernanda Gonzalez 1:02.06
6. Felicia Lee 1:02.24
7. Missy Franklin 1:02.38
8. Ella Eastin 1:02.89

Men’s 100 Meter Backstroke – Prelims

• FINA A: 54.36
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 57.19

Daniel Ramirez scratched out of the 100 back, which served him well in the 50 free swimoff. Tyler Clary, David Nolan, James Wells, and Mohamed Hussein were also no-shows. After opening heat wins from Timothy Wynter of Trojan Swim Club (57.97) and Marco Palacios (56.34), Tennessee Aquatics’ Sean Lehane won the first circle-seeded heat in 55.81 ahead of Eugene Godsoe from Wolfpack Elite (55.92) and Drew teDuits of Madison (56.61). Michael Andrew, seeded second in that heat, added 2.8 seconds and barely made the B final.

In the very empty penultimate heat, Michael Taylor of Dynamo clocked a 56.23 to out-touch Arkady Vyatchanin (56.46) and Preston Jenkins (56.95). David Plummer dominated the final heat, touching in 54.07 ahead of Ryan Lochte’s 54.83.

Top 8:

1. David Plummer 54.07
2. Ryan Lochte 54.83
3. Sean Lehane 55.81
4. Eugene Godsoe 55.92
5. Michael Taylor 56.23
6. Marco Palacios 56.34
7. Arkady Vyatchanin 56.46
8. Paul Le 56.52

Women’s 200 Meter Breaststroke – Prelims

• FINA A: 2:26.94
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 2:34.99

After a pair of 2:40s in heat 1 from Carly Cummings of Badger (2:40.26) and Grace Horvath of Mesa (2:40.87), Urte Kazakeviciute jumped to the lead with a 2:35.16 win in heat 2 over Sofie Underdahl of Texas Ford (2:36.90). Underdahl’s teammate Rachel Ramey won the following heat, edging Louisville’s Rachael Bradford-Feldman 2:35.00 to 2:35.26.

The circle-seeded heats began with an excellent battle among Ashley McGregor of Pointe-Claire (2:28.88), Melanie Margalis of Saint Petersburg (2:29.41), and Breeja Larson of New York Athletic Club (2:29.52) in the middle lanes.

Molly Hannis of Tennessee Aquatics followed up with a 2:28.56 win of the following heat to take over the lead. Emma Schettmer placed second in 2:29.20, while Katie Meili of SwimMAC, the winner of last night’s 100 breast, struggled to a 2:30.36 finish. Meili ended up ninth overall, missing the A final by .40.

Laura Sogar of Bluefish Swim Club looked like she would sail away to an easy win in the final heat; she led at the 100 and again at the 150, but at the last minute Hilda Luthersdottir of Gator Swim Club accelerated to get the touch, 2:29.23 to 2:29.41. Third in the heat was Minnesota Aquatics’ Haley Spencer in 2:29.98.

Top 8:

1. Molly Hannis 2:28.56
2. Ashley McGregor 2:28.88
3. Emma Schoettmer 2:29.20
4. Hilde Luthersdottir 2:29.23
5. T5 Melanie Margalis, 2:29.41
6. T5 Laura Sogar 2:29.41
7. Breeja Larson 2:29.52
8. Haley Spencer 2:29.98

Men’s 200 Meter Breaststroke – Prelims

• FINA A: 2:11.66
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 2:18.39

Rafa Alfaro of Trojan Swim Club knocked 2.5 seconds off his top meters time to win heat 2 over Jonathan Leopold of The Olympic Club, 2:18.54 to 2:20.33. Alfaro held onto the lead over the next couple of heats, won by Roma Trussov of Kazakhstan (2:19.09) and Julian Fletcher of Trojan (2:19.34). Youssef El Kamash, who won the 100 breast last night, took over the lead with 2:18.03. He beat Ridge Altman of Trojan Swim Club (2:18.26) to establish the time to beat for the circle-seeded heats.

Palo Alto Stanford’s BJ Johnson won the first of those with 2:17.83; Cal’s Andrew Seliskar was second in the heat in 2:19.31. Next it was Andrew Wilson of Longhorn Aquatics with a dominant 2:17.12 ahead of Trojans’ Azad Al-Barazi and NYAC’s Mike Alexandrov (2:19.88).

Chase Kalisz blew away the field in the final heat, touching in 2:13.81 to earn lane 4 in tonight’s final. Nic Fink of Athens Bulldog Swim Club was second in 2:15.24, just out-touching Trojans’ Steven Stumph (2:15.43).

Top 8:

1. Chase Kalisz 2:13.81
2. Nic Fink 2:15.24
3. Steven Stumph 2:15.43
4. Miguel De Lara Ojeda 2:15.93
5. Miguel Chavez 2:16.36
6. Andrew Wilson 2:17.12
7. Max Williamson 2:17.65
8. BJ Johnson 2:17.83

Women’s 400 Meter Freestyle – Prelims

• FINA A: 4:09.08
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 4:17.99

The first four heats of women’ 400 freestyles only produced a handful of sub-4:20s. CN Saint Jerome’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (4:19.03) and Katarina Simonivic of Serbia (4:19.45) won their respective heats to lead the field before Kristel Kobrich of Chile (4:15.47) and Kate Ziegler of Tennessee (4:15.83) took over at the top.

In the first of the two circle-seeded heats, North Baltimore teammates Cierra Runge and Lotte Friis battled for supremacy. Runge was out first, Friis took over at the 100, and then Runge shut it down over the final 75 meters to win 4:10.51 to 4:12.10. Joanna Evans of Texas had a great second half and pulled nearly even with the leaders for a third-place 4:12.47.

Katie Ledecky of Nation’s Capital dominated the final heat; she led by 1 second at the 100, by 2 at the 200, by 5 at the 300, and by 7 at the finish. Meanwhile, Hosszu and Allison Schmitt were locked in a stroke-for-stroke race for second until Hosszu broke through over the last 100. Ledecky went 4:03.54 for the heat win, followed by Hosszu (4:10.74) and Schmitt (4:12.70).

Top 8:

1. Katie Ledecky 4:03.54
2. Cierra Runge 4:10.51
3. Katinka Hosszu 4:10.74
4. Lotte Friis 4:12.10
5. Joanna Evans 4:12.47
6. Allison Schmitt 4:12.70
7. Becca Mann 4:13.10
8. Sarah Henry 4:13.64

Men’s 400 Meter Freestyle – Prelims

• FINA A: 3:50.40
• U.S. Olympic Trials: 3:58.69

Mission Viejo’s Logan Redondo began the men’s 400 with a 4:01.21 win of heat 1 to better his seed time by 1 second. Two heats later Nicholas Hogsed took over the lead with 3:59.02, with Azura Florida’s Franco Lupoli behind him at 4:00.95. Nitro’s Christopher Yeager went 3:55.70 to out-touch Arturo Perez Vertti of Caan Swim Team (3:56.67) in heat 4 and move to the top of the standings before the circle-seeded heats.

The final two heats featured great racing in the middle lanes, a precursor to what is likely to be the event of the night in finals. Team Santa Monica’s Jordan Wilimovsky won the first heat in 3:51.29, moving past Clark Smith of Texas over the second half of the race. Wilimovsky split 1:55.3/1:55.9, while Smith’s 1:54.8/1:57.3 put him second with 3:52.10. Trojan Swim Club’s Cristian Quintero finished third in 3:53.01.

Conor Dwyer of Trojan edged The Woodlands’ Michael McBroom, 3:52.33 to 3:52.43, for the victory in the final heat of the morning. Mission Viejo’s Ous Mellouli placed third with 3:53.79.

Top 8:

1. Jordan Wilimovsky 3:51.29
2. Clark Smith 3:52.10
3. Conor Dwyer 3:52.33
4. Michael McBroom 3:52.43
5. Cristian Quintero 3:53.01
6. Ous Mellouli 3:53.79
7. Marcelo Acosta 3:54.26
8. Matias Koski 3:54.84

Top 8: