Reported by Lauren Neidigh.
WOMEN’S 200 FREE:
- GOLD: Leah Smith, 1:59.12
- SILVER: Allison Schmitt, 1:59.57
- BRONZE: Melanie Margalis, 1:59.58
World Champs gold medalist Leah Smith raced with 2 of her gold medal relay teammates as she,Melanie Margalis, and Mallory Comerford stepped up for the final. Smith, swimming in her first meet of 2018, led from the start as she won gold. Behind her, margalis and Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt raced for silver, with Schmitt holding off Margalis by a hundredth. Comerford wound up 7th tonight in 2:02.72.
If to look at this race as “April” phase of preparation for the major meet of the year then it makes her a real contender for the place on the National team. 1:57 low will be probably enough to be the part of 4×200 relay.
If this race was a comeback statement then I’m very glad she made it. And despite the fact that it wasn’t fast (by her standards that we got used to) I share Leah Smith’s opinion that swimmers like Allison Schmitt deserves deep respect for competing in swimming as long as they can. Because they love this sport that became the essential part of their lives.
Great to see Schmitty SMILING and swimming pretty darn fast. Welcome back! Seems like this whole part of her career will just be icing on the cake.
“A happy Schmitty is a fast Schmitty” – Bob Bowman