Pro Swim Series: Mission Viejo – Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2022 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – MISSION VIEJO

• June 1 to 4, 2022
• LCM (50m)
• Marguerite Aquatics Center, Mission Viejo, CA
• Meet Central
• Pre-Scratch Psych Sheets
• Livestream
• Live Results

SATURDAY FINALS HEAT SHEET

In the final session of the 2022 Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, California, the 800 free, 100 back, 200 breast, 200 IM, and 50 free will be contested.

This session will be headlined by swimmers David Curtiss, who hit a best time of 21.76 in the men’s 50 free prelims this morning. He’s seeded well ahead of the rest of the field, and is certainly one to look out for. In the women’s 50 free, Polish swimmer Kasia Wasick comes in as the only swimmer under 25 seconds, clocking a time of 24.85.

There’s also a wave of Sandpiper stars competing tonight, such as Bella Sims, who is seeded third in the women’s 100 back behind Isabelle Stadden and Tegan O’Dell. Katie Grimes, who won the women’s 200 back and 400 IM just 20 minutes apart last night, will be competing in the fastest heat of the women’s 800 free tonight alongside her former club teammate Erica Sullivan. Future ASU swimmer Ilya Kharun is seeded second in the men’s 200 IM, behind former ASU swimmer Grant House.

The women’s 200 breast will be a battle between USC teammates Isabelle Odgers and Kaitlyn Dobler, who are the top two seeds, while the men’s 200 breast is headlined by veterans Will Licon and Brandon Fischer.

Justin Ress is well ahead of the field in the men’s 100 back, taking the top seed in prelims by over two seconds. It the women’s 200 IM, top two seeds Viktoria Gunes and Justina Kozan were the only two under 2:20.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE – FINALS

• World Record: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:04.79
• American Record: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:04.79
• U.S. Open Record: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:06.68
• Pro Swim Series Record: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:06.68

Top 3:

1. Katie Grimes – 8:27.72 (SAND)
2. Erica Sullivan – 8:47.54 (TEX)
3. Olivia McMurray – 8:54.19 (TEX)

Katie Grimes dominated this race from start to finish, winning in a time of 8:27.72 to take her fourth victory of the meet. Her time was around five seconds slower than the 8:22.73 she swam to finish fourth at trials, and around ten seconds slower than her 8:17.05 personal best from the Olympics last year.  She split 4:12.90/4:14.82 on her front and back half respectively.

Erica Sullivan, the winner of the 1500 free, took second nearly 20 seconds behind Grimes in 8:47.54. She trailing by a second at the first 100, but the gap began widening after that. Sullivan’s Texas teammate Olivia McMurray finished third with a time of 8:54.19.

MEN’S 800 FREE – FINALS

• World Record: Zhang Lin (CHN) – 7:32.12
• American Record: Bobby Finke (USA) – 7:41.87
• U.S. Open Record: Zane Grothe (USA) – 7:44.57
• Pro Swim Series Record: Michael McBroom (USA) – 7:49.96

Top 3:

1. Marwan Aly-Elkamash – 8:00.74
2. Brice Barrieault – 8:05.59 (SAND)
3. Ilya Kharun – 8:08.49 (SAND)

1500 free winner Marwan Aly-Elkamash led for the majority of this race, but it was close during the first half. At the 400 mark, Brice Barrieault was just 0.53 seconds behind him, with Ilya Kharun not too far back either. However, Elkamash widened his lead as the race went on and ended up winning by nearly five seconds to sweep the men’s distance events in Mission Viejo.

Barrieault and Kharun, who are club teammates from the Sandpipers of Nevada, finished second and third respectively. Barrieault swam a 8:05.59, an improvement from his previous best time of 8:06.25. Kharun took a few tenths off his lifetime best of 8:08.62, swimming a time of 8:08.49 today.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK – FINALS

• World Record: Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 57.45
• American Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 57.57
• U.S. Open Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 57.76
• Pro Swim Series Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 58.18

Top 3:

1. Isabelle Stadden – 1:00.21 (CAL)
2. Bella Sims – 1:01.33 (SAND)
3. Teagan O’Dell – 1:01.46 (NOVA)

Although Bella Sims was the first off the blocks, Isabelle Stadden had the fastest first 50 and overall time, splitting 29.38/30.03 to win in 1:00.21. Sims finished second in a new best time of 1:01.33, taking over a second off of the mark of 1:02.52 she set in May last year. Tegan O’Dell took third with a time of 1:01.46, which is faster than the 1:01.79 she swam at U.S. trials earlier this year to place 21st. She was the only swimmer alongside Stadden to open in a sub-30 time, splitting 29.82/31.64.

MEN’S 100 BACK – FINALS

• World Record: Ryan Murphy (USA) – 51.85
• American Record: Ryan Murphy (USA) – 51.85
• U.S. Open Record: Aaron Piersol (USA) – 51.94
• Pro Swim Series Record: David Plummer (USA) – 52.40

Top 3:

1. Justin Ress – 53.80 (MVN)
2. Colby Mefford – 55.99 (Unattached)
3. Mikita Tsmyh – 57.01 (Unattached)

Leading from start to finish, Justin Ress took this race in a time of 53.80. He flipped in 25.82 over a second ahead of the rest of the field, and then increase that lead to over two seconds for the win. Ress’s best time stands at 52.73 from U.S. trials this year, and is slated to swim the 50 back at the World Championships this summer.

Cal swimmer Colby Mefford took second in a huge best time, clocking a 55.99 to improve upon the 57.38 he swam all the way back at junior nationals in 2019. Belarusian swimmer Mikita Tsmyh, who was second at the 50 mark, fell to third third behind Mefford with a time of 57.01.

WOMEN’S 200 BREAST – FINALS

• World Record: Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA) – 2:18.95
• American Record: Rebecca Soni (USA) – 2:19.59
• U.S. Open Record: Rebecca Soni (USA) – 2:20.38
• Pro Swim Series Record: Annie Lazor (USA) – 2:20.77

Top 3:

1. Isabelle Odgers – 2:28.68 (USC)
2. Katja Pavicevic – 2:29.81 (Unattached)
3. Kaitlyn Dobler – 2:31.10 (USC)

Isabelle Odgers and Katja Pavicevic were just seperated by 0.49 seconds at the 100 mark, but Odgers pulled ahead to take the win in 2:28.68. Odgers’ time is less than a second off her season best time of 2:27.95 that she swam to take ninth at U.S. Trials. Pavicevic was just under three tenths off her lifetime best of 2:29.55, which she set at the 2018 Canadan Swimming championships.

Odgers’ USC teammate Kaitlyn Dobler, who was second out of prelims, rounded out the podium to take third in 2:31.10.

MEN’S 200 BREAST – FINALS

• World Record: Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:05.95
• American Record: Josh Prenot (USA) – 2:07.17
• U.S. Open Record: Josh Prenot (USA) – 2:07.17
• Pro Swim Series Record: Andrew Wilson (USA) – 2:08.95

Top 3:

1. Will Licon – 2:12.28 (TXLA)
2. Ethan Hansen – 2:18.53 (SUN)
3. Brandon Fischer – 2:19.25 (Unattached)

After being just 0.16 seconds ahead of Brandon Fischer at the 100 mark, Will Licon had a monster back half to win this race by over six seconds in a time of 2:12.28. He split 1:04.57/1:07.71, with his back half being over four seconds faster than the rest of the field. That’s just over a second slower than the 2:11.03 he swam to take fourth at U.S. trials. Fischer split 1:04.73/1:14.52, and faded to third with a 38.76 last 50. This allowed Ethan Hansen to overtake him on the last lap, going 35.14 to take second in 2;18.53.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINALS

• World Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:06.12
• American Record: Ariana Kukors (USA) – 2:06.15
• U.S. Open Record: Alex Walsh (USA) – 2:07.84
• Pro Swim Series Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:08.66

Top 3:

1. Viktoria Gunes – 2:13.80 (Unattached)
2. Justina Kozan – 2:14.72 (Unattached)
3. Lindsay Looney – 2:16.15 (ASU)

Viktoria Gunes, the Turkish national record in this event, had a massive 36.73 breaststroke split (the fastest in the field by nearly four seconds) to take the win in a time of 2:18.80. Justina Kozan, known for her fast closing tactics, finished with a 29.30 freestyle split to cut Gunes’ lead by two seconds on the last 50 for the runner-up finish. Lindsay Looney swam a time of 2:16.15 to take her third third-place finish of the meet after the 100 and 200 free relay.

MEN’S 200 IM – FINALS

• World Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.00
• American Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.00
• U.S. Open Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.56
• Pro Swim Series Record: Michael Phelps (USA) – 1:56.32

Top 3:

1. Grant House – 1:59.84 (ASU)
2. Ilya Kharun – 2:04.43 (SAND)
3. Tyler Kopp – 2:05.09 (Unattached)

Sun Devil Swimming’s Grant House was the only man under the two minute barrier in this 200 IM final, having a commanding lead the entire race to swim a time of 1:59.84. He split 24.72/30.60/35.44/29.08 and was just a few tenths off his best time of 1:59.23 from his seventh place finish at U.S. trials.

After setting a lifetime best in the 800 free earlier today, Ilya Kharun did it again in this event, clocking a 2:04.43 to drop nearly three seconds off his 2:07.22 from last July. Tyler Kopp was around half a second behind Kharun, taking third in 2:05.09. He also swam a best time, improving upon his mark of 2:05.46, also from last July.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – FINALS

• World Record: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 23.67
• American Record: Simone Manuel (USA) – 23.97
• U.S. Open Record: Pernille Blume (DEN) – 24.08
• Pro Swim Series Record: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 24.17

Top 3:

1. Kasia Wasick – 24.70 (TRA)
2. Kyla Leibel – 25.47 (TEX)
3. Anicka Delgado – 25.95 (EVO)

Just a week out from swimming her season best time of 24.37 to take fifth in the World, Poland’s Kasia Wasick neared that time tonight to win in 24.70. She was the only woman in the field under 25 seconds. Kyla Liebel was just 0.04 off of her best time from 2018 Pan Pacs, taking second in a time of 25.47. USC swimmer Anicka Delgado finished third with a 25.95 in her first time swimmer this event since the Junior Pan American games in November 2021.

MEN’S 50 FREE – FINALS

• World Record: Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 20.91
• American Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.04
• U.S. Open Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.04
• Pro Swim Series Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.51

Top 3:

1. David Curtiss – 21.80 (WOLF)
2. Ryan Held – 22.08 (NYAC)
3. Artyom Machenkin – 22.43 (SDSA)

After setting a best time of 21.76 in prelims, David Curtiss was just 0.04 seconds off in finals to win with a time of 21.80. That time is still fast enough to put in as 14th in the world this year. Ryan Held, set to swim on the 4×200 free relay at World Championships this year, took second in 22.08. Artyom Manchenkin made it two third-place finishes for Belarus tonight when he swam a time of 22.43, less than a tenth off his best time of 22.36 from earlier this year at the San Antonio Pro Swim Series.