Reported by Karl Ortegon.
800 FREE TIMED FINALS – MEN
- 2020 Olympic Trials cut – 8:12.99
Top 3
- Anton Ipsen (Wolfpack Elite) – 8:00.34
- Taylor Abbott (Tennessee) – 8:09.54
- Jeremy Bagshaw (HPC – Victoria) – 8:12.81
Anton Ipsen of Wolfpack Elite completely ran away with it, finishing almost half a pool length ahead of the next-best swimmer. Ipsen hit the wall at 8:00.34, just short of breaking eight minutes. Canadian Jeremy Bagshaw of HPC – Victoria and Egypt’s Akaram Mahmoud battled for 2nd, with Bagshaw claiming runner-up honors at 8:12.81.
Sandpipers of Nevada’s Brennan Gravley touched out Mahmoud in a flurry at the wall, with Gravley clocking an 8:16.34 to Mahmoud’s 8:16.40. Bagshaw’s club teammate Josh Zakala also made it in under 8:20, posting an 8:19.27.
Heat 2 saw Tennessee’s Taylor Abbott claw his way onto the podium, however, as he swam in an outside lane and raced to a time of 8:09.54, nearly three seconds ahead of what Bagshaw went in the first heat to take 2nd there.
Once you notice how much Anton shrugs his shoulders during this interview, you won’t be able to focus on anything else.
(Also hope everything is well with him).
He definitely didn’t seem to want to talk about it. He trained at State for years. Did he develop breathing problems or something? Pure speculation but if so wouldn’t likely be something fixed by developing the infamous TAC-Hack.
I also thought it might be breathing problems – spectators at the NC State pool are always complaining about air quality. I thought TAC was a saltwater pool and must have better air? My teen swimmer was recently diagnosed with asthma, the doctor blamed it on the chlorine – so this is something we’re really curious about at the moment.
Saltwater pools are chlorine pools. They just use a different process to produce the same chemical.
Good point. TAC has better ventilation perhaps. Although the pool my son swims at seems to have great ventilation and he’s obviously having issues with it, so maybe it’s inescapable when your face is inches above the water 2+ hours a day. And Anton’s issue may be something completely different, he deserves privacy and doesn’t need us speculating I suppose – Ashley mentioned they get to sleep in later, and that right there would be a great reason to switch pools 🙂
I swim at TAC and it is not a saltwater pool.