Produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Jared Anderson.
Without Katie McLaughlin in the field, it was the other U.S. entrant from the 2015 World Championships who was all alone out front by the end of this race. That was Cammile Adams, who won silver in Kazan. Adams was 2:08.21, using a great back half to shake the field.
Leading at the 100-mark was 16-year-old Cassidy Bayer, but the youngster fell off a bit down the stretch, fading to third in 2:10.14. Canada’s Audrey Lacroix passed her up in the back half for a 2:09.90 second-place effort.
Kentucky alum Christina Bechtel took fourth place in 2:10.29 before another teenager, Lauren Case, finished in 2:10.94.
Adams’ Texas A&M teammate Sarah Gibson was 2:11.67 for sixth, followed by a pair of 16-year-olds: Taylor Pike (2:12.47) and Dakota Luther (2:13.22).
The women’s 100 breast was a dead heat at 50 meters, with Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson leading American Katie Meili by just .05. It wa a rematch of the 2015 Pan American Games, where Meili topped Atkinson, and Meili ended up coming from behind to take this win as well. Meili went 1:06.75 with Atkinson going 1:07.47.
Tennessee’s Molly Hannis came up with a big back half to surge into third at 1:07.50. Olympian Breeja Larson had a similar back half, but couldn’t match Hannis’s early speed and ended up 4th in 1:08.09.
Right behind Larson were Jessica Hardy (1:08.22) , Laura Sogar (1:08.43) and Hilda Luthersdottir (1:08.45). Rachel Nicol of Canada rounded out the A final in 1:09.21.
When your cats have more fame than you.