Five Quotes From Day Two Of The 2024 Knoxville Pro Swim Series

2024 PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

• January 10-13, 2024
• Knoxville, Tennessee
• LCM (50 meters)
• Start Times
  • All Prelims: 9am (EST)
  • Thurs-Sat Finals: 6pm (EST)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap
• Day 2 Finals Live Recap

Following the second night of finals at the 2024 Knoxville Pro Swim Series, USA Swimming caught up with several event winners. See what they had to say about their races tonight, below:

Kate Douglass – Winner of the Women’s 100 Free & 4th in the 100 Breast

Kate Douglass took on a tough double tonight in Knoxville, competing in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke with just about 15 minutes in-between. She touched for the win in the 100 free, equaling the Pro Swim Series record of 53.12 in the process. She then placed 4th in a hotly contested 100 breast final, posting a best time of 1:06.67. Her time in the 100 breast represents her first time dipping under the 1:07-barrier in the event.

“100 free was kind of the focus in warm-ups going into tonight and I was very happy with that. 100 breast was a best time, so you can’t complain about that.” 

Jack Alexy – Winner of the Men’s 100 Free

Jack Alexy had a successful day in the pool, as he won the 100 free final with a time of 48.24. He also clocked a nearly identical time of 48.28 in the prelims, marking his two fastest in-season 100 free performances ever. Alexy is set to compete in the 200 free and 50 free on the final two days of the meet.

“It’s pretty crazy that 2024 is here already. It’s a really exciting year. I’m just happy to be back in long course racing again; We had a few really good months of training short course yards for Cal-Berkeley, and I’m just happy to be back on the pool deck.” 

Lilly King – Winner of the Women’s 100 Breast

Lilly King used a strong closing 50 to win the 100 breast tonight in Knoxville, touching in a final time of 1:05.67. The swim from King was much faster than the 1:06.02 she produced in the Fukuoka World Championship final last August. King is the world record holder in the event, but has seen more international success in the 200-meter distance over the past few seasons.

King talking about how swim felt: “Really easy, surprisingly. I’ve really just kind of been playing around with not spinning my wheels for the first 50, and that’s what I’ve always done my whole career. It stopped working at some point, so I’m starting to be a little more conservative on the way out and think it’s really paying off.” 

Nic Fink – Winner of the Men’s 100 Breast

Fink took the victory in a tightly contested 100 breast final in Knoxville, touching just 0.05 ahead of Michael Andrew. Fink wanted to be a little bit faster than the 1:00.36 he produced tonight, but getting the win in a loaded field is a great way to kick off his 2024 campaign. Fink will compete in all three breaststroke events at the Doha World Championships next month.

“The time is slower than where I wanted to be, and I think that’s fine. It’s the first race of the year and it’s January. I’ve been through a pretty tough Christmas training cycle, so I think we’ll have to probably adjust a couple of things going into Doha, but I’m looking forward to racing there.”

Katie Ledecky – Winner of the Women’s 400 Free

Katie Ledecky stopped the clock in 4:03.46 to grab the win in tonight’s 400 free final, a tad slower than the 4:02.38 marker she produced at the U.S. Open a month ago. Ledecky has been known for swimming quite fast in-season throughout her career, but her move to Florida in 2021 has led to bigger drops come taper time. Ledecky noted in the post race interview that her main targets are the 800 and 1500 free events heading into Paris, but added that she still wants to swim the 400 individually and the 200 for relay purposes.

Ledecky on the talent in the 400 free: “Yeah, I think the 400 free is in a great spot – it’s very competitive around the country, so Indy should be a great race.