WOMEN’S 100 Breaststroke – 2014 Austin Grand Prix – reported by Jared Anderson / SwimSwam
In a tough field of up-and-comers 26-year-old Jessica Hardy showed why she’s still a household name on the American breaststroking scene. The Trojan went 1:07.05 jumping out to a lead and riding open water to victory in the 100 breast. She beat top seed Laura Sogar, who needed a strong finishing push to pass SwimMAC’s Katie Meili for second place.
Sogar wound up going 1:07.76 and Meili, an Ivy League star for Columbia, went 1:08.46. Canadian Rachel Nicol went 1:08.79 representing SMU in fourth place, and her countywoman Tera Van Beilen was fifth. Missouri’s Abigail Duncan took home sixth place, while 16-year-old Aquajets product Olivia Anderson took seventh. Justine Mueller of T2 finished 8th.
A pair of SMU swimmers paced the B final. Tara-Lynn Nicholas went 1:11.33 for 9th and Raminta Dvariskyte was 10th in 1:11.86.