2022 AUSTIN SOUTHERN SECTIONALS
- July 7-10, 2022
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, TX
- LCM
- Live Results
- Also on Meet Mobile as “2022 ST TXLA Speedo Southern Sectionals”
Carson Foster stole the show early on Saturday in Austin, but it was again the pair of Kelly Pash and Shaine Casas who served as brilliant understudies later in the session in the 100 butterfly.
Foster opened the men’s racing with a 1:55.89 in the 200 backstroke, which would have placed him 4th at the World Championships earlier this summer (read more about his swim here).
It also would have placed 3rd at the US International Team Trials behind Ryan Murphy and Shaine Casas.
Casas, a former Texas A&M Aggie who is now training at Texas as a pro, didn’t swim that 200 backstroke, however. Like much of the Texas men’s crew, he is racing secondary events this week, and that includes the 100 fly.
Casas won the A-Final in Austin on Saturday in 50.56 (splits: 23.42/27.14). That is his fastest time by more than half-a-second, clearing the 51.09 that he swam earlier this year at the Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio.
Casas swam the 100 fly prelims at the US International Team Trials in April, qualifying 6th in 51.75 before dumping the final. While he has now emerged primarily as a backstroke on the international scene, as a freshman Casas actually dropped the backstroke races for the butterfly races at the NCAA Championships.
That swim jumps Casas from the 10th-best American in history to the 4th-best American in history in the event, behind only a list of Olympic multi-gold medalists. Each of the three men ahead of him also set the World Record at least once in their careers.
All-Time Top 5, Men’s 100 LCM Butterfly:
- Caeleb Dressel, 49.45 – Tokyo 2020
- Michael Phelps, 49.82 – 2009 Worlds
- Ian Crocker, 50.40 – 2005 Worlds
- Shaine Casas, 50.56 – 2022 Austin Sectionals
- Maxime Rooney, 50.68 – 2019 US Nationals
Casas’ emergence here gives the Americans another weapon in an already-versatile men’s medley relay lineup. The group of contenders includes Michael Andrew, who could swim the fly or breast legs, Casas, who could swim the fly or backstroke legs, and Caeleb Dressel, who could swim the fly or free legs. That kind of versatility gives American coaches lots of options to play the ‘hot hand’ at future international competitions.
Casas previously won the 100 free (48.23) and 100 back (52.51) this week, and is scheduled to swim the 200 IM on Sunday to complete his meet.
Not to be overshadowed is University of Texas woman Kelly Pash in the 100 fly. She won in a time of 57.73, which is half-a-second better than she swam at the Tokyo 2020 US Olympic Trials last summer as a new personal best.
Pash didn’t race at the US International Team Trials in April, but if she had, that time would have placed her 4th.
The swim also makes her the 19th-best American in the history of the event, and ranks her 13th in the world this season.
2021-2022 LCM Women 100 Fly
Huske
55.64
| 2 | Marie Wattel | FRA | 56.14 | 06/19 |
| 3 | Zhang Yufei | CHN | 56.24 | 09/20 |
| 4 | Claire Curzan | USA | 56.35 | 03/04 |
| 5 | Maggie MacNeil | CAN | 56.36 | 07/30 |
| 6 | Emma McKeon | AUS | 56.38 | 07/30 |
| 7 | Louise Hansson | SWE | 56.48 | 06/19 |
| 8 | Sarah Sjostrom | SWE | 56.70 | 04/10 |
| 9 | Brianna Throssell | AUS | 56.96 | 05/19 |
| 10 | Lara Pudar | BIH | 57.27 | 08/15 |
| 11 | Gretchen Walsh | USA | 57.44 | 07/28 |
| 12 | Kelsi Dahlia | USA | 57.53 | 03/04 |
| 13 | Arina Surkova | RUS | 57.58 | 07/23 |
Previously this week, Pash was 2nd in the 200 fly in 2:09.35, which is not a best time, and won the 200 free in 1:59.47, which is a best time by a tenth. That makes her breakthrough in this 100 fly even more remarkable.
In that race, Pash, a rising senior, finished ahead of a pair of sub-minute Texas teammates. Emma Sticklen, a rising junior, was 2nd in 59.00, and Dakota Luther, who is transferring in to Texas next season was 3rd in 59.44. Sticklen’s swim misses her best time by just .14 seconds.
This reaffirms that the Longhorns will have the deepest butterfly group in the NCAA next season.
Other Winners, Highlights, and Top Junior Performances:
- Nitro 17-year old Paula Warren won the 200 backstroke in 2:15.26, half-a-second ahead of collegians Abby Pfeifer (2:15.78) and Abigail Ahrens (2:16.67). Warren’s previous best time was a 2:16, while Pfeifer and Ahrens had previous best times of 2:17. Warren is entering her senior year of high school, and will swim at Texas A&M in the fall of 2023.
- Austinite, National Junior Teamer, and Texas commit Jillian Cox won the women’s 400 free in 4:11.69. Cox won 4 Sectionals titles in yards in March in College Station. Olympic medalist Erica Sullivan finished 2nd in 4:13.12, and Cy-Fair Swim Club’s Hayden Miller, who finished the year with the fastest high school time in the 500 yard free, was 3rd in 4:13.36.
- Texas A&M rising junior Charlotte Longbottom won the 100 breast in 1:10.16. That is almost two seconds better than she was two weeks ago in her last meet.
- Texas’ Channing Hanley finished 2nd in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.07, which is a new best time.
- 16-year old Ella Smoker from FLEET won the B-Final of the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.18. That undercuts her previous best time by over a second. Smoker is a rising high school junior who is entering her recruiting cycle. The drop follows a big drop of almost two seconds in the yards season.
- Dutch Olympian, and Texas undergrad, Caspar Corbeau won the men’s 100 breaststroke, topping a battle with Texas post-grad Will Licon and US World CHampionships team member Charlie Swanson. Corbeau won in 1:00.65, followed by Licon in 1:00.77 and Swanson in 1:01.28. Corbeau placed 13th in the semifinals at the World Championships after a 59.89 in prelims.
- Texas 2022 commit Ethan Doehler finished 5th in the 100 fly in 54.70, which knocks half-a-second off his previous best time in the event – done at this meet last summer.
- Texas’ Cole Crane dipped under 53 seconds for the first time in his career to place 2nd behind Casas in 52.60.
- Daniel Li, a Longhorn Aquatics swimmer who is committed to Princeton for fall 2023, was 4th in the 400 free as the top junior. His time was 3:58.67, which crushed his previous best time of 4:01.38.
- 15-year old Weslee Gettys placed 6th in the 400 free in 4:02.05. That ranks him as the 4th-best 15-year old in the country this season.
Casas scratched the 2IM? Dude is consistently inconsistent maybe he is just messing with us.
I hope he is messing with the haters out there, but I seriously doubt he even cares what the peanut gallery says. At least I hope he doesn’t.
Texas women won’t have the deepest fly group. Stanford will have Huske, Curzan, Smith, Lucy Bell and others
Hook at Stanford, too!
Texas 200 flyers will blow away Stanford. Not even close, especially with addition of Luther. Horns return four of top 6
What’s it like to be a fast age grouper in an outside lane getting smoked by these guys?
I would assume sorta awesome? Like maybe it pulls you along to a PR, would be pretty cool.
I bet a bunch just torch their race plans as soon as they dive in tho
Casas took down 3 Texas pool records in one meet. Grevers 100back, Adrian 100free and Schooling 100fly. That’s nuts!
Especially since all were Olympic gold medalists at one time.
Shout out to Oliver Rowe (Nitro) – another 15-year-old who swam an impressive 4:01.61 in the 400M Free
I think this article downplays how impressive Shaine’s swim was. I don’t understand how you can say Casas was an “understudy” today when his time is more competitive, both all-time and this year. He would’ve been second at trials and at worlds and the article doesn’t even mention that. Yet Carson gets an entire article for a less impressive swim. Carson’s swim was great too, but come on.
Yea Shaine is now 50.5 fly, 52.5 back, and 48.2 free, which is sprint versatility we’ve never seen before. I can also think of Phelps with this kind of versatility, maybe Ceccon if he swims a 100 fly at some point.
Phelps actually has a much faster aggregate time in those three(people forget he was 53.1 in the 100 back).
Shane would need to take two of those times under the next second threshold in order to beat Phelps
The free is probably coming very soon but do you see him going sub 50 or sub 52?
I can see a sub 50 and sub 52. Not before he goes sub 48 though.
All of Phelps’s best times were with now-banned suits. His best fly (remember the Cavic trash talk to use a Jaked?) and free times were with a full-body supersuit. Back probably was, too.
I’d be surprised if his best backstroke time wasn’t from 2007.
Phelps went 50.4 in the 100 fly as a 30 year old, a 53.0 100 back in 2007 about 30 minutes after swimming a 1:44 200 free, and a 48.0 100 free in 2010 when according to Bowman, had missed months of training that season.
The times are the times. You either did them or not. Phelps best 100 fly 50.4 in non-banned suit. Dead-heat with Casas. His 47.5 leadoff in 2008 — his absolute prime — in the 100 free was in a banned suit, so it’s not like 48.0 two years later in a non-banned suit was going to match that. So again, practically a dead heat with Shaine’s 48.2. And a 53.0 100 back is what it is. You think he would’ve done a 52.0 without the 200 free before it, that he was faster than Peirsol? Hell no. So you basically just made my argument for me. Phelps’s strengths were in the various stroke 200s and IMs; not the 100’s.
Yeah that’s my point. If you care about the suits so much, you’d acknowledge that the suit Casas is wearing now is much closer to the LZR Phelps wore in 08-09 than the textile suits worn in 2007. And yeah I do think he was faster than Peirsol. He was only .04 off of Peirsol’s world record set earlier that year at worlds, immediately after swimming a 200 free.
Maybe not for men but Claire curzan did just qualify in those 3 events at worlds and Natalie coughlin has medaled in all 3
Well, ffs, Natalie Coughlin beats all of them by a mile.
And Milák.
#2 Ian Crocker gave a fist pump to #3 Shane Casas right afterward. Just another day at the Texas pool.
Eh idk, Dressel’s never really had an amazing free split (esp not off a relay start) so he sorta has that fly leg locked down imo. (Unless he regresses a bit there and someone else is 50.flat.)
Unless he leaves a meet early, then he’s not really in contention.
A 46.99 anchoring the mixed medley and swimming through all the chop after being 7 seconds behind
That’s pretty good
Dressel has swam multiple 47 lows off flat start in relays . That’s as amazing as it gets.
What OP means (and he’s correct) is that Caeleb’s flat start is so elite he doesn’t get the same boost from a relay start as some other guys.
For example: Apple and Adrian own a faster relay start best. Whereas Caleb’s best of 46.99 is actually slower than his flat start best.
Exactly, which makes that guy’s username sorta funny. In the context of this discussion, ZApple’s 46.6 is better!
Dressel’s split 49s in fly, we don’t have another guy that can do that (yet). And like you said, we’ve got guys that have flying-start free splits that are as good as his best.
You can make a case that maybe he has a 46.low split in him, but he hasn’t done it yet. (It’s not as big a longshot as his potential to split a 1:44 on a 4×2 or something, but he still hasn’t done it.)
He’s slowing down to a 1:44?
I was giving him a 1:43 flat start, 1:44 relay split, obvi.
Just so you’re on the right page.
Or just not a team player who can’t produce on relays, kinda like Lily. His fly splits have never been that great either. 49.0 relay off a 49.45 flat start is OK. Phelps dropped 0.5 sec at the end of his ridiculous 2008 schedule after winning the 200 IM that day. Dressel swam a 50 free.
Just to pick a nit here, but it’s more a factor of Caeleb’s limited opportunities to do non-leadoff free relay swims than it is a factor of the relay start itself. Even if he has a slow rolling start it’s still going to be 3-4 tenths faster than his fastest flat start, just because of human limitations of reaction times. Let’s stop spreading the fallacy that Caeleb’s flat start (.58 – .65 reaction time) is as good as an average relay exchange (.15 – .20).
It’s not the reaction time, it’s the flight pattern. His angle of entry with a relay windmill swing is not nearly as good as his limited arm swing on his flat start. Probably because he has no initial pull-down on the block. He talks all the time about how his block pull is so critical. He even blamed his WC loss in the 50 fly to Ben Proud that time on some substance on the lip of the blocks that made his hands slip on the pulldown. I think it truly is mechanics.
^This.
Would be interesting if he could get to 15m faster gripping the block vs doing a traditional arm-swing relay start. (You’d kinda have to get someone to give him a start command, given he wouldn’t really be able to crane his neck up to see the swimmer coming in. But I think it might be faster in his case!)
what’s your evidence of this? If he is clearly better off the blocks with gripping rather than windmilling his arms, then he would be be gripping the blocks on relays starts, getting the same relay reaction time (or better) with improved “flight pattern.” It would still be 3-4 tenths faster at minimum. The very fact that he still does the step forward arm windmill relay start tells me that it is faster than the grip start.
As amazing as it gets for Dressel maybe, but compared to how good his individual 100 free, relay 100 fly, and individual 100 fly are, his splits are not very impressive
Pretty sure it’s fewer than Popovici has already swum, and he’s just getting started. Now THAT’s amazing.
The number of downvotes on this is absurd. Like come on everyone, how many sub 50 fly splits does the U.S. have at their disposal versus the number of 46’s?
lol I think it’s from my last line.
I had to get some jabs in!! (Which I know seems a bit mean-spirited.)
He has regressed a bit. Wasn’t even in the top 10 rankings with all the Popovici 47’s in the 100 free, didn’t break 50 in the 100 fly, slower in the 50 free. Yadayadayada, injured, sick, whatever. Too chicken to tell us. He’s definitely not viewed as invincible anymore.
But then I see these, and realize I’m maybe not being troll-y enough
Honest and not braindead from the hype, troll-y, whatever.