LA Invite Day 2: Yufei Zhang Tops Head-to-Head 200 fly vs. Hosszu

2018 LOS ANGELES INVITE

• USC Uytengsu Aquatic Center, Los Angeles, CA
• July 12th-15th
• Prelims at 8:30 a.m., finals at 5 p.m.
• Psych sheet
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2018 CA Los Angeles Invite (1)”

Night two of the 2018 Los Angeles Invite featured finals for the women’s 800 free and 400 IM, men’s and women’s 100 free, 200 fly, 200 back, and 400 free relay, as well as the men’s 400 free.

Top prelims qualifier Katinka Hosszu (8:44.31) scratched the final, paving the way for Trojan Swim Club’s Isabella Rongione to kick off the night with a win in the 800 free, going 8:48.87. South Bay’s Juli Arzave was second in 8:50.70, followed by North Coast’s Greta Fanta in 8:53.48.

Trojan Swim Club’s Kasia Wilk topped the women’s 100 free in 55.68, followed by Andrea Murez (Israel) in 55.76. Lihui Lao, swimming unattached, was third in 55.85. Olympic champion in the 100 breast Ruta Meilutyte put up a fifth-place performance of 56.24. In the men’s race, 20-year-old Jintong Yang put up a stellar 48.63 to take the top spot after going 49.85 in prelims. Veteran Vlad Morozov was second in 48.82, and Hexin Zu was third in 49.37. Conor Dwyer took fourth place in 49.38.

Former world junior record holder Yufei Zhang edged out Katinka Hosszu to win the women’s 200 fly, with the two going 2:08.79 and 2:09.27 respectively. Zhang said after the race that she was targetting a 2:07.  Liyan Yu was third in 2:12.80. Nova’s Andrew Koustik put up a commanding win the men’s race, going 1:57.84; his previous best in the event was 1:58.15. Schuchang Zhou was second in 2:00.49, and Peak’s Ethan Hu was third in 2:01.67.

Katinka Hosszu came back to win the 200 back shortly after swimming the 200 fly, going 2:12.18. SoCal Aquatics’ Harvard-commit Samantha Shelton was second in 2:13.20, and Buenaventura’s Solie Laughlin was third in 2:15.30. Yutian Wang topped the men’s race in 1:59.74, followed by UCSB’s Douglas Nogueira in 2:04.12. Baja’s Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz was third in 2:05.39.

Katinka Hosszu went 4:44.22 to win the 400 IM, her third event of the night. Rising USC senior Riley Scott – primarily a breaststroker – was 2nd in 4:48.01, over a second drop off her previous best. Nova’s Isabelle Odgers took third in 4:53.67.

2015 open water world champion and 2016 Olympic 1500 finalist Jordan Wilimovsky won the men’s 400 free in 3:53.56, followed by UCSB’s Logan Hotchkiss in 3:58.15. Orca’s Ben Olszewski took third in 3:58.53.

Nova’s women’s team of Ella Ristic, Ayla Spitz, Amanda Hseh, and Mackenzie Degn won 400 free relay in 3:49.41. In second was Gator Swim Club in 3:54.41, and in third, Team Rebel Aquatics in 3:54.50. Nova’s men’s team of Sean Slusiewicz, Owen Kao, Dominic Falcon, and Andrew Koustik won the men’s race in 3:30.03. Team Rebel Aquatics was second in 4:34.10, followed closely by Peak in 3:34.23.