Melanie Margalis: “I’m Really Excited for the Next Couple Years”

^{Reported by Lauren Neidigh.}

WOMEN’S 200 IM FINALS

• American Record: 1:51.65, Ella Eastin, 2016
• U.S. Open Record: 1:51.65, Ella Eastin, 2016
• Meet Record: 1:53.16, Melanie Margalis, 2016
• Pool Record: 1:53.47, Katinka Hosszu, 2010

1. GOLD: Melanie Margalis, Georgia, 1:52.63
2. SILVER: Isabel Ivey, GSC, 1:55.77
3. BRONZE: Mariia Astashkina, Louisville, 1:57.06

U.S. Olympian Melanie Margalis blew away the field, taking down her own former Meet Record and Katinka Hosszu’s Pool Record in the process. Margalis led from start to finish in 1:52.63, clipping her lifetimes best by a hundredth. That was her first best time in the yards version of the event since the 2014 NCAA championships.

Gator Swim Club’s junior standout Isabel Ivey had a big swim behind her. Ivey knocked over a second off her former best time of 1:57.04 to pick up the silver in a blistering 1:55.77. Fellow junior star Emma Muzzy of the Gators of Virginia also threw down a best time with her 1:57.45 for 4th.

Muzzy just missed the podium, as Louisville’s Mariia Astashkina secured the bronze in 1:57.06. That puts her half a second under the 2017 NCAA invite time (1:57.66). Teammate Rachael Bradford-Feldman also snuck under the 2017 invite mark with a 1:57.63 for 5th place.