Produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Jared Anderson.
It was French domination in the men’s 200 free, with Jeremy Stravius and Jordan Pothain taking 1st and 3rd. Stravius was 1:47.56 to roll away from the field, and Pothain really charged through the third 50 to jump into the lead of the pack behind Stravius.
In between was Texas Longhorn freshman Townley Haas, who went 1:48.35 to come within a second of his personal best in the pool he now calls his training home. Pothain was 1:48.62 for third.
Michael Phelps took fourth, just two tenths back of Pothain at 1:48.87. Phelps had a solid front half, but fell out of the hunt a bit at the 150-mark in what will be his only swim tonight.
Scotland’s Dan Wallace was fifth in 1:49.56, followed by Queens University’s Dion Dreesens (1:49.57) and Cal’s Long Gutierrez (1:50.51). Rounding out the heat was Badger Swim Club’s Zane Grothe at 1:52.27.
A frustrated Phelps is a good Phelps.