Pickrem Throws Down 1:53.3 200 IM on Day 1 of Art Adamson Invite

2017 ART ADAMSON INVITATIONAL

• Live Results
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• Hosted by Texas A&M (College Station, Texas)
• 25 Yards
• Invite Format

The 2017 Art Adamson Invitational kicked off tonight in College Station, Texas with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 200 free relay, and 400 medley relay. After day 1 finals, Texas A&M leads on both the men’s and women’s sides.

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

Distance star Katie Ledecky was dominant as usual in the 500 free, rocking a season best 4:27.84 to win by nearly 10 seconds. Behind her, Texas A&M’s Claire Rasmus had a big swim, dropping almost 4 seconds. She broke 4:40 for the first time, turning in a 4:37.30 to take 2nd after holding off a late charge from Stanford freshman Brooke Forde. With a 4:37.85, Forde also dropped a chunk of time off her former best, clearing it by 2 seconds.

Texas A&M’s Sydney Pickrem dominated the 200 IM. She trailed Hawaii’s Franziska Weidner at the half, but came up with a breaststroke split that was over a second and a half faster than Weidner’s to take the lead. Pickrem continued to push ahead as she finished in 1:53.38. That was just 8 hundredths shy of her lifetime best. Weidner wound up 3rd behind A&M’s Lisa Bratton (1:55.20) in 1:55.68. Fresh out of the 500 free, Forde finished 4th in the 200 IM in 1:56.69. Notably, Stanford’s Ella Eastin was entered in the 200 IM, but declared a false start this morning.

The Aggies were on fire, as Béryl Gastaldello kept the ball rolling in the 50 free. Gastaldello hadn’t gone a best time in the event since 2015, but that changed tonight when she touched in 21.69 for the win. Joining her under 22 seconds in that race was Stanford’s Janet Hu, who was less than a tenth shy of her best in 21.91.

Gastaldello also played a big role in the Aggies’ winning relays tonight. She led off the 200 free relay (1:28.37) in 21.77 to give them the early edge over Stanford. The Cardinal bounced back with Ally Howe‘s 21.70 split to Raena Eldridge‘s 22.32 on the 2nd leg, but A&M took back the lead with Golf Sapianchai‘s 22.21 on the 3rd lef and never looked back as Kristin Malone closed in 22.07. Gastaldello then took on the anchor leg of the 400 medley relay (3:29.47), running down Ledecky with a 47.11 to Ledecky’s 47.42 to touch out the Cardinal at the finish.

Women’s Team Scores Through Day 1:

1. Texas A&M- 390
2. Stanford- 325
3. Arkansas- 105
4. LSU- 102
5. Arizona State- 94
6. Boise State- 65
7. Utah- 55
8. Hawaii- 49
9. SMU- 16
10. Incarnate Word- 2

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

Texas A&M standout Brock Bonetti demolished his best time in the 200 IM. Bonetti went up against teammates Austin Van Overdam and Mauro Castillo Luna, using his front half speed to take the advantage. Van Overdam and Castillo Luna started to close the gap on the breast leg with splits of 29.32 and 29.60 respectively, but Bonetti took off again on the free leg, outsplitting them to extend his lead again and win it in 1:43.21. His best coming into the meet was a 1:45.08. Van Overdam dropped over a second to take 2nd in 1:44.81, while Castillo Luna held on for 3rd in 1:45.21.

Utah’s Rahiti De Vos rolled to a dominant 9-second victory in the 500 free. He led from start to finish as he won it in 4:16.81. Teammate Brody Lewis secured a 1-2 punch for the Utes, using his back half speed to swim by Incarnate Word’s Kyrylo Shvets (4:26.65). Lewis finished in 4:25.84, taking almost 2.5 seconds off his best. The Utes grabbed 2 individual wins tonight, as Paul Ungur put up a personal best 19.57 in the 50 free to lead a 1-2 finish with freshman teammate Rodolfo Moreira (19.86).

In the 200 free relay, Ungur (19.90 leadoff) and Moreira (19.09) combined with Liam O’Haimhirgin (19.46) and Clay Stoddard (19.64) to help the Utes to victory over the Aggies in 1:18.04. The Aggies bounced back in the 400 medley relay, with Bonetti (46.05 back), Castillo Luna (51.88 breast), Jose Martinez (45.94 fly), and Adam Koster (43.42 free) combining for the win in 3:07.29.

Men’s Team Scores Through Day 1:

1. Texas A&M- 425
2. Utah- 296
3. LSU- 192
4. Hawaii- 106
5. Air Force- 94
6. Incarnate Word- 43
7. SMU- 34
8. Stanford- 13