Courtesy of Universal Sports Network, a SwimSwam partner.
MEN’S 200 Freestyle – Reported by Jared Anderson
While the women’s edition of this race was a relative blowout, the men’s was decided by the narrowest of margins. Top seed Yannick Lebherz of Germany swam a solid, patient race, but had to weather an intense charge from former Wisconsin collegiate star Michael Weiss. The two were separated by just .06 at the 100 mark, and Weiss cut that lead down to .04 at the finish, but still wasn’t able to get past the German. Lebherz took home the $500 first-place prize money with a 1:50.27, while Weiss took second in 1:50.31.
16-year-old Dutchman Dion Dreesens took home third, just a breath behind the leaders in 1:50.77 before Canada’s Ryan Cochrane and South Africa’s Darian Townsend came in right behind. This was a very foreigner-heavy event, especially with top American Tyler Clary scratching out of finals.
The B final continued that trend, with Daniele Tirabassi (Venezuela), Andres Olvera Alejos(Mexico) and Andres Doria (Venezuela) dueling for the win before finishing in that order.