U.S. Nationals Day 4 Pick’em Update: Favorites Again Have Their Day

2018 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
• William Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
• Meet website
• Meet information
• Event Order
• Full selection procedures
• Psych Sheet
• SwimSwam Previews Index
• TV Schedule
• Omega Results

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After the relative chaos of the first two days, the popular picks to win came through for the second day in a row.

The women’s 400 free was won by Katie Ledecky who was picked to win by 100% of entries. In the past I’ve used this space to make fun of people who picked against Ledecky, but there weren’t any this time. Shame works. Leah Smith took second as picked by 99% of entries. The surprises started in 3rd place where Haley Anderson was picked by less than 1% of people third (only 3 people total). 4th was Karsten Meitz, correctly placed by 6%.

The men’s 400 was won by favorite Zane Grothe (83%). With popular choice for 2nd Townley Haas out of the A final, Grant Shoults (3%) was an unpopular 2nd place pick. The bigger upsets came in 3rd and 4th. Chris Wieser (0%) wasn’t picked anywhere in anyone’s 4-some people did put him in the top 4 of the 1500. 4th place Zach Yeadon was also not correctly picked 4th by anyone -a couple people had him 3rd.

The favorite’s run continued in the women’s 100 breast where Lilly King (99%) and Katie Meili (82%) took the top 2 spots. Micah Sumrall (1%) surprised people in 3rd, and Molly Hannis (21%) was 4th.

Michael Andrew’s (3%) 100 breast win was the first upset of the night. Favored Andrew Wilson (29%) and Kevin Cordes (2%) were 2nd and 4th. Devin Nowicki (1%) was a surprise in 3rd.

The top 3 100 back places went according to plan. Kathleen Baker’s (75%) world record got her 1st, with Olivia Smoliga (41%) 2nd and Regan Smith (44%) 3rd. The one minor surprise was Phoebe Bacon (5%) in 4th.

The favorites continued their winning ways in the final event of the night where Ryan Murphy (90%) won the men’s 100 back. Matt Grevers (62%) and Justin Ress (41%) followed in 3rd and 4th. Bryce Mefford (0%), known more for his 200, wasn’t picked by anyone in the top 4.

Standings

The daily winner was SwimStalker with 75 points. They were followed by swim6847 with 74, greenblue with 74, and Swim Bros Podcast with 73.

Day 4 Standings

There is a new overall leader after day 4 is Swimswamswum with 280 points. Next are CaribbeanSwimer with 279. jlyr with 277, and RR Surge with 276. Good luck to everyone on the final day!

With the NCAA pick’em there are often huge shake ups on the final day due to the team picks. There are no teams at this meet, so the winner is likely to come from someone currently in the top 50. Should be fun.