Courtesy: USA Deaf Swimming
The USADS National Team had a strong showing in the third day of competition at the 2019 World Deaf Swimming Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Competing against 28 countries, Team USA had seven of 14 athletes make finals in their events for the evening plus the Mixed 4×100 Free Relay and the Men’s 4×100 Free Relay.
In preliminaries, the 4X100 Mixed Relay of Brown, Cocker, Weatherby, and Willetts placed fifth and qualified for finals with a time of 4:09.38. The relay placed fifth again in finals with a time of 3:56.00, swum by Daniel Pletenets, Brooke Thompson, Elizabeth Cocker, and Collin Davis on the anchor leg.
Emily Massengale swam a personal best time of 18:45.43 to win silver in the Women’s 1500M Freestyle. She swam hard in the final 200m to out-touch third-place finisher Ikuha Nakahigashi (18:46.77).
Collin Davis qualified fifth for finals in the Men’s 100 Backstroke with a personal best time of 1:01.12. He followed that up with a strong swim in finals to place sixth with another personal best time of 1:00.82. This is Collin’s first World Deaf Championship meet and his third event final. Cooper Willetts placed 11th in the Men’s 100 Back prelims (1:08.30); and Matthew Zou and Tyler Brown paced 14th and 16th respectively.
The next event for Team USA was the Women’s 50 Breaststroke with Molly Likins setting a new American Deaf Record in the morning prelims with a time of 34.11 to qualify third for finals. Following closely behind to also qualify for finals was Kaitlyn Weatherby, who placed eighth with a personal record time of 37.10. Brooke Thompson and Trysta Duerson also swam the Women’s 50 Breast with personal record times of 39.50 (12th) and 40.94 (13th) respectively.
Likins raced well in the Women’s 50 Breast evening final to lower her American Deaf Record to 33.66 and win silver just behind Mariia Rezhylo from Ukraine who won gold in a new world record time of 31.97. Likins out-touched Kristina Shanialakhmetova (Russia) in third (33.85). Weatherby placed eighth with a time of 36.44.
Carli Cronk – 200 fly silver medalist
Samantha Fujii and Carli Cronk swam the Women’s 200 Butterfly in the morning preliminaries to qualify for finals with times of 2:37.46 and 2:43.60 respectively. Carli Cronk raced hard in finals to earn the silver medal in a best time of 2:29.67 edging out Anita Makhnyik from Ukraine by .01. This was Cronk’s first medal of the championships, and she is the youngest member of the current Team USA.
Samantha Fujii placed sixth in finals with a time of 2:44.82. This was her first championship final of the meet.
The women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay finished the night by placing fifth with a time of 4:14.01. The relay included Thompson, Cocker, Weatherby, and Massengale. This was a 15-second drop over morning preliminaries.
Overall, Team USA earned three silver medals and one American Deaf Record on Day 3 of the 2019 World Deaf Swimming Championships. The team is coached by Brad Robbins, Head Coach (Tigard Tualatin Swim Club), and Chris Daly, Assistant Coach (Chico Aquajets).
The complete results can be found at the link below.
The competition continues through Saturday, August 31st, 2019.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
Event 30: 4X100 Mixed Relay
5th –4:09.38, Qualified (Brown, Cocker, Weatherby, and Willetts)
Event 31: Men’s 100 Backstroke
2nd – Collin Davis, 1:01.12 (PR), Qualified
11th – Cooper Willetts, 1:08.30
14th – Matthew Zou, 1:09.00
16th – Tyler Brown, 1:11.73
Event 32: Women’s 50 Breaststroke
3rd – Molly Likins, 34.11 (PR) Qualified, **New American Deaf Record
8th – Kaitlyn Weatherby, 37.10, (PR) Qualified
12th – Brooke Thompson, 39.50 (PR)
13th – Trysta Duerson, 40.94 (PR)
Event 33: Men’s 100 Freestyle
9th – Collin Davis, 55.21 (PR)
19th – Daniel Pletenets, 57.19
26th – Matthew Zou, 59.03
Event 34 – Women’s 200 Butterfly
4th – Carli Cronk, 2:37.46 (PR), Qualified
6th – Samantha Fujii, 2:43.60, Qualified
DSQ – Trysta Duerson
Event 35 – 4 x 100 Women’s Freestyle Relay
4th – 4:29.38, Qualified, (Cocker, Thompson, Fujii, Likins)
FINAL RESULTS
Event 29: 4X100 Mixed Relay
5th— 3:56.00 (Pletenets, Thompson, Cocker, and Davis)
Event 30: Women’s 1500M
2nd – Emily Massengale, 18:45.43 (PR) SILVER
Event 31: Men’s 100 Backstroke
6th – Collin Davis, 1:00.82 (PR)
Event 32: Women’s 50 Breaststroke
2nd – Molly Likins, 33.66, SILVER **New American Deaf Record
8th – Kaitlyn Weatherby, 36.44, (PR)
Event 34 – Women’s 200 Butterfly
2nd – Carli Cronk, 2:29.67 (PR) SILVER
6th – Samantha Fujii, 2:44.82
Event 35 – 4 x 100 Women’s Freestyle Relay
4th – 4:14.01 (Thompson, Cocker, Weatherby, Massengale)