Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte won’t yet be competing, but tonight is the opening session of the Athens Bulldog Grand Slam. The Grand Slam features some of the nation’s top clubs, including SwimMAC, North Baltimore, Club Wolverine, SwimAtlanta and host Athens Bulldog Swim Club.
Thursday night will feature just two events, the women’s 1500 free and the men’s 800. The most notable entrant was Club Wolverine Olympian Connor Jaeger in the 800, but Jaeger appears to be a late scratch.
ATHENS BULLDOG GRAND SLAM
- Thursday, July 10-Sunday, July 13
- Gabrielsen Natatorium, University of Georgia, Athens Georgia
- Thursday finals 4PM, Friday-Sunday Prelims 9AM/Finals 6PM
- Psych Sheets
- Meet Website
- Results only available on Meet Mobile
Women’s 1500 Free
Incoming Georgia Bulldog freshman Stephanie Peters got a win at her future training home, going 16:52.83 to take the first of just two heats in the women’s mile. Peters dominated, taking her heat by 15 seconds, and wound up the overall winner after the final heat concluded.
Rising NC State sophomore Rachel Muller was second, going 17:07.98 representing her home club SwimAtlanta. High school senior Julia Durmer was just behind, going 17:08.27 for third. Another senior, Gwinnett Aquatics’ Anna Jahns, sits fourth in 17:12.90.
15-year-old Caitlyn McHugh had a great swim out of the second heat, going 17:18.96 to rise all the way to 5th place. That was a drop of over 50 seconds from her seed time.
From there it’s a pretty solid dropoff to 6th place. Sarah Smith of Dynamo was 17:44.29, and her teammate Isabella Issa went 17:45.83 good for 7th. SwimAtlanta’s Mary Leary rounded out the top 8, and was also the last woman under 18, going 17:59.31.
Men’s 800 Free
With Olympian Connor Jaeger a scratch, this one went to SwimAtlanta’s Cody Bekemeyer, an incoming high school senior. Bekemeyer went 8:13.00, a solid drop of 12 second from his seed. That gave him a comfortable win, with an 8-second margin of victory.
Athens Bulldog Swim Club took second place, with rising Georgia junior Garrett Powell going 8:21.42.
Then things turned into a youth movement with a host of under-18 swimmers finishing in a row. 17-year-old Jake Gibbons out of the Bolles School in Florida went 8:28.37, with 16-year-old Brennan Day just behind in 8:30.75.
Taylor Delk won the second heat for SwimAtlanta, and his 8:37.01 was enough to give the 16-year-old 5th place overall. The youngest swimmer in the field, Dynamo’s Jeffrey Durmer, went 8:40.30 in taking 6th. Durmer is just 14.
Robert Wylie (8:43.04) and Noah Oh (8:46.55) rounded out the top 8 finishers.
The meet continues tomorrow morning with the opening prelims session at 9AM Eastern Time.