2015 U.S. Nationals: Day 5 Finals Preview

2015 U.S. NATIONALS

• Thursday, August 6 – Monday, August 10
• Northside Swim Center – San Antonio, Texas
• Prelims 9AM/Finals 6PM (Central Daylight Time)
• Full Coverage
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream Link
• Live Results
• Day 5 Finals Heat Sheet

Women’s 800m Freestyle

The women’s 800m freestyle heats went off on Sunday, with the top 8 qualifiers getting the chance to swim for the national title tonight. 3rd seed coming in Sarah Henry posted the top time in the prelims of 8:35.64, one tenth faster than Sierra Schmidt who was the top seed coming in. Schmidt’s top entry time was 8:27.54, while Henry’s was 8:31.43. Joining them in the final will be Stephanie Peacock (8:37.90), Gabrielle Kopenski (8:39.87), Maddy Tegner (8:40.04), 400 free gold medalist Lindsay Vrooman (8:40.12), Sarah Gibson (8:41.58) and Joy Field (8:41.68). Among those missing the final was Leah Stevens (8:41.72), Courtney Harnish (8:43.24) and Gillian Ryan (8:49.29).

Women’s 100m Freestyle

American record holder Amanda Weir paced the women’s 100 freestyle this morning finishing in a time of 54.64. She was followed closely by 200m champion Allison Schmitt (54.81), 50m champion Madison Kennedy (55.14) and Katie Drabot (55.19). Joining them in the A final will be Amanda Kendall, Mallory Comerford, Felicia Lee and Faith Johnson. The B final will feature Kotuku Ngawati, Ali Deloof and Megan Moroney. The C final will feature 15 year-old Samantha Shelton, double backstroke gold medalist Claire Adams and top seed Amy Bilquist (56.06).

Men’s 200m Backstroke

Michael Taylor will have lane 4 in the men’s 200 back final tonight after posting the top time of the morning in 1:58.41. He was followed closely by Carter Griffin, Jack Conger, Travis Mahoney, Jacob Pebley and Robert Owen who all swam sub-1:59 this morning, setting up a great race tonight. Pebley is coming off a gold medal performance in this event at the World University Games, Griffin is coming off a silver medal in this event at the Pan Ams, and Conger will look for his 4th medal of the championships after already earning three 2nd place finishes (100 fly, 200 fly, 100 free). Joining them in the A final will be 16 year-old Austin Katz and Austin Surhoff who was 4th in the 200 IM last night. Surhoff’s time of 1:59.37 was the cut off for the A final. The B final will feature Hennessey Stuart, Craig McNally and top seed Christopher Reid (1:59.52). In the C final we will see John Shebat, Joey Reilman and top seed Bryce Mefford (2:01.00).

Women’s 200m Breastroke

Laura Sogar posted the top time in the women’s 200 breast this morning with a time of 2:25.16. Sogar qualified 1st by over a second, with 2nd overall Emma Schoettmer coming in at 2:26.33. Both Sogar (2:26.75) and Schoettmer (2:28.23) were faster than their entry times coming in. 3rd went to Emily Escobedo, 4th to Molly Hannis and 5th was Andrea Cottrell. Top seed coming in Annie Lazor snuck in qualifying 7th overall in 2:28.79. Also swimming in the A final will be Esther Gonzalez Medina and 8th seed Annie Zhu (2:28.86). The B final will feature Madisyn Cox, Lilly King, Georgia Bohl and top seeded Justine Bowker (2:29.08). The C final will feature 14 year-old Ashley McCauley, Lindsey Horejsi and top seed Vanessa Pearl (2:31.01).

Men’s 200m Breastroke

Andrew Wilson continued his strong showing here in San Antonio, posting the top time in the 200 breast prelims of 2:09.84. After winning the 100 breast and breaking a minute for the first time, Wilson was well under his entry time of 2:15.76. Wilson will look to sweep the breastroke events at these championships tonight. It won’t be easy though, as NCAA champion Will Licon was fast this morning as well, qualifying 2nd overall in 2:10.10. Licon’s back 100 was almost a full second faster than Wilson’s, but Wilson had the fastest front half by far taking it out in 1:02.11. Look for Wilson to be out fast again tonight with Licon trying to track him down on the 3rd and 4th lap. Joining them in the A final will be BJ Johnson, Craig Benson, Michael Jamieson, Michael Phelps, Samuel Tierney and Chuck Katis (2:13.11). Phelps posted a massive personal best this morning of 2:12.68. The B final will feature Reece Whitley, Andrew Seliskar, Brad Craig and top seed Sean Mahoney (2:13.21). In the C final we will see Charles Swanson, Jeremy Babinet and top seed Matthew Anderson (2:15.12). Despite a rough prelim swim of 2:19.68, Michael Andrew did qualify for the 18 and under C final. However, he has scratched the event tonight. Among those missing the finals was Gunnar Bentz (2:17.84) and Mike Alexandrov (2:19.06).

Men’s 1500m Freestyle

Jordan Wilimovsky comes into the final with the top time from prelims of 15:13.28. He is followed closely by Nicholas Sweetser who qualified 2nd in 15:14.14. Wilimovsky will look to go under 15 minutes just like he did last year at this meet when he went 14:56.34. His best time this year is from the LA Invite in July where he went 15:06.96. After a phenomenal performance in the 400 freestyle on night 1, Zane Grothe comes in on the final night as the 3rd seed in this race. Grothe swam 15:19.28 in yesterdays heats, less than 6 seconds shy of his personal best set in 2013 (15:13.39). His best swim this year was a 15:31.85 in June. Joining them in the final will be PJ Ranford, Christopher Yeager, Logan Houck, Taylor Abbott and Jacob Ores. Ores time of 15:22.80 was the cut off to make the final. Missing the final was Evan Pinion (15:23.98), Andrew Gemmell (15:30.93) and Ryan Feeley (15:39.26).

Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay

Swimming in heat 1 of 3 will be Carmel Swim Club, Wisconsin Aquatics and the University of Louisville, among others. Heat 2, the top seeded heat, will feature Tennessee Aquatics, Club Wolverine, Aggie Swim Club, Auburn University, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, Team Bruin and top seed Australia (4:01.75).

Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay

Heat 1 of 4 will feature Wisconsin Aquatics, Stanford, University of Louisville, University of Missouri and University of Alabama, among others. The top seeded heat will feature Auburn University Swim Club, Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics, Nation’s Capital, Scottish Swimming, Tennessee, Badger, Nitro and top seeded California (3:37.71). Teams in the 3rd heat include Club Wolverine, Indiana University and Dynamo.