2015 U.S. Nationals – Day One Live Recap

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

2015 U.S. National Championships – Day One

• Day One Prelims Preview
• Day One heat sheets

Women’s 100 Meter Butterfly – Prelims

Lots of good morning swims marked the first event of the first day. Brittany Usinger of Walnut Creek Aquabears dropped 7/10 to touch in 1:00.44, just ahead of H2okie Aquatics’ Maggie Gruber (1:00.50) and take the lead through the first 5 heats. Allie Howe of Stanford Swimming put up a 1:00.35 to ease in front, before Katie Drabot of Ozaukee Aquatics’ 1:00.01 set the bar in heat 7. T2 Aquatics’ Justine Bowker was second to Drabot in that heat with 1:00.13. Sarah Gibson of Aggie Swim Club (59.68) and Andrea Ward from Gaucho Aquatics (59.85) were the first to crack the 1:00 mark in heat 8.

Former world record-holder Dana Vollmer of California put up the fastest time of the earlier heats of the women’s 100 fly with 59.18. Out in 27.44, the new mother came back in 31.7 to outpace her heat by half a body length.

The next heat began the circle-seeds; 15-year-old Cassidy Bayer of Nation’s Capital dropped .15 off her seed time to win her heat with 59.18, tying Vollmer for the top time of the morning. Felicia Lee of Stanford Swimming went 59.34 to take the penultimate heat, before Kelsi Worrell of Louisville unloaded a 57.53 on the field to earn the middle lane for tonight’s final.

The top 8 qualifiers are: Worrell (57.53), Bayer (59.18), Vollmer (59.18), Lee (59.34), Hali Flickinger of Athens Bulldogs (59.40), Christina Bechtel of Kentucky (59.43), Amanda Kendall of Mason Makos (59.51), and Kara Kopcso of Tiger Aquatics (59.57).

Women’s 100 Meter Butterfly – Swim-off

Alys Margaret Thomas of Nofio Cymru and and Andrea Ward of Gaucho Aquatics posted identical 59.85s in heats, tying for 16th place and necessitating a swim-off. Thomas improved her performance by .7 and posted 59.12 to Ward’s 1:00.21, which earned the Welsh swimmer the last spot in the consolation final.

Men’s 400 Meter Freestyle – Prelims

Chris Wieser of Davis Arden Racing Team had the first breakthrough swim of the morning, winning heat 4 with 3:52.65, a personal best by 5.5 seconds. Louisville’s Trevor Carroll improved his best time by 2.5 seconds for 3:56.09, posting the second-fastest time through 4 heats.

A 2.5-second drop for Alec Cohen of Stingrays in the next heat moved him up to second overall with 3:55.86. Tucson Ford’s Ty Fowler won the following heat with a personal-best 3:55.19 to move in front of Cohen. Danny Thompson of Crimson Aquatics was the first swimmer after Wieser to break 3:55, with a 5.2-second drop to 3:52.28 and a jump to the second-fastest time overall to that point.

Dylan Bunch of Denver Hilltoppers improved his seed time by nearly a second, posting a 3:55.95 to win heat 7 ahead of 16-year-old Christopher Yeager of Nitro Swimming (3:56.11), runner-up in this event at last week’s Junior Nationals. The next heat went to CJ Smith of Mission Viejo in 3:54.37, the third-fastest time of the morning through 9 heats.

Wieser continued to hold onto the top position through to the circle-seeded heats, which in the 400 are the last two. Clark Smith of Longhorn Aquatics won a very tight penultimate heat with 3:49.05, holding off a fast-charging Nicholas Sweetser of Gator Swim Club who dropped 4 full seconds to clock a 3:49.52. Sweetser’s time ranks him fifth on the all-time list for 17-18 boys, 3.6 seconds away from Larsen Jensen’s national age group record from 2004.

Zane Grothe of Badger Swim Club improved his seed time by 2.5 seconds for the morning’s fastest time, winning the final heat with 3:48.93. Runner-up in to Grothe was Townley Haas of NOVA of Virginia, in 3:49.38. Townley dropped 2.6 seconds and moved to fourth on the all-time list for 17-18 boys, moving Sweetser to sixth.

Top 8: Grothe (3:48.93), C Smith (3:49.05), Haas (3:49.38), Sweetser (3:49.52), Matthew Hutchins of Wisconsin Aquatics (3:50.97), Jonathan Roberts of North Texas Nadadores (3:51.23), Bobby Hurley of Club Wolverine (3:51.88), and Frank Dyer of North Baltimore (3:52.58).

Wieser’s 3:52.65 is the top qualifying time for the consolation final.

Women’s 200 Meter IM – Prelims

Lilly King (unattached), who was seeded in yards, nailed a 2:18.69, exactly hitting the Olympic Trials standard with her 7/10 drop. King won heat 4 and moved to the top of the rankings. The following heat produced a slew of Trials qualifiers, the fastest of which was Meredith Oliver of Aggie Swim Club, who led the field with 2:18.04 for a 2.2-second improvement over her best time.

Rose Bowl Aquatics’ Kirsten Vose cracked a 2:15.82 to win heat 6 and take over the lead; it was her best time by 4.2 seconds and her first Trials cut in the event. Grace Carlson of Stanford Swimming knocked 2 seconds off her PB to win the following heat with 2:16.40, the morning’s second-fastest time to that point. Hannah Kukurugya of Crown Point nosed Carlson out of the number 2 slot with a heat-winning 2:16.21, her best by 2.2 seconds.

Bluefish Swim Club’s Laura Sogar moved to the top of the rankings with a heat-winning 2:14.91, bettering her seed time by almost 3.2 seconds. Lisa Bratton of Tri-City Channel dropped 2 and went 2:15.79 out of lane 1 in heat 10 to move ahead of Vose for the second spot.

Meaghan Raab of Nashville Aquatic Club nailed a 2:13.35, dropping 4 full seconds, to jump to the top of the qualifiers in heat 11. Her teammate Tatum Wade went 2:15.23 to take the following heat over SwimMAC Carolina’s Katherine Mills (2:15.55); the pair moved to third and fourth overall, respectively.

In the first circle-seeded heat, Hali Flickinger and Emily Cameron, both of Athens Bulldogs, improved on their seed times to go 1-2 with 2:12.88 and 2:13.96, respectively. Flickinger took over the lead and Cameron moved to third overall, to that point.

Sarah Henry of Aggie Swim Club popped a best-by-1.6 2:12.36 to win the next heat and take over at the top of the field. Karlee Bispo was second with 2:13.79. Madisyn Cox of Longhorn Aquatics edged California Aquatics’ Caitlin Leverenz, 2:11.61 to 2:11.71, to take the final heat of women’s 200 IM.

Top 8: Cox (2:11.61), Leverenz (2:11.71), Henry (2:12.36), Flickinger (2:12.88), Bethany Galat of Aggie Swim Club (2:12.96), Raab (2:13.35), Bispo (2:13.79), and Cameron (2:13.96).

Men’s 100 Meter Breaststroke – Prelims

Caeleb Dressel of Bolles School Sharks, entered with a yards bonus time of 53.96, won the opening heat of men’s 100 breast with an Olympic Trials-qualifying 1:02.26. His last recorded LCM time in the event was 1:09.70 from Sectionals in July of 2013. Sean Mahoney, also entered with a yards time, went 1:02.21 to win the following heat and move ahead of Dressel.

14-year-old Liam Bell of Dynamo Swim Club dropped .01 in heat 4 to tie Michael Andrew at number 2 on the all-time list for 13-14 boys with 1:03.83. Derek Hren of Wolfpack Elite dropped 1.8 seconds to jump to the top of the rankings with 1:01.91, a time which held through to heat 8, when Pavel Romanov of University of Alabama posted a 1:01.70.

In the first of the circle-seeded heats, Andrew Wilson of Longhorn Aquatics nailed a 59.68, his best by 2.2 seconds, and the only sub-minute time of the morning. Just behind Wilson was Chuck Katis of California Aquatics in 1:00.79, beating his seed time by .7. Nicholas Schafer of Wisconsin Aquatics took heat 11 with 1:00.84, while Craig Benson posted the second-fastest time overall winning the last heat in 1:00.28.

Top 8: Wilson (59.68), Benson (1:00.28), Katis (1:00.79), Schafer (1:00.84), Marcus Titus of Ford (1:01.02), Scotland’s Michael Jamieson (1:01.05), Brad Craig of Tennessee Aquatics (1:01.09), and Samuel Tierney (1:01.23).

Women’s 400 Meter Freestyle – Prelims

Andrea Kneppers of University of Louisville posted the first big drop of the morning, improving her previous-best 4:19 by 5 seconds to win heat 3 from out in lane 8 with 4:14.67. That proved to be a lucky lane in the next heat, when Flickinger of Athens Bulldog Swim Club swam a monster 4:09.64. Only six American women have been faster than that this season. Saint Andrews’ Megan Moroney won the following heat with the second-fastest time to that point, 4:14.35, an improvement of 2.5 seconds over her seed time.

Sarah Gibson from Aggie Swim Club and Karling Hemstreet of Nitro moved into second and third overall with their 1-2 finish in the next heat with 4:12.76 and 4:13.74, respectively. Gibson improved by nearly 4 seconds while Hemstreet went a best time by 3.

Two more “outsiders” led the way in their respective heats, as Hannah Cox of Upper Valley Aquatic Club won heat 7 from lane 1, with a best-by-3.5 4:12.40 to overtake Gibson in the number 2 slot. California Aquatics’ Melanie Klaren dropped 2.6 en route to winning heat 8 out of lane 8 in 4:12.49. Klaren thus eased into third overall to that point, behind Gibson and Cox.

China’s Hou Yawen, attached to Mission Viejo, was another lane 8 denizen who came to the wall first in her heat. Hou dropped 2.5 seconds to take the first circle-seeded heat in 4:11.82, moving to second overall. The next heat moved Hou down to number four overall, as North Baltimore’s Sierra Schmidt edged York YMCA’s Courtney Harnish, 4:11.40 to 4:11.51, for the win.

The final heat provided another opportunity for outside smoke, as Allison Schmitt of North Baltimore led from start to finish out of lane 1. At the end she touched in 4:09.14, just holding off a charging Stephanie Peacock of Mission Viejo, who went 4:09.24. Schmitt and Peacock moved into the top two positions going into finals.

Top 8: Schmitt (4:09.14), Peacock (4:09.24), Flickinger (4:09.64), Schmidt (4:11.40), Harnish (4:11.51), Hou (4:11.82), Lindsay Vrooman of Badger Swim Club (4:12.09), and Cox (4:12.40).

Men’s 400 Meter IM – Prelims

Ted Schubert of NOVA of Virginia jumped out to an early lead with 4:25.27 in heat 1 of the men’s 400 IM, just a tad off his lifetime-best 4:25.17 from last weekend’s NCSA Summer Championships. 15-year-old Andrew Abruzzo clocked a 4:26.16 in the next heat, dropping 3.2 seconds and hitting the Olympic Trials standard. Abruzzo moved up to 24th on the all-time list for 15-16 boys with that.

Duke’s Michael Miller won heat 3 with 4:24.07 to lead the morning to that point. He dropped more than 3 seconds, finishing just ahead of Bolles School’s Christian Carbone (4:25.43). Both earned bids to 2016 Trials with their swims. Tommy Anderson of Irish Aquatics won heat 4 out of lane 1 with 4:25.66. Max Miranda of Bluefish Swim Club dropped 1.1 seconds and moved up to 29th on the all-time list for 15-16 year-olds with 4:26.30.

Club Wolverine’s Cameron Stitt improved his seed time by 2.8 seconds and posted the exact same field-leading time as Duke’s Miller, 4:24.07. In the next heat, Andrew Gemmell of Nation’s Capital finished with a tremendous 57.8 freestyle leg to win in 4:22.37, his best by 2.6.

Charles Swanson (4:22.11) of NOVA of Virginia, Zachary Lierley (4:22.90) of Team Pittsburgh, and Santa Clara Swim Club’s Michael Messner (4:23.70) battled to the finish in heat 7, each posting best times and landing in the top eight so far. Longhorn Aquatics’ John Martens came along in the next heat with a field-leading 4:19.55, the first sub-4:20 of the morning.

Travis Mahoney of Australia moved to the top of the leaderboard with his 4:17.45 in the penultimate heat, ahead of Nation’s Capital Swim Club’s Andrew Seliskar (4:18.92) and Corey Okubo of Aquazot Swim Club (4:19.68). The final heat featured a terrific battle between Curtis Ogren of Stanford Swimming and Gunnar Bentz of Dynamo. Then with a blistering 100 free, 16-year-old Sean Grieshop of Nitro Swimming came to the wall even with Bentz, both touching in exactly 4:17.34. Grieshop dropped 2.9 seconds and moved past Bentz, from third to second, on the all-time list for 15-16 boys; he is now 2.14 seconds off Michael Phelps’ national age group record.

Top 8: Bentz and Grieshop (4:17.34), Mahoney (4:17.45), Max Williamson of Stanford (4:18.13), Seliskar (4:18.92), Ogren (4:19.41), Martens (4:19.55), Okubo (4:19.68).