2015 Winter Nationals: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2015 AT&T U.S. Winter Nationals

• Thursday, December 3rd – Friday, December 5th, 2015
• Federal Way, WA
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center
• Prelims 9:00 AM / Distance 3:00 PM / Finals 6:00 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
• Psych Sheets
• Heat Sheet
• Live Video
• Live Results

Women’s 200 Meter Backstroke

A Final: Caldwell, Beisel, DiRado, Pelton, Franklin, Smiddy, Samardzic, Goss

Elizabeth Beisel and Hilary Caldwell fought it out for the top two spots. Despite a late charge from Beisel, Caldwell took the top spot with a time of 2:11.00, while Beisel touched in 2:11.39. Maya DiRado of Stanford Swimming came from behind to win her heat in 2:11.57, granting her the third seed tonight. DiRado already has two individual victories at this meet in the 200 and 400 IM.

Cal’s Elizabeth Pelton took over the back half of the race to beat Missy Franklin of the Colorado Stars out for the fourth spot in 2:11.58. Franklin, the current world record holder and defending Olympic champion, ranks fifth with a 2:11.81.

Michigan’s Clara Smiddy, unattached Matea Samardzic, and Indiana University’s Kennedy Goss round out the A final, with Goss qualifying eighth in 2:12.90.

The top 29 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:16.59.

Men’s 200 Meter Backstroke

A Final: Mulcare, Vyatchanin, Grevers, Tarasevich, Reid, Loncar, Sanders, Katz

Surprisingly, USC freshman Patrick Mulcare rocked a 1:58.25 early out of heat three to take the top spot. Mulcare was seeded with a yards time of 1:42.21 and dropped nearly 1.5 seconds off of his long course lifetime best in his swim this morning. Arkady Vyatchanin of the New York Athletic Club snagged second in 1:59.20 while Matt Grevers secured the third spot with his 2:00.05.

Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich, last night’s 100 back runner-up, clocked in fourth at 2:00.12, tailed by Alabama’s Christopher Reid in 2:00.69. Anton Loncar, Michigan’s Tristan Sanders, and Austin Katz of Sarasota followed to cap off the A final. Katz qualified eighth in 2:01.06.

The top 11 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:03.79.

Women’s 100 Meter Freestyle

A Final: Neal, Weitzeil, Manuel, Franklin, Vollmer, Geer, Haughey, Cheng

The prelims of the women’s 100 free were dominated by young sprint stars. A strong finishing charge gave Lia Neal the top seed and the 34th fastest time in the world this year. The Stanford star finished in 54.27. Abbey Weitzeil of Canyon Aquatics was just behind in 54.71 with Simone Manuel and Missy Franklin tying for the third spot in 54.92.

Veteran Dana Vollmer of California Aquatics, the meet’s 100 fly champion, qualified fifth with 54.95, followed by Margo Geer of Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics and Michigan’s Siobhan Haughey. Cal’s Camille Cheng took the eighth spot in 55.36.

The top 21 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 56.49.

Men’s 100 Meter Freestyle

A Final: Condorelli, Schneider, Kisil, Morozov, Adrian, Dwyer, Gkolomeev, Rooney

Santo Condorelli of Canyons Aquatics secured the top position comfortably with a time of 48.80. Condorelli finished fourth in this event at this summer’s World Championships and was one of only four people in the world to break the 48 second barrier last year.

New York Athletic Club’s Josh Schneider grabbed the second spot in 49.10. Third seed will go to Yuri Kisil of the UBC Dolphins (49.21), followed by Olympians and NCAA record holders Vladimir Morozov of Trojan Swim Club (49.30) and Nathan Adrian of California Aquatics (49.31).

After a dominating victory in the 200 freestyle last night, Trojan Swim Club’s Conor Dwyer will hold the sixth position going in tonight’s finals, followed by Alabama sprint sensation Kristian Gkolomeev, who competes for Greece internationally. 17 year old Maxime Rooney, this summer’s 200 free national champion, qualified eighth in 49.71.

The top 31 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 50.69.

Women’s 200 Meter Breaststroke

A Final: Smith, Tucker, King, Garcia, Hannis, McCabe, Nicol, Colleau

NCAA champion Kierra Smith ran away with heat eight to qualify first for finals with a time of 2:25.55. She was followed in her heat by Indiana’s Miranda Tucker (2:26.82) and Lilly King (2:27.01), who qualified second and third. World Championships finalist Marina Garcia and Tennessee Aquatics’s Molly Hannis followed closely behind.

Martha McCabe and Rachel Nicol were the first two swimmers of the day to break 2 minutes and 30 seconds, both clocking in at 2:29 to rank sixth and seventh after this morning. Stina Colleau, who represents Norway internationally, qualified eighth in 2:30.22.

Notably, 100 breaststroke champion Yuliya Efimova was disqualified after posting a time that would have been the second fastest of the morning.

The top 23 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:34.99.

Men’s 200 Meter Breaststroke

A Final: Claverie, Tierney, McHugh, Schafer, Amaltdinov, Funk, Katis, Dahlia

Louisville swimmer Carlos Claverie topped a close 200 breast field to claim the top seed of 2:12.98. Former Missouri star Sam Tierney snagged the second spot in the 200 breast over GPAC’s Brendan McHugh. Tierney, the 100 breast champion form last night, swam a 2:13.13 to top McHugh’s 2:13.41. Australia’s Nick Schafer snagged the fourth spot in 2:13.69.

Purdue’s Marat Amaltdinov, Canadian swimmer Richard Funk, and Chuck Katis followed in fifth, sixth, and seventh. Former Louisville swimmer Thomas Dahlia closed out the A final in 2:15.15. The top seed, Alabama’s Anton McKee opted to scratch the event.

The top 16 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:18.39.

Women’s 200 Meter Butterfly

A Final: Pike, Pinto, Saiz, Anderson, Eastin, Case, Harnish, Paez

Taylor Pike of Razorback Aquatics qualified first in 2:10.70, a time that grants her status the 12th fastest 15-16 year old of all time. Pike leads Venezuelan Olympian Andreina Pinto and former Kenyon star Hannah Saiz, who claimed the second and third spots in 2:10.86 and 2:11.19. Open water specialist Haley Anderson, who has already qualified for the 2016 Olympics in the women’s 5K, picked up the fourth position.

Stanford’s Ella Eastin and Lauren Case of the Chattahoochee Gold grabbed the fifth and sixth spots, followed by York YMCA’s Courtney Harnish and rounded out by Duke’s Isabella Paez (2:13.54).

The top 12 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:14.99.

Men’s 200 Meter Butterfly

A Final: Phelps, Kalisz, Rousseau, Darragh, Matsuda, Hodgson, Torres, Bosch

Michael Phelps worked his usual magic this morning to take the top seed in the men’s 200 fly. A strong front half propelled Phelps to victory over IM star Chase Kalisz, winning 1:58.07 to 1:58.69. Sebastian Rousseau led the race at the 150 but faded the last length to third. Rousseau touched in a time of 1:58.94.

Missouri’s Mack Darragh qualified next in 1:59.21, followed by two-time Olympic bronze medalist Takeshi Matsuda (1:59.42).

Dakota Hodgson from Nashville Aquatic Club and Puerto Rico’s Andrew Torres claimed the sixth and seventh slots. Michigan NCAA record holder Dylan Bosch caps off tonight’s A final with a time of 1:59.82. Notably, Tom Shields missed the A final, placing 9th after this morning with a 1:59.95.

The top 13 swimmers were under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:01.99.