2019 Pro Swim Series – Greensboro: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2019 USA SWIMMING PRO SWIM SERIES – GREENSBORO

• November 6th-9th, 2019
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• 50m (LCM)
• Prelims at 9:00AM Eastern Time/Finals at 6:00PM Eastern Time (4:00 Eastern for Wednesday timed finals)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Friday Finals Heat Sheet

Catch Katie Ledecky aiming for 2-for-2 wins, taking the top seed in both the 200 free and 400 IM. Also doing the FR/IM double is Jay Litherland, who will swim in the 200 free A-final and headline the men’s 400 IM.

Along with Litherland, watch out for the all-star clash of the prodigies and veterans in the men’s 200 free. 18-year-old Carson Foster leads the event over 400/1500 champ Zane Grothe, along with 17-year-old Luca Urlando right behind them.

The women’s 200 back will showcase another star-studded field as teenager Isabelle Stadden headlines the event over world record-holder Kathleen Baker. Fellow teens Katharine Berkoff and Claire Curzan can also be seen in the event alongside veterans Gabby DeLoof and Hali Flickinger, who will be in all three A-finals tonight.

18-time world champion Ryan Lochte will also be swimming the tough 200 free/200 back double, where he is seeded fourth behind Foster in the 200 free and South African Christopher Reid in the 200 back.

Keep an eye on 14-year-olds Erin Gemmell (200 free) and Leah Hayes (400 IM), who will race in their respective A-finals against their elite counter-parts.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE FINALS

• Pro Swim Series Record – Katie Ledecky, 1:55.43 – 2016
• Olympic Trials Cut – 2:01.69

Top 3:

1. Katie Ledecky (NCAP)- 1:55.68
2. Simone Manuel (Alto Swim Club)- 1:57.46
3. Allison Schmitt (Sun Devil)- 1:57.63

With her second win of the meet, Katie Ledecky now adds a second national- and worldwide-leading time for the 2019-2020 season. Ledecky’s winning time of 1:55.68 marks her fastest individual 200 free time of the entire year of 2019. She started last season with a 1:55.32 from the 2018 US Winter Nationals.

In a tight race for second, it was sprinter Simone Manuel who took out mid-distance swimmer Allison Schmitt by less than two-tenths. Manuel’s time of 1:57.46 is now her 2nd-fastest in-season time, just two-tenths off her in-season best of 1:57.24 from the Bloomington PSS. Both Manuel and Schmitt are now #2 and #3 in the nation as well as #4 and #5 respectively in the world.

MEN’S 200 FREE FINALS

• Pro Swim Series Record – Sun Yang, 1:44.82 – 2016
• Olympic Trials Cut – 1:50.78

Top 3:

1. Luca Urlando (DART)- 1:48.40
2. Zane Grothe (Boulder City)- 1:48.45
3. Carson Foster (Mason Manta Rays)- 1:48.80

Picking up his second win of the meet was 17-year-old Luca Urlando, who held off veteran Zane Grothe by five one-hundredths. Urlando and Grothe are now the top 2 swimmers in the nation thus far as well as 7th and 8th in the world with their final times.

18-year-old Carson Foster was also in the mix and snagged a third-place finish with a 1:48.80, also five one-hundredths ahead of Jordanian record-holder Khader Baqlah (1:48.85).

WOMEN’S 200 BACK FINALS

• Pro Swim Series Record – Taylor Ruck, 2:06.36 – 2018
• Olympic Trials Cut – 2:14.69

Top 3:

1. Isabelle Stadden (Aquajets)- 2:08.16
2. Kathleen Baker (Team Elite)- 2:09.05
3. Katharine Berkoff (NC State)- 2:12.74

Teenager Isabelle Stadden and World medalist Kathleen Baker duked out an epic battle to now post the top 2 times in the nation and the world for the 2019-2020 season. Stadden’s efforts also broke her lifetime best of 2:08.24, which now ranks her 5th all-time in 17-18 age group history.

Finishing in third place just three seconds behind was NC State newcomer Katharine Berkoff, who ranks 3rd in the US and just made the top-10 times in the world.

MEN’S 200 BACK FINALS

• Pro Swim Series Record – Xu Jiayu, 1:55.04 – 2017
• Olympic Trials Cut – 2:02.99

Top 3:

1. Christopher Reid (Wolfpack Elite)- 1:58.33
2. Jacob Pebley (Team Elite)- 1:58.39
3. Ryan Lochte (Gator Swim Club)- 2:00.87

Christopher Reid of South Africa successfully defended his top spot from prelims by edging Jacob Pebley by six one-hundredths of a second for the PSS win.

Reid’s time ranks 5th in the world this year and fell just a second off his South African record of 1:57.11. Earlier in the season, Pebley swam a 1:56.37 from the Toyko stop of the FINA World Cup series, which is second in the world.

Finishing in third place was Gator Ryan Lochte, who split the race 28.63/31.04/30.87/30.33, cleverly building each 50 of the remaining three-quarters of the race.

WOMEN’S 400 IM FINALS

• Pro Swim Series Record – Katinka Hosszu, 4:31.07 – 2015
• Olympic Trials Cut – 4:51.79

Top 3:

1. Ally McHugh (Wisconsin)- 4:40.09
2. Hali Flickinger (Unattached)- 4:40.78
3. Katie Ledecky (NCAP)- 4:41.72

After the backstroke, it was both Ally McHugh and Makayla Sargent who started to take the early lead into breaststroke. McHugh then pulled away from the field and wound up winning her signature race at 4:40.09, the top US time this season.

Hali Flickinger finished in second place at 4:40.78, which happened after swimming both the 200 free (5th) and 200 back (6th) A-finals. Making her second podium appearance was Katie Ledecky, whose final 100 free split of 1:00.33 aided to her third-place finish. Sargent finished right behind Ledecky at 4:41.84.

McHugh, Flickinger, and Ledecky now rank 4th, 5th, and 6th in the world respectively this season while Sargent is also inside the top 10.

MEN’S 400 IM FINALS

• Pro Swim Series Record – Chase Kalisz, 4:08.92 – 2018
• Olympic Trials Cut – 4:25.99

Top 3:

1. Jay Litherland (Dynamo)- 4:20.09
2. Jacob Heidtmann (Team Elite)- 4:23.35
3. Carlos Claverie (Unattached)- 4:28.85

After cruising from this morning’s session, Jay Litherland dropped 8 seconds from that swim to win the 400 IM final in a nation-leading time of 4:20.09. His time is just six one-hundredths faster than his season-opening time last year from 2018 US Winter Nationals (4:20.15). Also last season, Litherland was under 4:20 just twice during the in-season (which doesn’t include Worlds).

Taking second place was German record-holder Jacob Heidtmann, who trailed a body-length behind Litherland for the majority of the race. Rounding out the top 3 was Carlos Claverie, finishing at 4:28.85.

FINA POINT LEADERS

The swimmer with the single best swim in FINA points for the full 2019-2020 Pro Swim Series will win the $10,000 prize – one for women and one for men. Here are the current leaders – we’ll try to update these as tonight’s session progresses:

Friday Finals Update: Ledecky and Grothe continue to top the FINA point standings from their Thursday swims.

• Women: Katie Ledecky, 400 free, 4:01.68 (936 FINA points)
• Men: Zane Grothe, 400 free, 3:48.80 (889 FINA points)