2024 Pro Swim Series – San Antonio: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2024 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – SAN ANTONIO

• April 10-13, 2024
• Northside Swim Center, San Antonio, TX
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times
  • Wednesday Distance: 5pm (Central Time)
  • All Prelims: 9am (Central Time)
  • Thurs-Sat Finals: 6pm (Central Time)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Livestream (USA Swimming Network)

Wednesday Finals Scratch Report 

Wednesday Timed Finals Heat Sheet

The 2024 San Antonio Pro Swim Series stop will kick off this evening with just one discipline: the men’s and women’s 1500 freestyle. This is the final destination of the 2024 series, with the Knoxville and Westmont stops already taking place in January and March. Tonight’s 1500s will be contested as timed finals, which will be swum fastest to slowest, alternating heats of women and men.

With world record holder Katie Ledecky opting out of tonight’s race, World Junior Champion Kate Hurst will swim in lane four as the top seed. She’ll race right next to Paige Madden in the fastest heat, with Madden coming off a win at last month’s Westmont stop, where she notched a new lifetime best of 16:09.93. Hurst, a Texas commit, placed 2nd in this distance at the Indianapolis Speedo Sectionals last month (16:25.39).

The men’s race will showcase Tokyo gold medal-winner Bobby Finke, who also holds the American record (14:31.59). Austria’s Felix Auboeck, who won a world title in the SCM 400 freestyle in 2021, will also swim in tonight’s final. Situated between them on the psych sheet is 22-year-old Louisville standout Ilia Sibirtsev (15:11.98), who represents Uzbekistan on the international scene.

14-year-old Luka Mijatovic is another name to keep an eye on tonight. He will swim out of lane six in tonight’s fastest heat, and owns a best time and 13-14 NAG record of 15:27.38. Mijatovic swam at the Pacific Swimming Far Western Championships last week where he shattered multiple SCY national age group records.

WOMEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE — TIMED FINALS

• World Record: 15:20.48 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)
• World Junior Record: 15:28.36 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2014)
• American Record: 15:20.48 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)
• U.S. Open Record: 15:20.48 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)
• Pro Swim Series Record: 15:20.48 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2018)
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Standard: 16:45.69

Top 8:

1. Paige Madden (NYAC) – 16:19.77
2. Deniz Ertan (SUN) – 16:33.20
3. Paige Downey (GM) – 16:35.01
4. Kate Hurst (SCAR) – 16:40.12
5. Caroline Riggs (UN-WV) – 16:42.12
6. Danielle Gleason (PSC) – 16:55.78
7. Grace Hodgins (SYS) – 16:58.33
8. Mira Szimcsak (COUG) – 17:10.70

25-year-old Paige Madden of the New York Athletic Club claimed the first victory of the meet. She touched the wall in a final time of 16:19.77, which was about 10 seconds shy of her lifetime best (16:09.93) from last month’s Westmont stop.

Madden is training under the guidance of coach Bob Bowman in the lead-up to Olympic Trials, having made the switch back in September. Prior to making the change, she trained with the Loughborough University group in England for a year, and trained with the Virginia Cavaliers prior to that. Madden is an Olympic medalist from Tokyo, where she helped Team USA to 2nd in the 4×200 freestyle relay.

Securing 2nd place honors tonight was Madden’s training partner, Deniz Ertan (16:33.20). Ertan represents Turkey on the international stage and owns a best time of 16:13.22 in this event. She posted that personal best swim at the Tokyo Olympics, where she placed 17th overall.

The World Junior Champion from September, Kate Hurst, produced a 4th place finish tonight in 16:40.12. She’s been as fast as 16:09.37 and recently clocked a time of 16:25.37 last month. 15-year-old Paige Downey outpaced Hurst for 3rd place, as she posted a near personal best swim of 16:35.01. Downey owns a career-best 16:32.05 in this distance.

Swimming out of the 2nd heat, Caroline Riggs of Yale clocked a time of 16:42.12 for 5th overall. She crushed her previous best of 16:54.80 from last May and slid under the U.S. Olympic Trials (16:45.69) standard in the process.

MEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE – TIMED FINALS

• World Record: 14:31.02 — Sun Yang, CHN (2012)
• World Junior Record: 14:46.09 — Franko Grgic, CRO (2019)
• American Record: 14:31.59 — Bobby Finke, USA (2023)
• U.S. Open Record: 14:42.81 — Bobby Finke, USA (2023)
• Pro Swim Series Record: 14:53.12 — Jordan Wilimovsky, USA (2016)
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Standard: 15:39.89

Top 8:

1. Bobby Finke (SPA) – 15:05.96
2. Felix Auboeck (AUT) – 15:13.62
3. William Mulgrew (SAC) – 15:19.25
4. Ilia Sibirtsev (UofL) – 15:21.38
5. Luka Mijatovic (UN-PC) – 15:36.15
6. Henry Morrissey (UN-PC) – 15:37.92
7. Dylan Gravley (SUN) – 15:40.07
8. Colin Jacobs (SYS) – 15:41.35

To no one’s surprise, American record holder Bobby Finke (15:05.96) finished well ahead of the men’s 1500 freestyle field. For comparison’s sake, Finke was 15:08.51 at this same time last year, so he looks to be on the right track as we head into championship season. He won tonight’s race by exactly 7.66 seconds.

Austria’s Felix Auboeck (15:13.62) snagged a 2nd place finish in tonight’s fastest heat. He owns a best time and national record of 14:51.88, a time he threw down at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. Known for more of his 200 and 400 freestyle prowess, Auboeck will feature in those two races in addition to the 800 free later this week.

William Mulgrew (15:19.25) and Ilia Sibirtsev (15:21.38) had a tight battle for 3rd, with Mulgrew getting the touch by just over two seconds. Mulgrew, a Harvard commit, demolished his previous best time (15:29.82) by over 10 seconds. National Age Group record-breaker Luka Mijatovic was 5th overall tonight, checking-in at 15:36.15. His best time and NAG record stands at 15:26.73, which he put on the books last month.

West Virginia’s Ivan Puskovitch was 13th overall, but his focus over the last year has been Open Water. He booked an automatic ticket to the Paris Olympics in the Open Water 10km event in February via his 14th place finish at the Doha World Championships.