2024 Speedo Atlanta Classic: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2024 SPEEDO ATLANTA CLASSIC driven by Jim Ellis Cadillac

• Wednesday, May 15th – Saturday, May 18th 2024
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• How To Watch
• Day 1 Distance Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap
• Live Results on Meet Mobile: “2024 Speedo Atlanta Classic”

Day 2 Finals Heat Sheet

We had a distance session last night, but now it’s time for our first full finals session at the 2024 Speedo Atlanta Classic. Welcome in everyone, and happy almost weekend. On tap for tonight’s session is the 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and 400 freestyle for both women and men.

Live Stream:

Courtesy: SwimAtlanta

Caeleb Dressel has gotten comfortable in the outside lanes over the last two Pro Series meets, but he’s back in the center of the pool for the 100 freestyle final. Dressel led the way ahead of a flurry of Gator teammates with a 48.67, which is the fastest prelims time he’s swum since his return to the sport. After knocking a hundredth off his personal best in prelims (48.75), Jorge Iga could give him a challenge, but he’ll need to keep Gators Julian Smith (49.15) and Macguire McDuff (49.25) at bay.

Newly named to her second Olympic team, Mona McSharry posted the top time of the morning in the women’s 100 breast. McSharry separated herself from the field, pulling away for a 1:06.91 effort. Her Tennessee teammate Emelie Fast is the closest to her (1:08.61) but it will take a big effort to chase down McSharry. The two Vols really pushed the pace this morning — no one else was under 1:09 as Zoie Hartman (1:09.99) and Ava DeAngelis–who hit her first Olympic Trials cut in 1:10.29–touched third and fourth.

After the 200 butterfly, the session closes with the 400 freestyle. In the women’s race, Katie Ledecky looks to ride the momentum from her 1500 freestyle yesterday where she won in a world-leading time. She’s been as fast as 4:01.41 this season, which is currently 4th in the world. Look for Bella Sims to go out fast and try to hold on against Ledecky and a field that looks reminescent of an SEC Championship field with not only her teammate Emma Weyant in the mix but also a handful of the Georgia distance crew.

The Florida men flexed their depth in the men’s 400 freestyle, taking the top four spots out of prelims. Alfonso Mestre (3:51.57) sits just ahead of Kieran Smith (3:51.73). Jake Mitchell is within shouting distance of the pair, as is Bobby Finke, who’s dropped all the way down to the 400 freestyle for a little light sprinting work. Yesterday, Finke swam the first in-season sub-15 minute 1500 free of his career for the event win.

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE — Final

• Olympic Qualifying Time: 53.61
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 55.79

Top 10: 

1. Catie DeLoof (NYAC) — 54.06 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
2. Erika Connolly (TNAQ) /Isabel Ivey (GSC) — 54.81 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
3. (tie)
4. Camille Spink (TNAQ) — 55.07 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
5. Carmen Weiler Sastre (VT) — 55.33
6. Caroline Larsen (FOXJ) — 55.34 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
7. Gabby DeLoof (NYAC) — 55.41 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
8. Madi Mintenko (PPA) — 56.76
9. Emma Harvey (USPU) — 55.89
10. Cadence Vincent (BAMA) — 56.14

Catie DeLoof led from start to finish in the championship final of the women’s 100 freestyle. She opened in 25.73, jumping out to a .53 second lead on the rest of the field. They came back on her on the back half of the race, but DeLoof had done more than enough to get her hand on the wall first. She touched in 54.06, taking two-tenths off her prelims swim.

DeLoof swam a season-best 53.88 at the San Antonio Pro Series.

Isabel Ivey flipped in 26.26, five-hundredths ahead of Erika Connolly (formerly Brown). Connolly out-split her with a 28.50 coming home, and the pair tied for silver in 54.81. For Ivey, that swim is .21 seconds off her personal best from last summer.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 48.34
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 49.99

Top 10: 

1. Caeleb Dressel (GSC) — 48.30 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
2. Jorge Iga (PRVT) — 48.57
3. Macguire McDuff (FLOR) — 49.19 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
4. Julian Smith (FLOR) — 49.55 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
5. Tomas Koski (ABSC) — 49.59 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
6. Reese Branzell (ABSC) — 49.62 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
7. Alfonso Mestre (UN) — 50.03
8. Lamar Taylor (BAH) — 50.19
9. David Greeley (VS) — 50.41
10. Micah Chambers (TNAQ) — 1:05.35

Caeleb Dressel just keeps continuing to improve in his return to swimming. This morning, he swam his fastest prelims time since making his return; now in finals, he posts his fastest time outright since his return with a 48.30. That knocks a tenth off his winning time from the San Antonio Pro Series.

After scratching into the final, Micah Chambers–who seemed to be going for the 50 split–took the race out with a 22.91. Jorge Iga followed in second, with Dressel running third. As we’ve come to expect from the returned Dressel is a strong back half, and he put that on display in Atlanta, splitting 25.04 on the way home to get his hand on the wall first.

Iga posted his second personal best of the day to maintain his second place position. He swam 48.57, knocking another .18 seconds off his best.

Meanwhile, Gator teammates Macguire McDuff and Julian Smith flipped their placements. McDuff swam 49.19 to finish third, a tenth faster than he was at this meet last year. Smith set a personal best in prelism (49.15) and added from that swim in finals with a 49.55.

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 1:06.79
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 1:10.29

Top 10: 

1. Mona McSharry (UN) — 1:07.08
2. Emelie Fast (UN) — 1:08.42
3. Zoie Hartman (ABSC) — 1:09.23 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
4. Ava DeAngelis (GW) — 1:09.92 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
5. Lina Bank (UMIZ) — 1:10.09 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
6. Bradi Jones (UARK) — 1:11.28
7. Alexis Yager (TNAQ) — 1:11.34
8. Kailee Morgan (UN) — 1:11.62
9. Olivia Peoples (FLOR) — 1:11.70
10. Grace Rainey (FLOR) — 1:11.80

Mona McSharry added .17 seconds from her prelims time, but she still easily took the win in the women’s 100 breaststroke. McSharry was out in 31.89, only two-tenths ahead of her Tennessee teammate Emelie Fast. She pushed the pace on the second 50, splitting 25.19 to pull away from Fast for the win.

The top five swimmers actually all maintained their placements from prelims, as Fast touched second in 1:08.42, .81 seconds ahead of Zoie Hartman. That’s a new season best for Fast, who was previously 1:09.66 at the Tennessee Invitational. This finals swim was Hartman’s second time racing the event this season and since she dropped from prelims, it’s a season best for her as well.

Ava DeAngelis finished 4th with her second best of the day. In prelims, she swam 1:10.29–her first Olympic Trials cut. She improved on that time tonight, breaking 1:10 for the first time with a 1:09.92 effort.

MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 59.49
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 1:02.19

Top 10: 

1. Evgenii Somov (AAAA) — 59.34
2. Carles Coll Marti (VT) — 1:00.39
3. Miguel De Lara (PRVT) — 1:00.69
4. Xavier Ruiz (SJC) — 1:00.95
5. Mariano Lazzerini (UPSU) — 1:01.49
6. Henry Bethel (UNAT) — 1:01.86 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
7. Julian Killus (GTCH) — 1:01.88 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
8. Michael Houlie (TNAQ) — 1:02.03
9. Justin Bender (SPAC) — 1:02.13 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
10. Aleksas Savickas (FLOR) — 1:02.72

Evgenii Somov was off his new Russian record of 58.72–which he swam in prelims–but like McSharry in the women’s race, still easily earned the win. Somov was the only man in the field under 1:00, a marker that he had not broken until this morning. Now, he’s done it twice and did so here to win the final by over a second.

Tennessee’s Michael Houlie was out first at the 50, splitting 27.64. Somov trailed him by .50 seconds; he came charging down the home stretch with a 31.20 split. Houlie faded to 8th place, and it was Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti who grabbed 2nd place with a 31.79 closing split. Coll Marti swam 1:00.39, a new personal best by .29 seconds.

Miguel De Lara rounded out the podium in 1:00.69.

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 2:08.43
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 2:13.69

Top 10: 

1. Leah Gingrich (KA) — 2:11.75 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
2. Lilla Bognar (TG) — 2:12.29 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
3. Carli Cronk (AAAA) — 2:12.68 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
4. Sara Stotler (UN) — 2:12.96 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
5. Zoe Dixon (FLOR) — 2:12.98 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
6. Kate McCarville (UN) — 2:14.04
7. Deniz Ertan (SUN) — 2:14.31
8. Lainy Kruger (FLOR) — 2:14.49
9. Mia Abruzzo (PWAC) — 2:14.60
10. Callie Dickinson (ABSC) — 2:15.57

The final of the women’s 200 butterfly turned out to be the closest race of the night so far. Florida’s Zoe Dixon held the lead at the halfway mark in 1:03.15 (29.19/33.96). Leah Gingrich turned in 1:03.91 and made her move on the third 50, out-splitting Dixon 33.62 to 34.39 to take the lead by the final turn.

Gingrich held on for the win, splitting 35.44 on the closing length for a final time of 2:12.98, adding .15 seconds from her prelism swim. 17-year-old Lilla Bognar split 1:03.91/1:08.38 for a lifetime best 2:12.29 and second place. Coming into the meet, Bognar’s best was 2:13.85 from NCSA’s this spring. She went 2:13.03 in prelims, hitting the Olympic Trials cut. Her time here in finals represents a 1.56 second drop on the day for her.

Notre Dame commit Carli Cronk took third in 2:12.68, just a hundredth off her season-best time from the San Antonio Pro Series.

It was a close race for third; Cronk got her hands on the wall first but Sara Stotler and Dixon were three-tenths behind her, with just .02 seconds separating them for 4th and 5th.

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 1:55.78
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 2:00.49

Top 10: 

1. Martin Espernberger (UN) — 1:56.12
2. Mason Laur (FLOR) — 1:57.10 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
3. Jack Dahlgren (TRI) — 1:58.19 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
4. Tommy Hagar (BAMA) — 2:00.83
5. AIdan Crisci (UN) — 2:01.62
6. Connor Rodgers (GW) — 2:02.68
7. Griffin Hadley (UN) — 2:02.92
8. Sean Sullivan (FLOR) — 2:03.28
9. Luke Dinges (UN) — 2:03.68
10. Carlos Vasquez (PRVT) — 2:04.14

In his signature event, 2024 Worlds bronze medalist Martin Espernberger earned the win in the men’s 200 butterfly. Espernberger came from behind to get the win, passing Mason Laur on the final 50 meters.

Laur led for much of the race, splitting 55.38 on the first 100 meters. At that point, he was .60 seconds ahead of Espernberger and .65 seconds ahead of Jack Dahlgren. Both Espernberger and Dahlgren closed on him over the third 50. Espernberger split 30.23 to close the gap to just .25 seconds. Meanwhile, Dahlgren was half a second behind Laur.

Espernberger charged over the final 50 while Laur ran out of gas; the Worlds bronze medalist outsplit Laur 29.91 to 31.14 on the way home, taking the win in 1:56.12.

Laur held on for 2nd in 1:57.10, improving on his prelims time by .36 seconds. Dahlgren dropped even more time from this mornign for 3rd, taking 1.18 seconds off his prelims swim with a 1:58.19.

WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 4:07.90
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 4:15.49

Top 10: 

1. Katie Ledecky (GSC) — 3:59.44 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
2. Madi Mintenko (PPA) — 4:08.68 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
3. Bella Sims (FLOR) — 4:08.88 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
4. Emma Weyant (FLOR) — 4:09.08 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
5. Rachel Stege (ABSC) — 4:10.97 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
6. Sloane Reinstein (PASA) — 4:13.21 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
7. Shea Furse (ABSC) — 4:13.78 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
8. Abby McCulloh (ABSC) — 4:13.87 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
9. Dune Coetzee (ABSC) — 4:14.64
10. Brooke Travis (UNTAC) — 4:16.99

Katie Ledecky kept her momentum going at this meet, notching her second win in as many days. Yesterday, she won the 1500 freestyle in a world-leading time and now she gets under the 4:00 barrier for the first time this season.

Ledecky lead from the start. She flipped in 57.38 at the 100-meter mark, already over a second ahead of Bella Sims (58.42). Ledecky just continued to extend her lead from there, splitting 1:00.96/1:00.91/1:00.19 en route to her winning time of 3:59.44. That ties her with Erika Fairweather for the 3rd fastest time in the world this season behind Summer McIntosh (3:59.06) and Ariarne Titmus (3:59.13)

Sims held onto second for the majority of the race. She tired out on the second half of the race, splitting 1:04.31 on the third 100. Despite that, she was still holding onto second place with just 50 meters to go after a 32.02 50 split. But Madi Mintenko had been inching up on her and outsplit her 29.57 versus 30.91 on the final 50. That gave Mintenko enough room to get her hand on the wall two-tenths ahead of Sims.

MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE — Final

• Olympic ‘A’ Standard: 3:46.78
• U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 3:55.59

Top 10: 

1. Alfonso Mestre (GSC) — 3:48.10
2. Kieran Smith (RAC) — 3:49.00 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
3. Bobby Finke (SPA) — 3:49.01 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
4. Joaquin Vargas (UN) — 3:53.35
5. Jake Mitchell (FLOR) — 3:53.96 *U.S Trials Qualifying Time*
6. Aryan Nehra (FLOR) — 3:54.08
7. Giovanni Linscheer (FLOR) — 3:56.79
8. Rafael Ponce de Leon (UN) — 3:57.22
9. Sam Powe (MCC) — 3:57.47
10. Mason Mathias (UNATT) — 3:59.21

The men’s 400 freestyle final turned into quite a race between three of the Florida pros in the center of the pool. Kieran Smith led the race around at the 100-meter mark with a 54.95 opening split. Alfonso Mestre was just .03 seconds behind him, and Bobby Finke was also within striking distance.

Mestre quickly took over the lead by the 150, .12 seconds ahead of Smith. Despite Smith challenging him the entire race and being just .11 seconds behind on the final turn, Mestre powered to the win, sealed with a 27.37 last 50. Mestre earned the win in 3:48.10, slightly off the 3:47.14 he posted in San Antonio.

On the final 50, Smith was just able to hold off Finke for second place, stopping the clock .01 seconds ahead of the reining Olympic champion in the 800 and 1500 freestyle. Smith split his race 54.95/58.43/58.12/57.50. He had enough left in the tank for a 28.16 final 50, holding off Finke’s field-best 27.22 closing split.

Like Mestre, Smith’s 3:49.00 is slightly off his time from the San Antonio Pro Series (3:48.70). Finke’s time is a season best for him and his first sub-3:50 swim since the 2022 U.S. International Team Trials.