McLaughlin, Weiss Double Up on Victories at KMSC Pro-Am Day 2

Note: there are two fantastic Pro-Am meets this week in Oklahoma City; we’ll identify them by their host teams: KMSC (King Marlin Swim Club) and AESC (American Energy Swim Club). This release is about the KMSC Pro-Am.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — The 2014 Pro-Am Classic in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, hosted by the King Marlin Swim Club, began on Thursday evening  and continued tonight with with the 200y freestyle, 100y breaststroke, 100y butterfly, 400y IM, and 400y free relay events.

PRIZE STRUCTURE

In the professional divisions, the top three pro athletes in Championship Finals will receive a cash prize BASED ON THEIR ABSOLUTE FINISH in individual events as follows:

1. $600
2. $300
3. $100

The winner’s prize is doubled for the 1650 free to $1,200, as do prize winnings in eight “bounty events” if the OCCC Pool Record is broken:

Women Bounty Events:
Day 1- 1000 Free Pool Record 2009 Chloe Sutton – 9:26.58
Day 2- 100 Fly 2007 Rachel Komisarz – 50.88
Day 3- 500 Free 2004 Rachel Komisarz – 4:36.80
Day 4- 200 back 2007 Kristy Coventry – 1:52.88

Men Bounty Events:
Day 1- 1000 Free 2006 Robert Margalis – 8:46.77
Day 2 – 100 Fly 2007 Ian Crocker – 45.60
Day 3 – 500 Free 2003 Chad Carvin – 4:14.56
Day 4 – 100 Free 2002 Jason Lezak – 42.22

The 50 free shootout, in a bracket-style format, will award $1,200 to the winner, $600 to the runner-up, and $200 to the 3rd-place finisher.

Pros are limited to 4 individual entries for the meet, and amateur athletes can also accrue “Amateur Points” for prizes, in allowance with NCAA rules.

Day 2 Recap

The second day of excitement in Oklahoma City started out with a solid win by 17-year-old Mission Viejo Nadador Katie McLaughlin in the women’s 200y freestyle.  She led the field off in a 51.63 opening split, with Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics’ star Karlee Bispo right on her heels.  McLaughlin was able to seal the deal and wrap up the race in a winning time of 1:45.04, just .33 ahead of Bispo’s 1:45.37, but behind McLaughlin’s own 4th-place-time of 1:44.95 from the Minneapolis Grand Prix.  McLaughlin now owns the second and third fastest 200y freestyles for 17-year-olds in the country, behind Katie Ledecky.  Dads Club Swimmer, 16-year-old Alexandra Buscher, touched in third in the race tonight with her time of 1:48.53. 

Michael Weiss (Wisconsin Aquatics) ran away with the men’s 200y freestyle race, clocking the first place time of 1:33.98, splitting 45.60/48.48. For second place, Grant Shoults narrowly touched out former Alabama swimmer Bjoern Hornikel, last year’s 200y free SEC Championships third place finisher, touching in 1:35.13 to Hornikel’s 1:35.85.

Red hot Katie Meili, from SwimMAC Elite, tore up tonight’s women’s 100y breaststroke, throwing down a 58.91 to lead the field by over two seconds.  Meili is continuing her impressive run in this stroke discipline, as she builds on her 2nd (100y breast) and 3rd place (200y breast) finishes at December’s Winter Nationals.  Tonight’s second place finisher, Schroeder YMCA’s Gwen Worlton clocked a season best with her time of 1:02.25, cracking her into the top 10 times for 17-18 year-olds in spot #10.  Also with a season best was Springfield Aquatics’ Bailee Nunn who finished in third in 1:02.63. 

Seasoned swimmer/Ph.D.-seeking 27-year-old BJ Johnson, from Palo Alto/Stanford Aquatics, topped the men’s 100y breast field tonight, touching the wall first in a time of 52.68.  He was followed by Arizona-commit Blair Bish (Arkansas Aquatics, 53.86) and Bermudian Julian Fletcher (Trojans, 55.97).  Interesting to note, among the field of teenagers and young adults, Jasper County Killer Whales’ Coach Shawn Klosterman (aka, the “Screaming Viking”) clocked a swift 58.15…..at 40 years old….to earn 6th place in the event.

McLaughlin doubled up on top-of-the-podium finishes tonight, as she also earned the victory in the women’s 100y butterfly.  Her time of 52.46 would have earned her third place at this year’s Winter Nationals, yet McLaughlin’s time tonight is on par with where she was at the OK Elite Meet at this time last year (52.34, 52.66).  McLaughlin now owns the third fastest 100y breaststroke time for 17-year-olds, in addition to her number one time of 52.27.  Hanna Saiz earned second place tonight in a time of 53.05, while Bailee Nunn earned another third-place position with her result of 54.75, slicing off a couple of tenths from her 54.97 best time she set this Spring.

Giles Smith (Phoenix Swim Club) followed up on his men’s 100m butterfly national title with another commanding win here, edging the field by over a second.  Smith blazed out in front with a wicked lead-off split of 20.95, continuing his swagger to the wall in 45.22 for first place, breaking the Oklahoma City Community College pool record and meet record in the process.  Phoenix Swim Club teammate and former Alabama All-American Alexandru Coci followed in 46.33 and Palo Alto/Stanford Aquatics’ Eugene Godsoe, having recently concluded his tour on the FINA/Masterbank World Cup Circuit, rounded out the top three in 46.44.

On the women’s 400y IM scene, 16-year-old Rylee Linhardt stole the show in a time of 4:18.29, conquering the entire field by over 5 seconds. Linhardt led the other seven swimmers on the fly leg with a fast 58.03 and simply did not look back as she continued to hammer away at each stroke discipline: 1:03.25 back split, 1:16.05 breast split, 1:00.96 freestyle split.  Mission Viejo’s Jessica Epps (14-years-old) finished in 4:23.63, while Fort Worth Area Swim Team’s Rayann Jaryszak touched in third with her time of 4:24.66.

In addition to Katie McLaughlin, Michael Weiss was the other double-up winner of the evening, as he demolished the 400y IM field, winning in a time of 3:43.05. Terrapins Swim Team’s Sean Mahoney knocked over three seconds off of his season best to be the only other swimmer under 4:00 tonight, clocking a 3:52.03 for second place.  Arkansas Dolphins’ Minki Kang came in third with his time of 4:00.08.

Concluding the night were the men’s and women’s 400y freestyle relays, where the Mission Viejo Nadadores came away with the women’s win in 3:23.72, anchored by a blistering 48.39 split by Katie McLaughlin.  For the men, it was Schroeder YMCA who earned the win in a time of 3:03.90, with veteran swimmer Adam Mania dropping a 44.75 as the second leg.

Full Results are available on Meet Mobile