DiRado wins one event, ties for another on opening night of Speedo Grand Challenge

Maya DiRado earned shares of two wins on a night when some of the top California-based postgrads clashed at the Speedo Grand Challenge.

DiRado kicked off her night tying for the 200 IM title with Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz. DiRado, the former Stanford standout, trailed Leverenz on fly but took over on the backstroke leg. In true back-and-forth fashion, Leverenz pulled out to a lead of about a full second on breaststroke, but DiRado’s furious 30.1 anchor leg brought her back to tie the Cal Olympian. Both women went 2:11.57.

DiRado would come back later on to win the 400 free handily. She was 4:13.06 to top Trojan’s Tristin Baxter.

The Trojan men had a nice day, highlighted by a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 free. Nikita Lobintsev led the way in 1:47.91, beating out recently graduated USC star Cristian Quintero (1:48.36) and former NC State swimmer Jonathan Boffa (1:49.63).

Trojans also swept both breaststroke races. New Zealander Glenn Snyders took the men’s 100 breast in 1:02.11, beating out Cal’s Josh Prenot (1:02.17) and Chuck Katis (1:02.32). On the women’s side, it was Jessica Hardy who picked up the win, going 1:08.55 to top Sarah Haase (1:08.91).

Hardy also took third in the 50 free behind two Stanford Cardinal stars. Simone Manuel was the runaway winner in 25.53, and Felicia Lee was second in 25.92, just .06 ahead of Hardy.

Stanford’s Max Williamson won the men’s 200 IM, going 2:02.35. Omar Pinzon was 2:04.19 and short course star David Nolan was just third in 2:04.41.

There were also a number of age group races swum for kids age 7-12. Perhaps most exciting was the boys 50 breast, which came down to just a single hundredth between Jeffrey Keppler and Alex Borjal. Keppler won in 36.37, with Borjal going 36.38. Borjal would go on to win the 100 back in 1:09.23.

The girls 50 breast was also a nailbiter, with Lauren Eng going 36.60 to top Mandy Brenner (36.72). That came after Brenner won the 100 free in 1:02.60.

Full results are available on Meet Mobile under “2015 CA Speedo Grand Challenge.”