2018 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – MESA
- Thursday, April 12 – Sunday, April 15
- Skyline Aquatic Center, Mesa, AZ
- Long Course Meters
- Meet site
- Psych Sheet
- Live Stream
- Friday Prelims Heat Sheet
- Live Results
The 2018 Mesa Pro Swim continues today with day 2 prelims. Swimmers are set to compete in the 100 back, 200 fly, 100 breast, 100 free, and 200 IM. We’ll also see the early heats of the 800 free at the end of the session. The fastest heat, however, will be swimming at the beginning of finals.
WOMEN’S 100 BACK:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Olivia Smoliga, 1:01.19
- Katharine Berkoff, 1:01.88
- Ali Deloof, 1:02.02
- Amy Bilquist, 1:02.63
- Keaton Blovad, 1:02.79
- Isabela Arcila, 1:02.95
- Sonnele Oeztuerk, 1:02.99
- Hellen Moffitt, 1:03.31
Olivia Smoliga, winner of last night’s 200 back, earned the top spot again this morning. The only other swimmer to break 1:02 was 17-year-old Katharine Berkoff, who was just 3 tenths shy of her lifetime best this morning. Smoliga will be joined by fellow National Teamer Ali Deloof of Michigan in the final. Cal All-American Amy Bilquist also has a shot at the title tonight. Bilquist was just hundredths shy of joining Smoliga on the 2016 Olympic Team in this event as she placed 3rd at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
MEN’S 100 BACK:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Jacob Pebley, 55.95
- Ryan Murphy, 55.98
- Mark Nikolaev, 56.00
- Matt Grevers, 56.14
- Zachary Poti, 56.46
- Youssef Said, 56.74
- Nikkos Sofianidis, 57.15
- Joey Reilman, 57.28
We’ll see another showdown between Cal teammates Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley in tonight’s final, but this time Matt Grevers will also be in the mix. That’s 3 U.S. Olympic backstrokers going head-to-head in the final. Murphy and Grevers are each individual 100 back Olympic champions. Qualifying 3rd this morning was Grand Canyon’s Mark Nikolaev, who made program history during the NCAA season as the school’s first NCAA qualifier and scorer.
Louisville’s Nicolas Albiero, who turned heads with his NAG Record-setting performances during the NCAA season, was just shy of the top 8 with a 57.44 for 9th. Albiero will be swimming the 200 fly shortly, the event in which he set the 17-18 NAG Record during the yards season.
WOMEN’S 200 FLY:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Hali Flickinger, 2:09.50
- Ruby Martin, 2:11.86
- Kelsi Dahlia, 2:13.08
- Olivia Carter, 2:14.31
- Isabella Paez, 2:14.48
- Leah Smith, 2:14.84
- Grace Oglesby, 2:16.13
- Sarah Gibson, 2:16.78
U.S. Olympian Hali Flickinger, a Georgia postgrad, was far ahead of the field this morning as the only woman to break 2:10. She’ll be up against fellow National Teamers Kelsi Dahlia and Leah Smith in this race tonight. We don’t see Smith swimming fly too often. There aren’t any times for her in the long course 200 fly listed in the USA Swimming database. She was entered with her lifetime best in yards: a 2:02.85 from 2014.
Eastern Iowa Swim Federation’s Ruby Martin, a finalist at the U.S. Olympic Trials and World Championships Trials, is one of the only juniors in this final. 18-year-old Martin is the 2nd youngest, as Enfinity Aquatics’ 17-year-old Olivia Carter qualified 4th. Both Martin and Carter are Winter Juniors champions in the 200 fly.
MEN’S 200 FLY:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Chase Kalisz, 1:59.98
- Justin Wright, 2:01.18
- Fynn Minuth, 2:01.42
- Zach Harting, 2:01.67
- Pace Clark, 2:02.10
- Camden Murphy, 2:03.39
- Daniel Sos, 2:05.46
- Jarod Arroyo, 2:06.12
Chase Kalisz cruised to the top spot as the only man to swim sub-2:00 this morning. After his big drop from prelims to finals in the 100 fly last night, teammate Pace Clark, a World Championships team member in this event, should challenge him for the title tonight. Arizona’s Justin Wright, another National Teamer in this event, qualified 2nd. This is Wright’s first meet as a postgrad.
Kalisz and Clark, both Georgia postgrads, will have another teammate swimming with them in the final. Camden Murphy, who made big drops to compete at NCAAs as a freshman this season, nearly matched his best time as he qualified 6th. His lifetime best is a 2:03.06 from 2016.
Though he was the 6th seed in this event, Nicolas Albiero was a declared false start. This race came shortly after his 100 back swim.
WOMEN’S 100 BREAST:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Molly Hannis, 1:07.92
- Breeja Larson, 1:08.69
- Micah Sumrall, 1:09.45
- Zoe Bartel, 1:09.71
- Emily Escobedo, 1:09.79
- Peyton Kondis, 1:10.89
- Angela Mavrantza, 1:11.28
- Silja Kansakoski, 1:11.35
Molly Hannis was absent in the 200 breast yesterday, but she was back in action for today’s 100 breast. Hannis put up a 1:07.92 to top Breeja Larson. Tonight’s final will feature 3 U.S. Olympic breaststrokers between Hannis (Rio 2016), Larson (London 2012), and Micah Sumrall (London 2012). Emily Escobedo could challenge for the win after making a big drop from prelims to top Sumrall in the 200 breast final.
MEN’S 100 BREAST:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Michael Andrew, 1:00.52
- Youssef El Kamash, 1:01.40
- Carlos Claverie, 1:01.58
- Cody Miller, 1:01.67
- Ian Finnerty, 1:01.71
- Kevin Cordes, 1:01.73
- Josh Prenot, 1:01.85
- Andrew Wilson, 1:02.00
Michael Andrew is typically known for his heavy schedules, but today he scratched the 100 back to focus on this event only. He was nearly a second faster than anyone else this morning. He was about half a second shy of his season best, which stands as a 1:00.07 from the Atlanta Pro Swim last month.
Andrew will race a stacked field that includes U.S. Olympic medalists Cody Miller, Kevin Cordes, and Josh Prenot. Andrew Wilson could surprise after sneaking into the final at 8th. Another big threat is Indiana’s Ian Finnerty. Last month at the men’s NCAA Championships, Finnerty became the first man in history to break 50 in the 100 yard breast. Though this meet is a quick turnaround from NCAAs, there’s still a chance he could have a big swim tonight.
U.S. World Championships team member Nic Fink was just shy of making the final with a 1:02.47 for 9th place.
WOMEN’S 100 FREE:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Margo Geer, 54.85
- Mallory Comerford, 54.90
- Louise Hansson, 55.15
- Lia Neal, 55.19
- Veronica Burchill, 55.40
- Olivia Smoliga, 55.66
- Allison Schmitt, 55.77
- Abbey Weitzeil, 55.79
Indiana postgrad Margo Geer was the fastest through the heats out of heat 10, while Mallory Comerford also broke 55 to clip Louise Hansson in the heat 11. Allison Schmitt qualified for another final in her first meet since Rio. She placed 7th ahead of fellow U.S. Olympian Abbey Weitzeil, who snuck in at 8th. Another Olympic sprinter, Lia Neal, is in the mix after qualifying 4th.
Cal’s Katie McLaughlin just missed the final at 55.99 for 9th. On the back end of her double, Kelsi Dahlia was a 56.52 as she qualified 11th.
MEN’S 100 FREE:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- (T-1) Michael Chadwick, 49.72
- (T-1) Nathan Adrian, 49.72
- Bruno Blaskovic, 50.07
- Jesse Novak, 50.30
- Matias Koski, 50.79
- Scott McGillivray, 50.82
- Andrej Barna, 50.86
- Ryan Murphy, 51.06
Michael Chadwick and Nathan Adrian tied for top seed as they both hit the wall in 49.72 in their respective heats. Adrian was slightly faster on the front end with a 23.88 opening split to Chadwick’s 24.13, but Chadwick brought it home slightly faster. Adrian has consistently won this event at Pro Swim Series meets since the series was rebranded back in 2015. He’s won the race at every Pro Swim in which he contested the event in finals, so he’ll be tough to beat tonight.
WOMEN’S 200 IM:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Melanie Margalis, 2:15.59
- Leah Smith, 2:16.84
- Connie Dean, 2:17.04
- Vien Nguyen, 2:17.65
- Zoe Bartel, 2:19.01
- Ilektra lebl, 2:19.41
- Emily Escobedo, 2:19.89
- Callie Dickinson, 2:20.30
Once again swimming an off event, Leah Smith put up a big best time in the 200 IM. Her former best was a 2:21.52 from 2014, so this was her first swim under 2:20 and a best by nearly 5 seconds. Between the 200 fly, 200 IM, and 800 free, Smith has a packed schedule today. Should she choose to swim both the 200 fly and 200 IM in finals tonight, her schedule will be especially tough, since the 800 will precede both events.
MEN’S 200 IM:
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Josh Prenot, 2:03.95
- Chase Kalisz, 2:05.07
- Isaac Stump, 2:05.84
- Gianluca Urlando, 2:06.01
- Daniel Sos, 2:06.18
- Danny Comforti, 2:07.07
- Carlos Claverie, 2:07.73
- Jarod Arroyo, 2:08.14
After going 1-2 in last night’s 400 IM final, Chase Kalisz and Josh Prenot will go head-to-head again in the shorter IM. 16-year-old Gianluca Urlando qualified for his 3rd A final of the meet. Yesterday, he qualified for the A heat of the 400 IM and 100 fly, though he only swam the 100 fly at night.
Nic Fink just barely missed the A final again, touching in 2:08.30 for 9th place.
TL;DR = Leah Smith now swims every single event.
So who is coaching the Charlotte crew…Tim Phillips, Cullen Jones, Madison Kennedy?
Cullen Jones is swimming with Wolfpack and Madison Kennedy has been swimming on her own without a coach for over a year now. Not sure about Phillips.
Tim has been swimming on his own also!
Went for his 50 split
It would be nice to see MA go under a minute again, but he’s just as likely to add time in finals as he is to go faster
So… basically he could faster or slower. Insightful
you started off on the same page as me but then you were rude
What happened to Maddison Kennedy in the 100? Clearly something was up she went a 1:07 I hope everything is ok
She got her 50 split..
After the recent NCAAs this meet really bores me.
2:14 for Leah Smith isn’t a bad time at all. Could mean she’s focusing more on her 400 IM