Macneil 57.2 100 Fly, Weitzeil 24.7 50 Free Highlight Minnesota LCM Time Trials

2019 MINNESOTA INVITATIONAL – LCM TIME TRIALS

• Sun. Dec. 8, 2019
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center / University of Minnesota / Minneapolis, MN
• Long course meters (LCM)
• Results

This morning, Minnesota held a time trials session with the pool in long course for swimmers to notch U.S. Olympic Trials cuts and/or have the opportunity to get some suited LCM racing in.

Two of the biggest swims came from the two sprinters who were very impressive this meet: Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil and Michigan’s Maggie Macneil.

Weitzeil, who on Thursday became the first woman under 21 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, contested that event again in meters, going 24.70. That’s a solid time for her, leaving her third amongst Americans this season behind Simone Manuel (24.43) and Erika Brown (24.58), who went those times this weekend at the U.S. Open in Atlanta. Teenager Gretchen Walsh was also 24.83 at that meet. This morning, Minnesota’s Maggie Summit went 25.87 to get under the OT standard, her first instance under 26 seconds.

Macneil, meanwhile, tied the U.S. open record in the 100-yard butterfly earlier in this meet. This morning, she contested the 100 fly in long course to hit a 57.26. For some context, she would’ve won the 2019 U.S. Open title with that swim, and she improves upon her world-leading time this season, a 57.64 from the 2019 Pro Swim Series stop in Greensboro last month. Her best time is a 55.83 from her World Championship title performance this summer.

Harvard’s Miki Dahlke (1:00.14) and Cal’s Izzy Ivey (1:00.22) also went under the OT cut in the 100 fly. Ivey also raced the 100 free, winning with a time of 55.17, the only finisher with an OT cut there. Her teammates Ayla Spitz and Aislinn Light both hit OT standard times in the 100 back, at 1:01.75 and 1:02.61, respectively.

Michigan’s men had a nice morning, led by Felix Auboeck‘s winning 400 free time of 3:52.44. Auboeck is Austrian. Miles Smachlo easily won the 100 fly with a 52.55, getting well under the OT cut, while Charlie Swanson hit a Trials cut in the 400 IM (4:25.30), albeit over ten seconds off of his best, and Tommy Cope was 2:02.77 for an OT cut in the 200 IM. Patrick Callan did the same in the 200 free, winning it in 1:49.28, as did AJ Bornstein in the 200 breast (2:16.01). On the women’s side, Miranda Tucker took the 100 breast in an OT cut time of 1:08.27, with Cal’s Ema Rajic (1:08.93) and Minnesota’s Lindsey Kozelsky (1:10.87) in tow. Kozelsky gets an OT cut with that swim, while Rajic, who represents Croatia internationally, smashed the Croatian record of 1:09.78 set in 2015 by Ana Radic.

Speaking of Croatia, Arizona’s Maric Ercegovic had two big swims in the men’s sprints. He was first 50.08 in the 100 free and then 22.54 in the 50 free, winning both. He was just off a best in the 100, but set a new PR in the 50.

Other American swimmers to hit OT cuts were Max McHugh of Minnesota in the 100 breast (1:03.05), Iowa’s John Colin in the 100 back (56.47), and Arizona’s Jack Anderson in the 100 back (56.37).