Men’s 200 IM
Alec Page, Canadian Olympian, will be in lane four for finals tonight with a rather sleepy, 2:05.62. Joseph Schooling, on 17, from the world-class Bolles program, was 2nd with a 2:05.76. Conor Dwyer and Tyler Clary, both 2012 London Olympic medalists, were 3rd and 4th. 11-time Olympic medalist, Ryan Lochte coasted into the finals with a 2:06.95. So…finals will be much, much faster tonight. This morning looked like a mid-season nap.
Women’s 200 IM
Becca Mann, Clearwater, continues to show she’s one of “the stars” of the meet, swimming a 2:16.73 to qualify 1st in tonight’s final. Island Swimming’s Alexa Komarnycky went 2:20.67 for 2nd, and it looked easy. McKayla Lightbourn, Bahamas, was 3rd with a 2:21.81. Olympian Kim Vandenberg snuck into finals, 7th with a 2:23.11.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
The 200 back prelims had a little more juice with Ryan Murphy putting up a 2:02.53 for the top seed time. Germany’s Yannick Lebherz was 2nd in 2:02.61. Lochte was third with a 2:02.84. Tyler Clary, the 2012 Olympic Champion in this event, went 2:02.85 for 4th. All of those swims appeared controlled and comfortable, certainly an easy prelim gear to qualify for tonight’s final.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
No surprises here… Missy Franklin topped everyone with a 2:10.92. After her 2:07 meet record in the 200 back at the Austin Grand Prix, it’d be great to see her dip into the low 2:06 range, though that may be a lot to ask after coming off her high school state meet and battling a little sickness.
A 2:14.15 from Hilary Caldwell will land her in lane 5 in tonight’s final. Germany’s Eileen Diener went 2:15.35 for third.
Men’s 100 freestyle
Anthony Ervin, who looks like he’s having the most fun down here in Orlando, turned in a 50.39 for lane 4 in tonight’s final. Scotland’s Robbie Renwick was 2nd with a 50.56, and Kevin Leithold swam a 50.73 for third.
2012 Olympic gold medalist, Conor Dwyer, slipped into finals with a 51.80. He’ll be swimming in the hinterlands in lane 8.
Women’s 100 freestyle
Missy Franklin, between a lot of autographes and photos (lots of kids on deck here in Orland0), topped the prelim heats with a 55.77.
100 butterfly 2012 Olympic Champion, Dana Vollmer, might have something to say about that tonight. She’s happy to be back in action, and she was happy with her 58 100 fly win earlier in the meet. Vollmer put down a 56.07 to gualify 2nd. Christine Magnuson, who took the Orlando 50 free crown, was third this morning with a 56.10.