The women’s 800 freestyle was a tremendous race between Chloe Sutton and Andreina Pinto of Venezuela. At the 400 meter mark Sutton had a slight lead over Pinto turning in a time of 4:14.36. Sutton continued to hold that lead going into the last 100 when Pinto made her move taking the lead at the 750 meter mark, but the unrelenting Sutton stayed with her and eventually got her hand on the wall five one-hundreths of a second ahead of Pinto winning the event in a time of 8:25.88 followed by Pinto who posted a 8:25.93.
The two women are now ranked eighth and ninth in the world.
Kristel Kobrich finished third in a time of 8:31.77.
In the men’s 100 freestyle, a race that featured five Olympic gold medalists, Anthony Ervin used his speed to take an early and substantial lead turning at the half way point in a time of 22.93. Ervin hung on to win the event in a time of 49.14.
After the race when talking to Rowdy Gaines about that first 50 Ervin told him that he was going to, “Deal with the pain and pay for it later.” Which he did and described his final 15 meters as, “What was water became stone.”
Anthony Ervin, “What was water became stone.” (Photo Courtesy: ©Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com)
Ricky Berens finished second in a time of 49.99 followed by Michael Klueh who finished third posting a time of 50.35.
Home town girl Kathleen Baker had an incredible race in the 200 IM, posting a lifetime best by two seconds to win the event in a time of 2:14.46. Baker lead for most of the race, but had to hold off both Annie Zhu and Brooke Zeiger, who both had great breaststroke and freestyle legs in the race.
In the end Zhu finished second recording a time of 2:15.00 with Zeiger finishing third in a time of 2:15.40.
Chase Kalisz had a dominating win in the 400 IM on the second night of the competition, taking the event in a time of 4:15.66. On the final night of the Charlotte Grand Prix Kalisz had to get by Ryan Lochte to win the 200 IM and he did just that in the breaststroke, going on to win the event in a time of 1:59.66.
Joseph Schooling, who won both the 100 and 200 butterfly events, also overtook Lochte, who lead at the 100 meter mark, for second touching in a time of 2:00.77 with Lochte finishing third in a time of 2:01.56.
If you thought that Kathleen Baker was impressive improving by two second to win the 200 IM, in the very next event 15 year old Kaitlin Harty out did Baker cutting four seconds off her best 200 backstroke time to win the event in a time of 2:10.83.
Megan Romano, who is having a very good meet in her own right, finished second in a time of 2:11.27 with Brooke Zeiger finished third in a time of 2:11.59.
Megan Romano(Photo Credit: Tim Binning, the swim pictures)
In the men’s 200 backstroke Ryan Murphy separated himself from the field in the final 50 meters to eventually taking the event in a time of 1:59.93. Jack Conger finished second posting a time of 2:00.25 with Ryan Lochte finishing third recording a time of 2:00.80.
Only minutes after her 200 backstroke Megan Romano took the women’s 100 freestyle posting a time of 55.24. When asked about swimming the draining backstroke race before her 100 freestyle win Romano said with a smile, “It warms me up a bit.”
Shannon Vreeland finished second in a time of 55.39 with Lia Neal finishing third in a time of 55.57.
Connor Jaeger collected his third win of the meet by winning the men’s 1500 freestyle in a time of 15:02.68. It was not easy as Michael McBroom pushed him through the entire race eventually finishing second posting a time of 15:03.38.
Matias Koski finished third in a time of 15:20.22.
With a much better start , Anthony has a 21.50 in him …..for this summer . he had it allready last year but starts hasn’t really improved yet .
Romano is pretty gifted for Both free and back ; Not always easy to make the best choices in terms of free or back for her . I truly beleive she will make the best decisions for trials and surely qualify on 50/100 free , the relays and maybe maybe one backstroke event ( the concurence is too high on back ). She is truly one of the best freestyler Usa has seen in a long time . Usa needs a Romano completely on the top of her game for the 400 free relay this summer to at least get very close to Australia and The dutch team . Exciting trials this year , very exciting with many new swimmers… Read more »
I due see your thought on that and agree depending on timing, although she has shown for years she is great a quick turn arounds, maybe one of the best at that, at her age,but saying no 2 free is a bit extreme. She is the short course Amercian record holder and getting top 6 is very duable maybe even top 4. I dont think she can get top 2 just due to the way missy and katie are swimming. Scmitty swam pretty good in 2 free this weekend as well, however her 8 free was disappointing, but taking into account she didnt do that well in that event at NCAA’s maybe she is focusing on the shorter races. If… Read more »
The best for the end! After the first day and 2 very good distance races the meet was a little sleepy. But on the last day almost all races have been great to watch.
What an 800 free between Chloe Sutton and Andreina Pinto! Great battle. It remembered me Kate Ziegler vs Laure Manaudou in 2007.
Big win for the young Kathleen Baker at home in the 200 IM! Very big improvement on breaststroke for her.
Nothing to say about Kaitlin Harty in the 200 back except WOW! She had much impressed me at the last olympic trials and I knew she was a star in the making but I didn’t expect such a fast progression. She has a long… Read more »
Bobo- what do you think he has in him for the 50 this summer?
I don’t think you should count Pelton out of that 200 backstroke. She’s an American record holder and will probably improve in her years at Cal. Romano isn’t exactly a bad backstroker. I agree the 200 back shouldn’t be an event she should swim at trials, but this is just Ultraswim. If she’s under 1:00 in the 100 back I don’t see why she should give up on that
I would watch for this Brooke Zeiger kid who swims for Bluefish. She was seeded at a 4:51 in the 400 IM and went 4:44, and then went a 2:11 200 back as well. She swims for the same club team as Beisel, so you know Chuck knows how to train 400 IMmers.
How old is Brooke Zeiger?
Brooke Zeiger is 17.
I’m going to watch Kaitlin Harty’s next swims with interest. 2:10 for a 15 yo is tremendous.
In b4 Bobo saying Megan Romano should not have swum 200 back and focused only on 100 free instead.
Yes!!!! And I have also said on Saturday Kaitlin Harty was a youngster in the conversation for Rio!!!! It seems many people discover her just now. And yes, I repeat the same things about Megan Romano!!!! She has no future on backstroke. It’s criminal to waste her huge freestyle talent like that. I was desperate when I saw her in the 200 back 10 or 15 minutes before the 100 free. You will never see the Campbell sisters or Ranomi Kromowidjojo in a 400 IM just before their 100 free final! Fresh and based on her very good 25.12 in the 50 free on Saturday, she could have swum 54 low and could have taken much confidence.
Fantastic finals tonight !!!! All the races gave really a big bunch of suspense . I loved the breastroke leg from Chase Kalisz on the 200 IM … He is a very promising future Star . Great 100 free from Anthony Ervin . His first 50 was just mind blowing .. it was worth the risk of getting it rough on the last 15 meters . Good boost for his 50 in 6 weeks at trials .
Interesting races from Murphy and Conger , improving a lot .
Adreina Pinto is a NEW SOUTH AMERICAN record, beating her time last year of 8.26.43 in London.
That time by Andreina Pinto is faster than she swam last year to become the only South American female swimmer to make an Olympic final.
I love watching Sutton. She is a racer, no doubt about it. Reading about her clinics and how much she loves the water is inspirational. You can see it in her face. She lights up like no one else.
We sure loves the water. Water. Water.
*She