Following the prelims of day 3 at the 2015 U.S. Nationals, many swimmers lined up for time trials to try to make cuts and go for best times in their respective events. Today, there was a big name among those swimmers. Kelsi Worrell swam a time trial in the 50 meter butterfly, after qualifying for the 50 free finals earlier this morning.
Taking a run at the American Record, she narrowly missed it, tearing through the water in 25.65. That was just 0.15 seconds off of the record of 25.50, set by Dara Torres in 2009. Her previous best coming into the meet was a 26.35 from 2014 U.S. Nationals.
Worrell now sits behind Torres as the 2nd fastest American of all time, and the fastest ever American in textile. That surpassed Dana Vollmer‘s 25.80 that she swam in 2012.
To put Worrell’s swim into perspective, the time would’ve easily qualified for the final in Kazan. It took a 25.91 to get 8th, and she would’ve landed 5th overall in finals. That also leaves her as the 5th fastest in the world for 2015.
The American contingent didn’t have any swimmer in the finals of this race at the FINA World Championships. Claire Donahue didn’t advance to the semifinals after posting a 26.52 for 17th. Kendyl Stewart just missed the final, clocking a 25.93 for 9th place in the semis.
Amazing news. I hope she sustains and improves through Rio.