The junior finals of day one are still going on at the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre at the Mel Zajac Jr. Invitational, but the senior seed races are in the books, and Ryan Lochte was solid in the early going.
He started out in the very first men’s race of the meet with a 2:02.64 in the 200 backstroke against pretty limited competition; the second seed belongs to fellow American Logan Rysemus from just across the border at King Aquatics in Seattle in 2:07.13; his teammate Thane Maudslien, who is headed to Arizona in the fall, was 3rd in 2:07.82.
That prelims time for Lochte is about what he went in prelims of the Charlotte Grand Prix as well.
Lochte saw a little better competition in his 200 freestyle. He still took the top seed in 1:52.27, but nipping at his heels are NCAA standouts Jeremy Bagshaw(1:52.30) and Hassaan Abdel-Khalik (1:53.38). The two are both Canadian, but both compete and train in the United States.
Veteran Joel Greenshields is the 4th seed in 1:53.75; that’s his first long course go at this race in 2013. The top junior in the event, Stefan Milosevic from HYACK, was just behind Greenshields with a 1:53.81.
In the women’s 200 backstroke, Sinead Russell swam an easy 2:13.13 to take the top seed, with Genevieve Cantin second in 2:13.92.
Hannah Weiss from King (2:15.64) and Olympic freestyler Brittany MacLean (2:17.86) will also be in that final.
The women’s 100 breaststroke is a typically-deep final, with the top seed going to Fiona Doyle of the University of Calgary in 1:11.01. The Irish National recently won her country’s title in this race, broke the National Record, and stamped her ticket to the World Championships as well.
Canadian World Championship team member Tera van Beilen was the 2nd seed (1:11.78), and Tianna Rissling also from Calgary was 3rd in 1:11.79.
Others in that A-Final include NCAA Division II Champion and record-breaker Mariya Chekanovych, 16-year old Eva Nagy, Erin Stamp, Kierra Smith, and Carolyn McCann. Nagy is the daughter of the legendary breaststroke coach Joszef Nagy.
Even the B-Final has some name power, with swimmers like Patricia Pierse, younger sister of the former World Record holder in the 200 breast; Jillian Tyler; and Charlotte Philpotts all finishing in the second 8.
The men’s 100 breaststroke was led by a 1:03.56 from Andrew Poznikoff and a 1:04.28 from Jason Block – Block is another very good Calgary breaststroker. Ashton Baumann, who is on the Worlds team in the 200 breaststroke, is the 4th seed here in 1:05.06. That’s not a very fast time for him, but his times typically drop off pretty far in-season, so if he can get back to around a 1:04-low in finals it will be a positive result.
Savannah King lead the way in the women’s 200 free with a 2:03.96, followed by Breanna Hendricks (2:04.16). Both MacLean siblings, Heather and Brittany, are also in the final, as are Lindsay Delmar and University of Florida All-American Ellese Zalewski.
The women’s 400 IM only saw two swimmers under four minutes, Emily Overholt and Tianna Rissling, who were 4:55 and 4:58, respectively. There were still some interesting names, with 16-year old Hannah Burns from the Gator Swim Club’s club ranks taking the 3rd seed, open water breakout swimmer Lindsey Clary taking the 4th seed, and British distance freestyler Jess Thielmann sitting 5th. Olympic silver medalist Elizabeth Beisel scratched this race; she made the trip to Vancouver, but there’s no indication yet of what her status will be for the rest of the meet.
Jonathan Brown took the top seed in the men’s 400 IM: part of a trio of 17-year olds who went 4:33’s (Milosevic and Luke Reilly are the other two.)
And finally, in the women’s 50 fly, Noemie Thomas came within three tenths of the Meet Record, and half-a-second of the National Record, with a 26.92. Natalie Hinds (28.09), Ellese Zalewski (28.21) and Heather MacLean (28.63) were well behind her in the morning session.
UBC swimmer Kelly Aspinall topped the men’s 50 fly prelims in 24.83, followed by Coleman Allen in 25.28. Aspinall showed off his speed in that race; he is the defending CIS champion and record setter in the 50 backstroke, but has enough fast twitch muscle to put up a good 50 fly as well. Allen is better known for his butterfly skills than is Aspinall, and is the defending CIS Champ in the 100 meter race (though he was runner-up in the 50.)
Jake Tapp, Bradley deBorde, and Luke Peddie were all 25-mids.
Full, live meet results can be seen here.
Live webcast of the meet can be watched here.