Produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Braden Keith.
A rejuvinated Natalie Coughlin is in the midst of the best run of swimming she’s had since 2011, and won the women’s 100 free with a 54.24. That’s .06 from where she was in Mesa a month ago, but this time she beat out Arianna Vanderpool in the final (54.31), as compared to Mesa where Coughlin scratched the final and Vanderpool-Wallace got the victory.
Coughlin said that this 100 free would be her focus race for the next 10 months.
After those two, a pair of Canadians occupied the 3rd and 4th place spots, with Chantal Van Landeghem marking 54.65, and Sandrine Mainville finishing in 54.93.
Allison Schmitt won the B-Final in 55.37.
Smart move to make 100 free her focus, she’s doing consistently well in it this season. I hope she’s moving toward making the 100 back her 2nd event, as she’s higher ranked, or even if just for training, as it will help her 100 free. And I hope she is taking a page from Adrian and training for the 200 free too to help her on that back half. I know she loves the 50 and it’s fun, so it’s fine to swim it, but it’s way too crowded at the top of that event, and anyway, given that she’s a bit smaller than the top sprinters, her strength training is what will further improve her natural easy speed on… Read more »