2014 Austin Grand Prix: Adrian wins 100 free, Ledecky smashes competition on Day 1

Two stellar fields in the 100 free events will take the pool on night 1 of the Arena Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. On the men’s side, training partners Yannick Agnel and Conor Dwyer will go head-to-head as they did in the 200 free at the last Grand Prix stop in Minneapolis. Agnel won that race, but Dwyer is the top seed in the more sprint-based 100 tonight. They’ll also have to contend with a field that includes Anthony Ervin, Jimmy Feigen, and Nathan Adrian among others.

The women’s event is headlined by the young Simone Manuel, who continues to impress in big situations. She’ll have to face SwimMAC’s Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and former Georgia Bulldogs Megan Romano and Allison Schmitt (who is making her return to competition here).

Also of note: Katie Ledecky will take on her Danish rival Lotte Friis in the 400 free and Amanda Kendall sits second in the 100 fly as she tries to regain her once-promising career.

Prelims recap here.

Live results here.

Live stream here.

Women’s 100 Free – Finals

In a tough field of big names, it was 17-year-old Simone Manuel who once again rose to the top, defending her top seed to win the event in 54.38 in a race that was still anyone’s to win at the flags. Allison Schmitt, back in competition after a disappointing 2013, was the runner-up in 54.86.

There was a tie for third place between SwimMAC’s Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Georgia post-grad Megan Romano, with each woman going 54.94.

The entire field seemed primed for this finals showdown, as every swimmer went faster than their prelims time. Amanda Weir took fifth place, Canada’s Victoria Poon was 6th, and veteran Natalie Coughlin just beat out youngster Katie Ledecky for 7th after the two tied in prelims.

In the B final, Amanda Kendall held onto 9th place, going 55.81, which was two tenths faster than her morning swim. Just a hair behind her was Jessica Hardy, who went 55.82.

Men’s 100 Free – Finals

Maybe seeing James Magnussen go 47.7 in the land down under was a good thing for Nathan Adrian. The American sprint star pulled out a surprising 48.26 to blow away a great field here in the 100 free. For a swim in mid-January, that’s an awfully promising time for one of the many great sprinters in a crowded world field.

Adrian blasted out to a lead in the front half, splitting 22.96 on the way out. Second behind him was French star and NBAC trainer Yannick Agnel, who went 49.31 – that was not even a full tenth ahead of his training partner Conor Dwyer, who went 49.39 for third. Just missing the top-3 prize money was Anthony Ervin, who took fourth in 49.42.

Local hero Jimmy Feigen joined that crew under 50 seconds, going 49.57 for fifth. Fellow Texas alum Dax Hill was 6th, Matt McLean took 7th and Alex Coville finished 8th.

U.S. Olympian Cullen Jones highlighted the B final, winning in 50.63.

Women’s 200 Breast – Finals

Micah Lawrence won in front of a very familiar crowd in the 200 breast. The SwimMAC pro, who grew up in the Austin area, went 2:25.73, splitting her race with incredible consistency to win the event. Lawrence went out in 33.7, then hit her pace on the next three 50s and never slowed, going 37.38, 37.24 and 37.32.

She was followed by former Texas Longhorn NCAA champ in this event Laura Sogar, who went 2:26.14. Canadian Rachel Nicol, who trains and represents SMU, was 2:28.09 to take third in a race where the top three really separated themselves from the field.

Another Canadian, Tera Van Beilen, was fourth and Lithuania’s Raminta Dvariskyte took fifth in the event.

Missouri Tiger Abigail Duncan won the B final in 2:33.34, a time that would have gotten her 5th in the championship heat.

Men’s 200 Breast – Finals

Early in the 200 breast, BJ Johnson, who swept the breaststroke races at the Grand Prix circuit’s first stop in Minneapolis, jumped out to a lead, looking to extend his breaststroking dominance. But top seed Ross Murdoch was too much for Johnson to handle – the Scotsman flew past the field in the final 50, swimming an incredibly patient race to wind up with a 2:12.15 win. Johnson held second in 2:13.19.

Olympian Scott Weltz took home the third-place prize money, going 2:14.48. He got in just ahead of NBAC’s Conor Dwyer, who shaved another second and a half off his lifetime best, going 2:14.92 in a race he doesn’t swim very often.

Another North Baltimore swimmer, Gabriel deSousa, took 5th, and 17-year-old Andrew Seliskar was 6th.

The consolation final was a great race itself, with Mike Alexandrov of Club Trojan going 2:16.64 to beat Tennessee post-grad Brad Craig.

Women’s 400 Free – Finals

2013 was an incredibly good year for Katie Ledecky. It looks like 2014 isn’t off to a bad start either.

Ledecky won the 400 in her usual dominating fashion. Once the swimmers fell into their pace, the winner was never in question even though the field included several internationally-known swimmers. Ledecky went 4:04.46 to win by almost a full 5 seconds over Denmark’s Lotte Friis, who was 4:09.35. Chloe Sutton took home third place in a show of consistency, going 4:12.11, almost exactly what she went in prelims.

Quinn Carrozza held onto the fourth seed, going 4:14.66, and the University of British Columbia’s Savannah King was 5th, a tenth ahead of Ledecky’s new training partner Isabella Rongione. 13-year-old Madison Homovich went about a second faster than this morning’s great swim, but still moved down to 7th place in the final.

A lot of great swims out of the B heat – Leah Stevens cut two and a half seconds off her prelims swim to win in 4:16.10. 10th was Gabrielle Kopenski, just 14 years old, who cut three seconds off her lifetime best, going 4:18.20.

Men’s 400 Free – Finals

Yannick Agnel continues to impress on American soil after joining Bob Bowman’s North Baltimore Aquatic Club for his training. After a runner-up finish in the 100 free, Agnel showed his fantastic freestyle range, winning the 1500 free just 4 events later. Agnel went 3:49.78 to best a tough field of distance specialists. Michael McBroom, who swam most of his college years in Austin, fought hard, going 3:50.47 and sticking with Agnel up and down the pool; he finished second.

Tunisian Olympian and Club Trojan member Ous Mellouli was third in 3:50.85. Tyler Clary showed off his versatility alongside Agnel, going 3:52.86 for fourth place – Clary typically swims backstrokes and IMs, but showed here he’s got an awfully tough freestyle as well.

Clary’s Club Wolverine teammate Michael Klueh finished 5th, going 3:52.94. Jeremy Bagshaw was 6th for California, North Baltimore’s Matt McLean took 7th and 18-year-old Mexican national Julio Andres Olvera Alejos finished 8th.

Women’s 100 Fly – Finals

As she did at this event last year, Canadian Noemie Thomas blew away the field in the 100 fly, going 58.54. The 17-year-old held onto her top seed in dominating fashion, winning by almost a second.

Two of the youngest swimmers in the field surrounded the oldest competitor in the top three of this event. 30-year-old Audrey Lacroix took second place, giving Canadians a 1-2 sweep. Lacroix was 59.47 followed by SwimMAC’s 16-year-old sensation Kathleen Baker, who was 1:00.22.

Former Pan-Am’s gold medalist Amanda Kendall went 1:00.61, a little slower than she was at prelims, to take fourth. Remedy Rule was fifth, and former Auburn star Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace took sixth.

There was a good battle for 9th that put a generational twist on a California rivalry. Palo Alto high-schooler and future Stanford Cardinal Ally Howe went 1:00.75 to top California alum Caitlin Leverenz for control of the B heat.

Men’s 100 Fly – Finals

California pro Tom Shields was all over the 100 fly field in this one, going 52.72 to win handily. It’s a good sign for U.S. swimming enthusiasts to see Shields, well-known for his outstanding underwater work, continuing to find more and more success in long course swimming, where the impact of underwaters is cut down significantly.

A pair of athletes representing Stanford took home the second and third place prize monies – Eugene Godsoe went 53.69 and Jason Dunford was hot on his heels at 53.73.

SwimMAC’s Nick Thoman took fourth, going 54.10, just .07 ahead of NCAP 17-year-old Andrew Seliskar. Rounding out the field were Stanford grad Bobby Bollier, Canadian Coleman Allen and Germany’s Christian Diener.

Tom Luchsinger of NBAC blew away the B final, going 54.10, a time that would have tied him for fourth had he made the main event. Michael Andrew got back within a few tenths of a lifetime-best after a disappointing morning session, going 55.23 for 11th.

Women’s 400 Free Relay – Finals

SwimMAC Carolina continued to put together big-time relays out of their pros and other strong swimmers, winning in 3:54.32. Typically an IMer, Katie Meili had a great leadoff for SwimMAC, going 57.5. Kathleen Baker carried the baton from there, going 56.92 on her split. Other relay members were Kathryn Saurborn and Kelsi Hall.

They just got in before Scottsdale’s team, which made a late charge on anchor Victoria Toris’s 57.4 split and had the entire team of Hannah Holman, Samantha Fazio and Taylor Ruck under a minute on their splits. Santa Clara Swim Club took third.

Men’s 400 Free Relay – Finals

Another relay, another SwimMAC win. The team of Nick Thoman, Dax Hill, Roy-allen Burch and Cullen Jones went 3:24.58 for an easy win. Hill was the fastest split, going 50.52 on the second leg.

Stanford’s B team took second place, riding 50-point splits from Alex Coville and Eugene Godsoe to go 3:28.13. Swim Ontario finished third in 3:28.20.

 

The Grand Prix will continue with Day 2 tomorrow. The event lineup includes the 400 IM, 200 free, 200 back, 50 free and the 800 free relay at finals. Prelims will begin at 9:00 AM Central Time.

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bobo gigi
10 years ago

If someone has the replays of the races, I am interested.
It was so simple when USA swimming posted the races on youtube. 😥

aswimfan
Reply to  bobo gigi
10 years ago

+1

Youtube is the only agnostic video platform, and thus everyone can access and enjoy it.

pvdh
Reply to  aswimfan
10 years ago

Check the universalsports youtube channel, it has the races.

bobo gigi
Reply to  pvdh
10 years ago

Nothing on that youtube channel.
USA swimming has posted the prelims from today!
It would be smarter to post the finals from each day.

aswimfan
Reply to  pvdh
10 years ago

universalsports does not allow anyone outside USA to view their channels.

bobo gigi
10 years ago

54.86 for Allison Schmitt second in the 100 free. Very promising performance for her return. I can’t wait to see her 200 free against Miss Ledecky. Something around 1.58 would be great.

Again a new PB for the young Madison Homovich in the 400 free in 4.16.22. I see her around 4.11/4.12 next summer.

10 years ago

Nice to see Adrian with the win and the fast swim. I wonder when the United State’s will dominate the sprints again…

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Jonathan JNapps Napolitano
10 years ago

It’s coming …..with Dressel , Adrian and Feigen . Adrian has just done the second fastest time of the year . Pretty fast time in january . Well done !

bobo gigi
Reply to  Jonathan JNapps Napolitano
10 years ago

Curious. Nathan Adrian is the current 100 free olympic champion.
You had Adrian and Feigen on the last 100 free world podium in Barcelona.
And yes, Caeleb Dressel is the current 100 free junior world champion.
Compared with the situation from a few years ago, it’s much better.
It’s still much better than the girls. Since Jenny Thompson or Dara Torres, there’s no sprint star in USA. LAST BIG INTERNATIONAL TITLE FOR A US GIRL IN THE 100 FREE WAS JENNY THOMPSON IN 1998! Perhaps Simone Manuel will change that. But it will be very hard with Cate Campbell, at least until 2016.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  bobo gigi
10 years ago

Yes, u are right ! on the women’s side , Usa has the power to win a 400 free relay but no one ever shines on 100 free in the top 3 of Big meets . I beleive Manuel is gonna change that by this year onwards . She just did a faster time that Melanie Schlanger who won the 100 free in Australia last week-end . That’s a very promising indication of her focus , training quality and maturity at very young age . Dressel and Manuel are the future sprint Stars in Usa right now …

Reply to  ERVINFORTHEWIN
10 years ago

What are some thoughts on the United States’ 400 free relay compared to the world? Can Jones replace an injured Lochte? and I agree that the women’s sprints are weak. I’m excited to see Manuel and Dressel grow and mold into the elite swimmers they have potential to become.

bobo gigi
Reply to  Jonathan JNapps Napolitano
10 years ago

Cullen Jones is a 50 free swimmer. And Lochte is back next month.

TheTroubleWithX
Reply to  Jonathan JNapps Napolitano
10 years ago

Feigen and Adrian were #3 and #4 last year in the 100 free, and they should be right at the top again. Ervin seems to be a safe bet for at least the rest of this year. Some combination of Lochte, Dwyer, Grevers, or Dressel for the last spot. Feigen, Adrian, Ervin, and Lochte were all top 25 in the world last year. Russia and France also had four swimmers in the top 25, and Australia had five in the top 25. All that to say, it’s going to be close this year

aswimfan
Reply to  ERVINFORTHEWIN
10 years ago

Melanie Schlanger will not be Simone Manuel’s top competitor in the 100 free. Not even in the top 5.

bobo gigi
10 years ago

Good swims for day 1, especially Adrian and Ledecky.
You kept me awake. 🙂

bobo gigi
10 years ago

Good 52.72 for Mr Shields who wins the race.
Amazing underwaters after the turn! It’s usual for him but it’s always impressive to watch.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  bobo gigi
10 years ago

BOBO , I hope he is gonna put a great promising year on 100 fly . That would be great for the butterfly races in Grand prix but especially at trials and Pan pacs .

liquidassets
10 years ago

Speaking of weak fields, same for any compeition for Shields. Good for January though.

bobo gigi
10 years ago

Interesting to watch Shields in long course.

liquidassets
10 years ago

No competition here for Thomas except maybe her teammate LaCroix, with Kendall working toward comeback. Best name goes to Remedy Rule. Which reminds me, whatever happened to Spindrift Beck, guess she drifted away?? Yep, 1-2 for the girls up North.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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