2014 Santa Clara Grand Prix: Caitlin Leverenz and Conor Dwyer Take Home New BMW’s

2014 ARENA GRAND PRIX AT SANTA CLARA

Women’s 200 Butterfly – FINALS

Andreina Pinto tore through all 200 meters of her 200 butterfly, dropping over a second and a half to win the women’s 200 butterfly with a time of 2:10.59. Becca Mann out-touched Lauren Harrington and Emma Nunn for second, getting her hand on the wall for second place at 2:12.24. Harrington took the bronze with a 2:12.68 and Nunn was fourth at 2:12.69.

Caitlin Leverenz was 2:12.02 for fifth and Kylie Stewart followed, finishing sixth place with a 2:14.82.

Dana Grindall won the B-final of the B-final of the women’s 200 butterfly with a time of 2:15.83.

Men’s 200 Butterfly – FINALS

Sebastian Rousseau won the men’s 200 butterfly with a killer final 15 meters. He put his head down and dug down deep to overtake Bobby Bollier at the touch. Rousseau cut more than two seconds off of his morning swim, touching the wall at 1:58.50. Bollier finished second just behind Rousseau at 1:58.65. Chase Kalisz and Corey Okubo were the only other two swimmers under 2 minutes. Kalisz finished at 1:59.76 and Okubo was 1:59.94.

Steve Schmuhl won the B-final of the men’s 200 butterfly with his time of 2:01.49.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke – FINALS

It was Laura Sogar in the final of the women’s 100 breaststroke. After a decent morning swim, she really made a statement tonight, dropping over a second and half to win the event with a 1:09.15. Tera Van Beilen was second with a 1:09.59 and Fiona Doyle finished third at 1:09.61. Emma Schoettmer, Jenna Van Camp, Abby Duncan, and Kasey Carlson were all at 1:10’s for 4th through 7th.

Rebecca Terejko won the B-final of the women’s 100 breaststroke with her time of 1:10.95.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – FINALS

Just like yesterday, Kevin Cordes laid low during prelims only to drop the hammer during finals tonight. He won the men’s 100 breaststroke with a 1:00.91. Mike Alexanderov was the second place finisher, touching the wall at 1:01.65. Felipe Lima took home the bronze at 1:01.78. Richard Funk, Nic Fink, and Azad Al-Barazi finished 4th-6th at 1:02’s.

Miguel De Lara Ojeda won the B-final of the men’s 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.56.

Women’s 100 Backstroke – FINALS

Despite battling the sun, Missy Franklin won the women’s 100 backstroke dipping under 1:01 with a time of 1:00.99. Missy always looks good in the water, but she seems to be a bit sluggish; she looks tired in the water. It’s hard to critique her swims because of her incredible technique, but it didn’t have that same energy that we are used to seeing from her in the water. Amy Bilquist, 16, is having the meet of her life. This is the first time she has performed like this on this big of a stage. She has been a strong junior national competitor, but this is the first time she has held her own against a large portion of the national team in a variety of events. She finished second with a time of 1:01.44.

Liz Pelton finished third at 1:01.48, and Dominique Bouchard was fourth with a time of 1:01.78.

Bilquist’s 15 year old teammate, Claire Adams, won the B final of the women’s 100 backstroke with a 1:01.59. That time would have been fourth in the A final.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – FINALS

Arkady Vyatchanin has been 8 for 8 in the backstroke events in the last four Arena Grand Prix events. He won the 200 backstroke yesterday and double up with the 100 backstroke today. He posted a 54.34 to win the race. Matt Grevers finished second at 54.95 and Eugene Godsoe was third at 55.41. Corey Main and Adam Mania were 4th and 5th at 55.54 and 55.95, respectively.

Omar Pinzon won the B-final of the men’s 100 backstroke with a time of 56.32.

Women’s 200 IM – FINALS 

Caitlin Leverez knew she had to win her last race to take home the keys to her brand new BMW for the next year. She dove in on a mission and won the women’s 200 IM with a time of 2:12.61. Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson was second at 2:13.79. Theresa Michalek was third with a 2:14.03 and Karlee Bispo was fourth at 2:14.92.

Simone Manuel won the B-final with a 2:16.49.

Men’s 200 IM – FINALS

Rowdy Gaines talked to Dwyer before the race and informed him that if he won the race, he would win the Grand Prix series. Dwyer suddenly felt the pressure as he wasn’t aware of the points race before hand. He handled the pressure well, fighting through the final 50 against Chase Kalisz and Michael Phelps to win the 200 IM. Dwyer got his hand on the wall to win the race at 1:59.49.

Conor Dwyer, Michael Phelps, and Chase Kalisz all came off the wall dead even at the 150 meter mark. Chase Kalisz is a monster in the back half of the IM, but he wasnt enough for Dwyer today. Kalisz finished second at 1:59.53 and Phelps was third at 1:59.76. Max Williamson finished fourth at 2:01.71 and Gunnar Bentz was fifth at 2:02.17.

Jay Litherland won the B-final of the men’s 200 IM with a time of 2:03.83.

Women’s 800 Freestyle – FINALS

Cierra Runge dropped 9 seconds to win the women’s 800 freestyle for a new personal best time. She was right with her teammate, Lotte Friis, for a majority of the race. The last 100 she really picked up her intensity and finished strong. Runge touched the wall at 8:26.71 and Lotte Friis finished second at 8:27.26. Brittany MacLean had the third fastest time at 8:29.51.

Elizabeth Beisel had a spectacular meet, dropping 18 seconds from her seed time to finish fourth. The 800 was a timed final event, and she wasn’t selected to swim in the final heat. She had the fastest time out of the morning heats and it was enough for a fourth place finish.

Men’s 1500 Freestyle – FINALS

Connor Jaeger is one of the premier distance swimmers in the United States. Why he was entered in the morning is a mystery to me, but he was, and he went a 15:00.97 to win the event. Michael McBroom and Sean Ryan were in the middle of the pool during the final heat, pushing each other through the end of the race. Michael McBroom won the final heat, finishing second overall to Jaeger with a 15:04.41. Sean Ryan finished third overall at 15:07.82 and Ryan Feeley was fourth at 15:21.62.

**Interesting side note: Katie Ledecky would have finished 9th overall had she been in that race.**

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ERVINFORTHEWIN
9 years ago

48.8 was a very good time from M Phelps ! very promising also for the Us 400 free relay this summer . Very decent 200 IM and a status quo on 100 fly . He is going well and will progress smartly for the next 2 years .

Flyin'
9 years ago

Yeah, he’s only 21st in the world, in his first day swimming the 200 IM in competition since his comeback, what was his problem? lol

On a more serious note, I thought it was a solid, if not spectacular, swim.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Flyin'
9 years ago

he did a great job for a 4th final swim in 3 days !!!! Damn he is good and having fun .

bobo gigi
9 years ago

Ok.
Day 4 analysis

Women’s 200 fly
Nothing to say. Very slow times. 🙁

Men’s 200 fly
Good battle but again, slow times. 🙁

Women’s 100 breast
Very very very slow times 🙁

Men’s 100 breast
Impressed by the performance of Cordes.
I think he will swim 59.50 in August.

Women’s 100 back
I said yesterday: “If Missy doesn’t win the 100 back in a decent time, I’m going to be a little worried.”
She won but I’m not convinced by the way to do it and the overall time.
1.00.99. Not bad but not great.
It’s hard for her fans because we used to see her break the minute… Read more »

Flyin'
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

Caldwell went to swim at UF at got injured very quickly. This season, he transferred to Wisconsin and swam pretty well. Hopefully he’s on the up-swing again.

Josh
Reply to  Flyin'
9 years ago

He was injured before he ever got to Florida.

Flyin'
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

I do think Phelps can swim the IM, but he’ll have to put just a little bit more into training. To be in the same second as Dwyer and Kalisz is not bad and a 1:59 is not a bad time at this stage in this pool. That said, I would also understand if he didn’t want to swim it because of the busy schedule it would give him.

Becky D
9 years ago

Commentary on the live feed indicated Jaeger swam during the early 1500 heats because he had to fly back to Michigan Sunday evening. Sounds like it was intentional and not a mistake.

Danjohnrob
9 years ago

If Phelps isn’t able to get 1st or 2nd at Nationals, he’d be expected to swim both prelims and finals of the 4 x 100 free relay, wouldn’t he? That would mean 4 races on day 3 of PanPacs! Well, he should certainly swim the 100 at Nationals, but I think he should just do the 4 x 200 relay, fly and medley relay at PanPacs, assuming he qualifies for all those events.

TheTroubleWithX
Reply to  Danjohnrob
9 years ago

danjohnrob — No prelim relays at Pan Pacs. Only take top 4 in the 100/200 free, although, of course, none are guaranteed to swim the relays. And I believe that, since each country has unlimited entries, a swimmer may swim events besides the ones where they made the team. So, for instance, Matt Grevers could bomb the 100 back at Nationals, manage a 4th place finish in the 100 free, earn a spot on the Pan Pacs team, but then not swim the 4×100 free (any other team member could take his place), swim the 100 back, post try fastest time of any US swimmer this year, and through that, earn a spot on next year’s World Championship team. Not… Read more »

Danjohnrob
Reply to  TheTroubleWithX
9 years ago

Thetroublewithx: Thank you, I didn’t realize there were no prelims relays at PanPacs! It does look like he could make the team and possibly qualify for Worlds in the 100 fly and relays. I think he needs to keep his number of events low though, so I think he should skip the 200 IM and work on it over the next 2 years.

Justin Thompson
9 years ago

Michael’s time was OK considering it’s his first 200IM of the season, his first multi-day/multi-event prelim/finals effort, and that he’s only got a 1/2 a season under his belt. He certainly didn’t finish the 200fr or 200im like we are used to seeing, but that will come with more training. I don’t think he necessarily needs to go back to the old training regime and yardage, but rather just needs another 6 months or so before he’s able to come home on those 200’s.

He’ll certainly be slower than what we are used to at Nationals and Pan Pacs, but could put up a solid 100free/100fly and will do the three relays.

Sven
9 years ago

I think this gives him a benchmark of where he’s at with moderate competitive fitness, so he and his coach can decide what their goals will be if they decide to take this “comeback” to the next level, and what kind of changes that next level will have to entail to reach those goals.

These are respectable times when you’re doing doubles and are moderately rested. But after practicing less often and coming down off of a tough altitude camp where frequency and intensity of exercise are suddenly way higher, they’re even more promising. I am definitely a believer now that Phelps will have gold medal potential in the fly and IM at Rio. Although Hagino and hopefully Lochte will… Read more »

Lazy Observer
9 years ago

Well, Phelps came to find out how he would do and he found out. With reduced training and getting older he is a top competitor, but he is no longer the person to beat. It lets him decide what he is willing to invest. Maybe he decides it is worth it. Maybe he decides he is fine in a supporting role on relays. I respect that. And good for chase and Connor.

About Tony Carroll

Tony Carroll

The writer formerly known as "Troy Gennaro", better known as Tony Carroll, has been working with SwimSwam since April of 2013. Tony grew up in northern Indiana and started swimming in 2003 when his dad forced him to join the local swim team. Reluctantly, he joined on the condition that …

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