2015 U.S. Nationals: Day 2 Finals Preview

2015 U.S. National Championships

2015 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – DAY TWO

Women’s 100m Backstroke

17 year-old Claire Adams qualified 1st overall in the women’s 100 back, taking off more than a second from her seed time in 1:00.08. Georgia Davies of Great Britain qualified 2nd in 1:00.11, and Ali Deloof was 3rd in 1:00.35. Also qualifying for the A final was 100 fly champ Kelsi Worrell, Olivia Smoliga, Hannah Stevens, Danielle Galyer and Clara Smiddy. Galyer and Smiddy tied for 7th in 1:01.10. The top seed for the B final will be Amy Bilquist who was 9th this morning in 1:01.36. Joining her will be Kathleen Dawson of Scotland and Ally Howe of Stanford. The C final will feature 15 year-old Grace Ariola and 16 year-old Erin Earley. Missing the final was Megan Romano, Belinda Hocking and Mercedes Peris Minguet.

Men’s 200m Freestyle

In his first swim of the competition, Jack Conger posted the top time in the 200 free heats in 1:47.62. Conger has since scratched the event tonight to focus solely on the 200 fly. Conger’s scratch makes Blake Pieroni (1:48.10) the top seed going into tonight, along with Frank Dyer (1:48.64) and Maxime Rooney (1:48.68). Also swimming in the A final will be Townley Haas, Trevor Carroll, Michael Wynalda, Tom Kremer and Zane Grothe. Grothe swam 1:48.89 which was the cut off for the A final. After his gold medal performance yesterday in the 400 free, Grothe will look to make some noise in the 200 out of lane 8. Qualifying for the B final was Grant Shoults, Max Litchfield and Austin Surhoff. The C final will feature Caeleb Dressel, Nicholas Sweetser and 16 year-old Matthew Hirschberger. Among those missing the final was Thomas Luchsinger (1:50.47), and David Nolan (1:51.89).

Men’s 100m Backstroke

Junya Koga of Japan led the way in the men’s 100 back prelims, posting a time of 53.63. Nick Thoman posted the 2nd fastest time of the morning in 54.03, and Luke Kaliszak swam over 2 seconds faster than his entry time, qualifying 3rd in 54.32. Also qualifying for the A final was Akrady Vyatchanin, Kyle Darmody, Jacob Pebley, Jack Blyzinskyj and Dale Taylor. Taylor swam 54.69 which was the cut off for the A final. Qualifying for the B final was Eugene Godsoe (54.72) and Michael Andrew (55.34). The C final will feature Michael Taylor, John Shebat and 16 year-old Austin Katz. Missing the final was Carter Griffin, Craig McNally and James Wells. Austin Surhoff and Guy Barnea were both no-shows in the prelims.

Women’s 200m Freestyle

Defending Olympic champion Allison Schmitt of North Baltimore led the way in the prelims of the women’s 200 free posting a time of 1:58.12. She was followed closely by Hali Flickinger from the Athens Bulldogs, who has had a fantastic meet so far. Also qualifying for the A final was Sarah Henry, Katie Drabot, Madisyn Cox, Haley Lips, Hannah Cox and Alexis Davis. Davis’ time of 2:00.51 was the cut off for the A final. The B final will feature 16 year-old Courtney Harnish, Megan Romano and Lindsay Vrooman. The C final will have 15 year-old Samantha Shelton, Quinn Carrozza and top seed Mallory Comerford. Among those missing the final was Amanda Weir (29th), Caitlin Leverenz (41st) and Kate Ziegler (42nd).

Men’s 200m Butterfly

In his first swim of the meet, Michael Phelps showed that he is on good form. Phelps posted the top time in the 200 fly of 1:55.15, the 10th fastest in the world this year. Phelps had a strong front half taking it out in 54.82, and bringing it home in 1:00.33. He will look to bring it home under 1 minute in tonight’s final. Phelps will also look to challenge the 1:53.48 done by Laszlo Cseh that won the men’s 200 fly a few days ago at the World Championships. Qualifying 2nd overall was Jack Conger in his second swim of the session. Conger went 1:56.19 which is a personal best by over a second. Conger broke the American record in this event earlier this year in yards (1:39.31). Specifically interesting was Conger’s final 50 split of 28.78, the only one in the field under 30 seconds and one of the fastest closing 50’s in the history of the event. After some research, only Phelps had closed a long course 200 fly in under 29 seconds until Cseh and Conger did it this week. Also qualifying for the A final was Pace Clark, Clark Smith, Dakota Hodgson, Andrew Seliskar, Carlos Peralta Gallego and John Martens. Martens swam 1:58.82 which was the cut off for the A final. Swimming in the B final tonight will be Gunnar Bentz (1:58.85) and Thomas Luchsinger (1:59.13). Swimming in the C final will be top seed Michael Thomas, Grant Shoults and 16 year-old Max Miranda. Among those missing the final were Kyle Whitaker, Ben Colley and Bobby Bollier.

Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Heat 1 of the women’s 4x100m free relay will feature Indiana University, Auburn University and North Carolina Aquatic Club. The second and faster heat features Club Wolverine, Carmel Swim Club, Wisconsin Aquatics and Tennessee Aquatics. Carmel has the top seed time of 3:44.88.

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bobo gigi
8 years ago

The part about the last 50 under 29 is interesting but we can’t compare apples and oranges.
If a guy swims in 2 minutes with a very cool first 150, it’s easier to swim under 29.
If a guy is at the 150 in world record splits, it’s harder to swim under 29.

CraigH
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Keep in mind that Phelps’ trademark in his Butterfly races has always been his last 50. I still remember watching the 2000 Olympic Trials. He was in last place coming off the last wall and mowed down the entire field besides Malchow in the last 50 to nab that second place and book his ticket to the Olympics at only 15.

Joel Lin
8 years ago

Michael has been talking a lot of smack? So what? Le Clos needs to see the big picture here. He’s never been under 51, he’s never been under 1:53 and he’s never broken a world record. This is Scottie Pippen talking trash to Michael Jordan.

pvdh
Reply to  Joel Lin
8 years ago

le clos has broken 1;53, barely. he was 1;52.96 in London

Valdeseswimcoach
8 years ago

Pretty sure it was Taylor Dale, UGA swimmer, not Dale Taylor…

Valdeseswimcoach
Reply to  Valdeseswimcoach
8 years ago

He was a Carpet Capital kid, along with 25th place Ethan Young. Dalton produces some talented backstrokers for such a small town.

Irish Ringer
8 years ago

Would be great if Phelps can drop below the winning time in Kazan. Clearly living rent free in Le Clos head who should be more concerned with Gold than beating one guy:

“I wish that he was here,” Le Clos said of Phelps. “He’s been talking a lot of smack in the media about how slow the butterfly is, so I just can’t wait until I race him again. I’m going to really go for his world record next year.”

Emzee
Reply to  Irish Ringer
8 years ago

I was guessing Phelps would pull a smooth 1:55 prelims and now be able to go 1:53.2 or even break into 1:52 from how fired up and focused he’ll be now.

I don’t see Le Close breaking Phelps’ records, much less breaking into 49 or 1:51.

pvdh
Reply to  Irish Ringer
8 years ago

Well we can take joy in the fact that One of Phelps greatest rivals in Cseh shut him up. Le Clos probably thought he would easily win this one

Joel Lin
8 years ago

His 1:47 was strong enough to punch a national team top 6 place in the 200 free.

don
Reply to  Joel Lin
8 years ago

Wow, I thought so to but I guess not in the 2free.

don
8 years ago

Looks like Conger scratched the 2free to be fresh for the 2fly. Should be a great race

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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