Friday nights finals at the Los Angeles Invitational was a tune up for many of the swimmers on the U.S. World Championships Team roster. Prelims set up an exciting race in the 100 free between Margo Geer and Simone Manuel for the women, while Nathan Adrian squared off with Vlad Morozov, Nikita Lobintsev, and USA teammate Conor Dwyer. Day 2 Finals highlights:
Women’s 800 Free
The finals of the women’s 800 free was a runaway for Haley Anderson. In her home pool, Anderson won by over 16 seconds, touching at 8:37.48. Anderson will be swimming the 5k and 10k open water events for Team USA in Kazan.
NOVA’s Brittany Kampfer blazed through the final 100 in 1:03.97 after holding 1:07s through most of the race. She was able to swim past Alexandra Wooden, who also dropped to a significantly faster final split in 1:04.12. They placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in 8:53.79 to 8:53.86.
Riley Spitser was also significantly under 9 minutes, claiming 4th in 8:57.67. 5th place finisher Mayte Alejandra Cano Figueroa also snuck under the barrier with an 8:59.93.
Women’s 100 Free
Friday morning prelims saw Arizona’s Pac-12 woman of the year Margo Geer put on impressive performance in the 100 free, dipping under 54 for the first time in 53.95.
In finals, Simone Manuel stepped up to challenge for the win. Geer and Manuel rocketed ahead of the field, with the Stanford sophomore claiming 1st place in a time of 54.26. Geer was 2nd in a respectable 54.55.
Geer and Manuel are the 1st and 3rd fastest Americans this year as they prepare for the World Championships in Kazan. Natalie Coughlin sits in between them with a 54.18 from Arena Pro Swim Mesa.
University of California’s Camille Cheng was 3rd in 55.76. Her teammate Farida Osman was close behind, finishing in 56.08 for 4th.
Men’s 100 Free
5 swimmers in the championship final broke the 50 second barrier, led by Vlad Morozov, Nathan Adrian, and top qualifier Nikita Lobintsev.
In a nail biter of a finish, Morozov claimed a narrow victory over Adrian, the 2012 Olympic champion in this event. The 2 men touched in 49.00 and 49.03.
Lobintsev, who broke 49 this morning, added a couple tenths to his prelim time. His 49.18Â was good enough for 3rd.
U.S. Olympic gold medalists Conor Dwyer and Matt Grevers were 5th and 7th in the final. Dwyer came in at 49.40, while Tucson Ford’s Grevers clocked a 50.72.
Women’s 200 Fly
Another Stanford woman grabbed a win in the 200 fly, as incoming freshman Ella Eastin swam to the wall first in 2:11.63. That’s just off her personal best time of 2:11.30 from summer Juniors in 2013.
AZOT’s Sonia Wang came in behind Eastin to grab 2nd in 2:12.50. With that, she knocked a tenth off her previous best time coming into the meet.
Tara Halsted and Katie Kinnear were neck and neck behind her, with Halsted edging ahead at the finish for 3rd, 2:13.82 to 2:13.90.
Men’s 200 Fly
The top 3 in the 100 fly were all men from California Aquatics. Tom Shields led the way in 1:57.49. As usual, Shields took it out hard in 55.78, closing in 1:01.71.
Sophomore Justin Lynch tried to take advantage of the back half. He made a charge on the 2nd 100, finishing within a second of Shields in 1:58.22. He was well ahead of 3rd place finisher Adam Hinshaw.
Hinshaw won a close race with USC’s Ted Singley, swimming a 2:01.03 to the latter’s 2:01.42.
AZOT’s Corey Okubo, who represents Princeton in the college season, was a tenth behind in 2:01.54
Women’s 200 Back
Stanford’s Ally Howe dropped the hammer in the women’s 200 back, winning with a time of 2:12.93. She chipped 5 hundredths off her previous best of 2:12.98.
Hannah Weiss swam to 2nd in her home pool with a 2:13.91. Exactly 2 seconds behind, Madison White from UCLA swam to a 2:15.91 for 3rd.
Incoming UCLA freshman Emma Schanz battled with future Pac-12 rival Bonnie Brandon, a former U.S. National Team member from the University of Arizona. Schanz came in 4th at 2:15.99, while Brandon recorded a 2:16.20.
Tara Halsted returned to the pool for her 2nd race of the night. She was 6th in 2:16.51.
Men’s 200 Back
American Record holder and NCAA champion Ryan Murphy destroyed the field in the men’s 200 back. Murphy, who will head to Kazan with Team USA this summer, clocked in at 1:56.65. That’s just over a half second off his best of 1:55.99.
Behind Murphy, Thomas Smith earned a 2nd place finish. The 18 year old from AZOT swam a 2:02.01 for a new personal best.
3rd and 4th place were sperated by just .02. Iegor Lytvenok  outsplit Anton Panferov, 30.85 to 30.97, on the last 50. He came up just short as Panferov held on for 3rd in 2:03.52 ahead of Lytvenok’s 2:03.54.
Corey Okubo swam back-to-back events, placing 6th in this event with a 2:05.16.
Women’s 400 I.M.
Maya Dirado put on a sub 4:40 performance in the women’s 400 I.M., crushing the field by over 6 seconds. Her 4:39.93 is in preparation for the World Championships, where she’ll represent the United States in both of the I.M. events.
After winning the 800 free earlier tonight, Haley Anderson grabbed silver in 4:46.11. She raced through the freestyle split in 1:02.54 to chase down 200 fly victor Ella Eastin, who posted a 4:47.24 for 3rd.
All-American Kelly Naze from UC Berkeley swam this event in 4:50.79 to finish 4th.
Men’s 400Â Free
The men’s 400 was the final individual race of the night. Adam Hinshaw came up 1st with a time of 3:57.88. He had a close race with Arizona’s Ty Fowler, who finished 2nd in 3:58.35. That’s a lifetime best for Fowler, who came into the meet with a 3:58.87.
3rd-6th place all finished under 4 minutes, led by Ted Singley, who finished in 3:59.07. His final 100 split of 59.21 was enough to overtake 3rd from Owen Kao. Kao closed in 59.63 for a final time of 3:59.14.
Fowler’s teammate, freshman Parks Jones, held off a hard charging Ryan Kao. Kao had the fastest last 100 of the field with a 58.02, but ran out of room to catch Jones. The two men finished in 3:59.57 and 3:59.71 for 5th and 6th.
Women’s 4×100 Free Relay
Team Bruin won the women’s 400 free relay by a large margin, finishing in 3:54.39. 3 of the 4 swimmers were under 1:00, with Linnea Mack swimming the fastest split in 57.44. Madison White lead off in 57.96.
Golden West Swim Club’s relays were 2nd and 3rd. The B team finished ahead of their A team, 3:58.89 to 4:00. Maddie Meisel lead off in 58.82 to put the A squad in the lead, but Samantha Le‘s 59.66 on the 3rd leg was enough to put the B team ahead.
Men’s 4×100 Free Relay
Simon Fraser Aquatics took the win in the men’s 400 free relay, led by Andrew Poznikoff‘s flat start 52.56. His teammate Ben Berg was under 53 on the 2nd leg, swimming a 52.40.
Golden West Swim Club’s men were 2nd and 3rd in this event as well. The A team finished 2nd, as their fastest swimmer Chadd Maurer lead off with a 53.75.
Golden West Swim Club’s B team went back and forth with Buenaventura Swim Club in a race for 3rd. Dylan Nelson lead off for Golden West to give his teammates an edge in 55.48. Stewart Harrison answered back quickly in 52.85 to give Buenaventura a lead by almost a second.
Niles Biolley dove in after Harrison to increase their lead to over 1.5 seconds with his 54.62. But Golden West’s Ambert Sawaya roared back in a 53.25 anchor leg to put Golden West in the last slot of the top 3. The teams finished 3:40.17 to 3:41.64.
Adrian in 49.03 !?? is he really waiting for August to put the fast times ?
1:54.27 for Murphy for the silver. I think Irie will break 1:54 to win it
All the commenters seem to be leaving out some guy named Clary who happens to be the defending Olympic champion in the 200 back
He can win the gold at worlds. He beat Irie last summer at pan pacs.
Clary vs Irie vs Murphy for gold.
Not forgetting Clary at all But Murphy is hungry – Last year at Pan Pacs , he was very close to Irie , Clary and Larkin the whole way . He is the one to watch …..seriously
Out of topic. But do you think Lochte will swim the 200 back at trials?
I think Lochte will only swim the 200 back at trials if he doesn’t develop his 200 free to the point where he would be top 2.
I mostly see Ryan swimming 100 free getting top 4, 200 free with top 3 finish (maybe top 2), and winning the 200 IM at trials.
He is a bit of a wild card in the 100 fly and the 200 back.
I think people should realize that in Mesa when he raced Phelps in his first comeback, Lochte went 51.9 untapered. I think if he gets on top of his fly, he could race it at trials, he could final, and he could finish top 2. Its a stretch for… Read more »
PACFAN- I’d put Jacob Pebley in the mix too if he continues to improve. He has potential to represent the U.S. in the 200 back in the coming years. He’d have to get past Clary, Murphy, or Lochte though.
I’m not sure about the 100 fly. I think it’s possible, but for 2016 he’ll be up against a lot of swimmers who can put up 51s at trials. Phelps and Conger, to name a couple, might be hard to beat. I’m also interested to see where Dressel will be at in that event.
If he’s not looking solid for an individual spot in the 200 free or 200 back, I would think he’d drop the 200 back. He’s good… Read more »
Correction. Corey Okubo represents Princeton during the college season
Markster- thanks. fixed it
The Murphy era has begun. In the 200 back every major gold is his for next 4-5 years is his. This will be a Piersol type hold on an event.
Poor Irie. Just when age starts to catch up to Lochte, the USA sends out Murphy.
That one made me laugh – but i really Love Irie’s amazing technique and consistency- would still be great for him to win a BIG gold medal before he ages .
Murphy will put the hammer down in that 200 back at Worlds, no doubt about it . Irie will have to work deeper is he wants to win that race .
Margo Geer 6 tenths of a second slower in final.
It starts to become more and more common to see much slower in finals than in prelims. I hate that. 😆 It looks like she was just in LA to secure a US top 6 time for the national team. She did it in prelims. Her job was done.
At first glance, Simone Manuel’s time of 54.26 doesn’t look very impressive. But last year exactly at the same period of the year, she was “only” in 55.31. Perhaps her training is well different now, no idea, and it can be tough to compare, but I see her on the right track for worlds. Considering the huge international level of… Read more »
Bobo- you got my typo 😉 I fixed it
Lauren, it proves that me, at least, I read what swimswam contributors write. Not the case for everyone here. 😆
Great job from all of you.
NB: please think about what I said a few days ago to Tony Carroll. It would be great to add to all your race summaries for each event at least the top 3 results with the names and the times. Or the top 8 if you want. Simply the results of each race in bigger letters and numbers. That’s the first thing I look for when I arrive on your recaps. And I think it’s the same for a lot of people. Then I would read your race summaries. Simply an idea to… Read more »
Bobo- thanks. Will take that into account when writing tonight