2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Minneapolis: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2015 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES MINNEAPOLIS

• Thursday, November 12th – Saturday, November 14th
• University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Prelims at 9am Central/10am Eastern & Finals at 6pm Central/7pm Eastern
• Psych Sheets
• Thursday Finals Heat Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Women’s 200 Meter Freestyle – Final

Katie Ledecky of Nation’s Capital started the meet with a world-leading 1:55.37 in the women’s 200 meter freestyle. Out in a 56.56, Ledecky came home in 58.8 to dip under Katinka Hosszu’s 1:55.41 from Dubai. Ledecky broke Allison Schmitt‘s pool record by a half-second.

Missy Franklin, of Colorado Stars, came in second with 1:56.73, which puts her at fourth in the world so far this year, beating her Dubai time by a half-second. Allison Schmitt from North Baltimore, third at 1:57.28, put up the fifth-fastest time in the world.

Leah Smith came in fourth with 1:57.79; she was followed by Melanie Margalis of Saint Petersburg (1:58.11), Cierra Runge of North Baltimore (1:59.15), Camille Cheng of Cal (1:59.85), and Aggie Swim Club’s Sarah Henry (2:01.15).

Mission Viejo’s Stephanie Peacock won an incredibly tight consolation final that saw all 8 competitors touch within 9/10 of each other. Peacock was the only sub-2:00 finisher (1:59.93).

Men’s 200 Meter Freestyle – Final

Conor Dwyer of Trojan Swim Club and Ryan Lochte from SwimMAC put on quite a show in the men’s race, trading stroke for stroke over the last 50 meters. Dwyer pulled away in the end, though, and got the win with 1:47.88 to Lochte’s 1:48.66. Louisville’s Joao De Lucca rounded out the podium in 1:49.06.

The rest of the championship final all seemed to come into the wall together: Giovanny Lima of Sesi (1:49.87), Michael Weiss of Wisconsin (1:50.12), Trevor Carroll of Louisville (1:50.26), Matthias Lindenbauer of Louisville (1:50.36), and Bobby Hurley of Club Wolverine (1:50.36).

The consolation produced a great deal of excitement as well. Michael Phelps took it out and led the field, turning in 53.13 at the 100 and 1:21.6 at the 150. Mark Thormeyer of UBC Dolphins outsplit Phelps by 9/10 over the last 50, though, and got his hand to the wall in 1:50.28, .11 ahead of Phelps. Thormeyer’s teammate Yuri Kisil was third in the B final with 1:51.00.

Women’s 100 Meter Breaststroke – Final

The excitement followed on to the next event, where Melanie Margalis of Saint Petersburg won the women’s 100 breast championship final by 1/100 over SwimMAC’s Micah Lawrence, 1:07.44 to 1:07.45. Both women squeaked into the world’s top rankings, going fifth and sixth for the season.

Andee Cottrell of Louisville (1:08.14) came in just ahead of Breeja Larson (1:08.50) for third. Minnesota’s Rachel Munson (1:09.36), Melissa Rodriguez of Penn State (1:09.63), Emily McClellan from Badger Swim Club (1:09.79), and Franko Jonker (1:09.80) made up the rest of the championship final.

Emma Reaney won a tight race in the consolation with 1:09.64. Martha McCabe from Toronto Swim Club out-touched T2 Aquatics’ Justine Bowker, 1:09.88 to 1:09.91, for second.

Men’s 100 Meter Breaststroke – Final

Louisville’s Carlos Claverie had broken the pool record in the morning session but the final belonged to Sam Tierney of Mizzou. He out-touched Badger Swim Club’s Cody Miller, 1:00.82 to 1:00.86 for the win. Both Tierney and Miller came in under the pool record with their finals swims.

Michael Andrew of Indie Swimming came in fourth with 1:01.25. Felipe Lima (1:01.35), Richard Funk of Club Wolverine (1:01.66), Yannick Kaeser of Limmat Sharks (1:01.82), and Andrew Wilson from Longhorn Aquatics (1:02.66) made up the rest of the championship final.

Nic Fink of Athens Bulldog Swim Club eked out a win over Nick Schafer of Wisconsin, 1:01.82 to 1:01.96, in the consolation final. BJ Johnson was third in 1:02.24.

Women’s 100 Meter Butterfly – Final

Kelsi Worrell of Louisville battled American record-holder Dana Vollmer for control of the 100 fly championship final. Vollmer was out first at the 50 but Worrell brought it home a half-second faster and got the touch, 57.91 to 58.07. Worrell established a new pool record and put up the world’s second-fastest time of the season.

Third place went to Cal’s Noemie Thomas (58.23), who had the second-fastest back half in the field. She just out-touched Trojan Swim Club’s Kendyl Stewart (58.44). Dayna De Paula of Sesi was fifth (58.84), followed by Mason Makos’ Amanda Kendall (58.93), Claire Donahue of South Florida (59.14), and Farida Osman of Cal (59.35).

Schroeder YMCA’s Hannah Saiz put up a great back half to win the consolation final with 59.61. Cal’s Katie McLaughlin was next (59.88), followed by teammate Kelly Naze and Minnesota’s Danielle Nack, both of whom touched in exactly 1:00.00.

Men’s 100 Meter Butterfly – Final

Santo Condorelli of Canyons Aquatic Club, who had been the fastest qualifier out of the morning prelims session, led the field at the halfway mark of the men’s 100 fly. But both Giles Smith of Phoenix Swim Club and NBAC’s Phelps put the pressure on during the second 50. At the end, Smith touched 1/100 ahead of Condorelli, 52.57 to 52.58, and Phelps, the World and American Record-holder in the event, finished third with 52.99.

Pavel Sankovich of Club Seminole went 53.25 for fourth, ahead of Masa Kishida of Tucson Ford (53.48), Matt Josa from SwimMAC (54.09), and Michael Andrew of Indie Swimming (55.65). Ryan Lochte, who was swimming in lane 5, was disqualified for flinching at the start.

Kyler VanSwol of Santa Clara was the consolation final winner with 53.51; he came back to touch out Carl Weigley of Clovis (53.85) and David Nolan of NBAC (54.10).

Women’s 400 Meter IM – Final

California Aquatics’ Caitlin Leverenz, who had scratched the 100 fly final, had fresh legs for the 400 IM. She was out first, gaining a second on the field in the butterfly leg with 1:02.4. NBAC’s Becca Mann took over the lead after the backstroke, though, and was up by a second going into the breast. Leverenz regained control during the third 100, and turned for the final 100 in the lead by over a second. Mann fought back, though, coming home in a 1:01-low to win with 4:37.04. Leverenz went 4:39.10 for second, and Ledecky, who had been just behind the leaders throughout most of the race, touched third in 4:39.18. All three were under the pool record. Mann moved into the world’s top 5 for the year, just behind Leverenz’s performance in Dubai.

The rest of the championship final consisted of Minnesota’s Brooke Zeiger (4:42.49), Elizabeth Beisel of Gator Swim Club (4:43.12), Cammile Adams of SwimMAC (4:44.07), Sarah Henry from Aggie Swim Club (4:45.35), and Emily Overholt of UBC Dolphins (4:45.58).

Vien Nguyen held off a fast-charging Haley Anderson from Trojan Swim Club, 4:45.15 to 4:45.37, to win the consolation final. Cal’s Celina Li (4:47.11) was third.

Men’s 400 Meter IM – Final

Chase Kalisz of North Baltimore won a decisive victory in the men’s 400 IM, but it was hard-fought. Kalisz was slightly in front of the field after the butterfly, but it was SwimMAC’s Tyler Clary who took over in the backstroke leg. He outpaced the competition by over a second, and led going into the breaststroke. But that’s Kalisz’s weapon, and he picked up 3 seconds on Clary. Kalisz headed into the freestyle with a 2.3-second lead over Clary, which he was able to extend slightly over the final 100 to win by 2.5, 4:18.50 to 4:21.01. Princeton’s Corey Okubo came in third, touching in 4:23.89.

Gator Swim Club’s Sebastian Rousseau (4:25.93) led the rest of the field. He was followed by Nolan Tesone of Louisville (4:28.26), Jakub Maly of Minnesota (4:29.00), Guillermo Blanco from Purdue (4:29.65) and Wisconsin’s Michael Weiss (4:31.23).

Club Wolverine’s Kyle Whitaker won the consolation final with 4:26.24. Gator Swim Club’s Dan Wallace was second (4:27.29), just ahead of Andrew Gemmell of Nation’s Capital (4:27.63).