2016 Arena Pro Swim Series – Orlando Day Three Prelims Live Recap

2016 ORLANDO PRO SWIM SERIES

• Thursday, March 3- Saturday, March 5
• YMCA of Central Florida Aquatic Center
• Orlando, FL
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results

WOMEN’S 200 IM PRELIMS

1. Maya Dirado 2:13.65
2. Elizabeth Beisel 2:14.02
3. Melanie Margalis 2:15.18
4. Yulia Efimova 2:15.84
5. Katie Ledecky 2:15.90
6. Hilda Luthersdottir 2:16.39
7. Vien Nguyen 2:17.08
8. Emma Reaney 2:17.43

Maya Dirado of Stanford Swimming was out quick, splitting a 1:02.15 at the 100, and never looked back en route to her morning win in the 200 IM (2:13.65). She was pushed hard by Elizabeth Beisel, who used a strong breaststroke leg to track down Dirado.

Melanie Margalis touched 3rd this morning (2:15.18), and fought hard after Yulia Efimova‘s 36.42 gave the Trojan the go-ahead at the 150 mark. Margalis woulf end up on top, though, with Efimova just behind at 2:15.84.

Nearly catching the Russian national in the penultimate heat was Katie Ledecky, who had the 3rd-fastest fly leg of the top 8 and the fastest free leg by far, going 29.84. No other swimmer came home faster than 31 seconds. Ledecky finished up at 2:15.90.

Hilda Luthersdottir of Iceland and Vietnamese youngster Vien Nguyen finished up 6th and 7th, with Irish Aquatics’ Emma Reaney (2:17.43) rounding out the top 8.

York YMCA’s Meghan Small (2:17.43) will lead tonight’s B final.

MEN’S 200 IM PRELIMS

1. Eduardo Solaeche 2:02.24
2. Henrique Rodrigues 2:03.08
3. Conor Dwyer 2:03.32
4. Thiago Pereira 2:04.37
5. Michael Weiss 2:04.52
6. Austin Surhoff 2:04.59
7. Sebastien Rousseau 2:04.85
8. Marcin Tarczynski 2:05.09

There was some drama in the men’s 200 IM, with would-be top seed Josh Prenot of Cal (2:02.00) actually getting DQ’d for going past vertical towards the breast on the finish of his backstroke leg. With Prenot out, Eduardo Solaeche taking the top seed for tonight.

Also DQ’d was Luca Dioli, who looked to have locked up the 7th seed for tonight’s A final. That moves Marcin Tarczynski up to the A final.

The Brazilians hung tough this morning, with Henrique Rodrigues in 2nd (2:03.08) and Thiago Pereira in 4th (2:04.37). Trojan Conor Dwyer was sandwiched in between them for the 3rd seed.

This is a tight field, with 4th through 7th all in the 2:04 range. With the two DQ’s up top, Metro Aquatic Club’s Juan Sequera moves up to lead the B final (2:05.60).

WOMEN’S 200 BACK PRELIMS

1. Dominique Bouchard 2:10.78
2. Elizabeth Beisel 2:11.59
3. Missy Franklin 2:11.74
4. Taylor Ruck 2:13.45
5. Claudia Lau 2:14.28
6. Silvia Scalia 2:14.33
7. Fernanda Gonzalez Ramirez 2:15.61
8. Andrea Berrino 2:15.83

Tonight will feature a very international field. Canadians Dominique Bouchard and youngster Taylor Ruck took the 1st and 4th seeds going into tonights final. American 200 back veterans Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Franklin are bunched up right behind Bouchard.

Hong Kong’s Claudia Lau finished up in 5th, followed by Italy’s Silvia Scalia, Mexico’s Fernanda Gonzalez Ramirez (though Mexican swimmers are being represented by FINA currently), and Argentina’s Andrea Berrino.

MEN’S 200 BACK PRELIMS

1. Jacob Pebley 1:58.36
2. Ryan Murphy 2:00.34
3. Grigory Tarasevich 2:01.62
4. Austin Katz 2:01.72
5. Chase Kalisz 2:01.98
6. Fabio Santi 2:02.02
7. Arkady Vyatchanin 2:02.03
8. Jeremy Dezwirek 2:03.33

The Cal boys got it done this morning, with Jacob Pebley and Ryan Murphy taking the top two seeds in the 200 back. Jeremy Dezwirek, a Canadian senior at Cal, also snuck into this final.

Grigory Tarasevich, who just last weekend competed at the ACC Champs representing Louisville, picked up the third seed followed by 16-year-old Floridian Austin Katz.

IM weapon Chase Kalisz finished 5th this morning (2:01.98), ahead of Brazilian Fabio Santi and Serbia’s Arkady Vyatchanin.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE PRELIMS

1. Simone Manuel 54.69
2. Katie Ledecky 54.87
3. Aliaksandra Herasimenia 55.30
4. Missy Franklin 55.31
5. Kasia Wilk 55.36
6. Allison Schmitt 55.45
7. Natalie Coughlin 55.65
8. Felicia Lee 55.69

This is shaping up to be a huge race, with Simone Manuel swimming the top time of 54.69 this morning. Katie Ledecky continues to prove her sprint worth, and as Trials get closer, she’s looking more and more likely to get on that 400 free relay.

The sprint queen of Belarus, Aliaksandra Herasimenia, grabbed the 3rd seed just ahead of Franklin, while Trojan Kasia Wilk touched right behind her.

American veterans Allison Schmitt and Natalie Coughlin finished right behind them, with Felicia Lee grabbing the 8th and final spot in tonight’s A final.

With Manuel, Ledecky, Franklin, Schmitt, and Coughlin all in this A final, we could be seeing a preview for the Olympic Trials top 8 final heat. The speed has been shown elsewhere, though, at the American SC Champs in Texas, where rising sprint star Abbey Weitzeil dropped a personal best of 53.77 in the 100 free final.

MEN’S 100 FREE PRELIMS

1. Luca Dotto 49.12
2. Caeleb Dressel 49.20
3. David Williams 49.48
4. Nicolas Oliveira 49.50
5. Nathan Adrian 49.51
6. Nikita Lobintsev 49.60
7. Conor Dwyer 49.62
8. Michael Phelps

What a field for tonight’s final. Like the women, this is a star-studded top 8, led by Italy’s Luca Dotto (49.12), who nearly broke 49 seconds. 2nd was Caeleb Dressel, who isn’t far off of his lifetime best at 49.20.

NC State grad David Williams is doing well translating his SCY career into long course success, and he just edged Brazilian star Nicolas Oliveira and U.S. big man Nathan Adrian for fourth.

Trojan teammates Nikita Lobintsev and Conor Dwyer were pretty bunched up for 6th and 7th, with Michael Phelps just a slim hundredth behind Dwyer for the last spot in this A final.

Caleb Weir of Wolfpack Elite (49.66) leads the B final tonight. A big international contingent of Ali Khalafalla (49.74), Joao De Lucca (49.80), Cesar Cielo (49.92), and Federico Grabich (49.95) all finished under 50 seconds, and will duke it out in the B final.