2016 LONGHORN ELITE INVITE
- June 3rd-5th, 2016
- Austin, Texas (University of Texas Jamail Swim Center)
- Prelims start at 9:30 AM, Finals start at 6:30 PM, except Sunday, 5:30 PM (U.S. Central Time)
- Psych Sheets
- Meet Central
- Timeline
- Live Results
- Finals Live Stream (Longhorn Network)
Women’s 400 IM – Finals
- Regan Barney, Unattached: 4:52.32
- Elizabeth Bailey, Dynamo: 4:55.82
- Maddie Myers, TOPS: 4:56.27
After two big scratches (top seeds Madisyn Cox and Annie Zhu) left the field whittled down to just six swimmers, it was up to 17-year-old Regan Barney to lead the women’s 400 IM. She ended up coming in three and a half seconds ahead of her competitors, touching the wall in 4:52.32.
Second went to Georgia High School State runner-up in the 100 fly Elizabeth Bailey of Dynamo in 4:55.82. University of Denver rising junior Maddie Myers took third in 4:56.27.
Danielle DellaTorre of Athens Bulldogs dropped over six seconds from her prelims swim to finish fourth in 4:57.49.
Men’s 400 IM – Finals
- Chase Kalisz, North Baltimore: 4:11.51
- John Martens, Texas: 4:20.85
- Kei Hyogo, Yale: 4:20.97
North Baltimore’s Chase Kalisz dominated the men’s 400 IM throughout, dropping nearly ten seconds from his swim this morning and taking a huge leap up to fourth in the world rankings. His previous season best was a 15th-ranked 4:14.64 from the Arena PSS – Austin, but now only Japan’s Kosuke Hagino (4:08.85), Japan’s Daiya Seto (4:10.53), and Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes (4:11.09) are ahead of him.
This swim bodes incredibly well for Kalisz’s upcoming performance in Omaha. With this swim, he leapfrogs ahead of both Ryan Lochte and Jay Litherland in the world standings. Kalisz is the number two seed in the event in Omaha, coming in with a 4:09.62 from 2014 Pan Pacs, just behind Tyler Clary’s 4:09.03 from the same meet.
Texas’s John Martens battled Yale’s Kei Hyogo for the second slot, and it was Marten’s first 100 (59.84) that ended up building a deficit that Kyogo wasn’t quite able to overcome.
Swim Atlanta’s Aidan Sweeney landed fourth in 4:29.40, followed by Singapore’s already Rio-bound Longhorn Joseph Schooling in 4:32.28.
Women’s 200 Free – Finals
- Allison Schmitt, North Baltimore: 1:56.87
- Missy Franklin, Colorado Stars: 1:57.78
- Cierra Runge, North Baltimore: 1:57.97
North Baltimore’s defending Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt took the win tonight in what will certainly be one of the most hotly-contested events in Omaha at the end of this month. Her 1:56.87 came in nearly a second ahead of fellow Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, who took second in 1:57.78.
Schmitt nearly hit her season-best tonight, a 13th-in-the-world 1:56.52 from the Arena PSS at Mesa earlier this spring. That Mesa time sits her second in the U.S. rankings (behind only Katie Ledecky), but Leah Smith and Franklin are well within reach, and Simone Manuel and Maya DiRado have also been under 1:58 this season.
Franklin’s season best is a 1:56.73 from the Arena PSS in Minneapolis in the fall. There is a question of whether Franklin will take on this event in Omaha. She is never one to back down from a tight schedule, but the semifinals of the 200 free come just one event before finals of the 100 back, and the backstroke features an incredibly crowded field.
Schmitt’s teammate Cierra Runge, who will be tranferring from Cal to Wisconsin this fall after sitting out this NCAA season to train with Bob Bowman at NBAC, fought Franklin all the way to the finish, but came up short in 1:57.97. However, today’s swim was nearly a second faster than her previous season best, a 1:58.88 from Mesa.
Madisyn Cox of Longhorn Swim Club finished fourth in 2:00.81, after dropping the 400 IM to focus on this race. Texas’s Joanna Evans hit fifth in 2:01.73, followed by North Baltimore’s Sierra Schmidt in 2:01.76.
North Baltimore’s Danish Olympic medalist Lotte Friis came up seventh in 2:02.33.
Men’s 200 Free – Finals
- Townley Haas, NOVA: 1:47.86
- Clark Smith, Texas: 1:47.97
- Clay Youngquist, Longhorn Aquatics: 1:48.48
Defending NCAA champion and 2016 breakout swimmer Townley Haas (who appears to be representing NOVA over the summer instead of the University of Texas) blasted his fastest long course time this season, swimming 1:47.86 to cut nearly half a second from his previous season best 1:48.35 from Mesa.
Second went to Haas’s Texas teammate Clark Smith in 1:47.97. Smith, like Haas, is also a former NCAA Champion in middle-distance freestyles, his coming in the 500 free in 2015.
Another Texas swimmer, albeit a post-grad, Clay Youngquist rounded out the top three, out-swimming Michael Phelps for the bronze.
Phelps, meanwhile, took fourth in 1:48.73. Earlier this week, Phelps told Sports Illustrated that he wanted to swim fast enough this weekend to forgo the need to swim the 200 at Trials and still make the 800 relay squad, but he definitely didn’t make that mark tonight.
Nation’s Capital’s Jack Conger finished fifth in 1:49.54, followed by North Baltimore’s David Nolan in 1:50.36.
Women’s 200 Back – Finals
- Missy Franklin, Colorado Stars: 2:09.45
- Tasija Karosas, Texas: 2:10.98
- Quinn Carrozza, Texas: 2:12.12
Missy Franklin of the Colorado Stars won her signature event by a second and a half tonight, finishing the race in 2:09.45. That time is over two seconds off her season-best, a sixth in the world 2:07.24 from Minneapolis last fall. However, only two other Americans have gone under the mark Missy set tonight, Maya DiRado (2:08.19, Arena PSS – Austin) and Kathleen Baker (2:09.36, Arena PSS – Austin).
Texas team captain and Big 12 record-holder Tasija Karosas came up second in 2:10.98, followed by her teammate Quinn Carrozza in 2:12.12.
Tucson Ford’s Cameron McHugh scored fourth in 2:15.39, followed by Austin Swim Club’s Kendall Shields in 2:15.86. McHugh’s teammate Bonnie Brandon finished sixth in 2:17.01.
Men’s 200 Back – Finals
- Jonathan Roberts, Texas: 1:58.74
- Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford: 2:00.01
- Will Glass, CMSA: 2:00.69
Texas’s Jonathan Roberts surprised the crowd with a big-time over-a-second victory over defending Olympic champion in the 100 distance Matt Grevers. Roberts, a rising Texas junior who didn’t even make the B final at NCAAs this year in this event, swam 1:58.74 to Grevers’s 2:00.01 tonight.
Roberts’s performance tonight makes him the 10th fastest American this season in this event. Grevers’s best performance this season is an 18th-in-the-world 1:57.24 from AT&T Winter Nationals in December.
Will Glass scored third place in 2:00.69, followed by Egypt native Mohamed Hussein in 2:02.88.
Women’s 50 Free – Finals
- Rebecca Millard, Texas: 25.39
- Margo Geer, Tucson Ford: 25.54
- Lauren Pitzer, LAC: 25.95
Texas’s Rebecca Millard swam her season best to win the women’s 50 free tonight in 25.39.
Tucson Ford’s Margo Geer missed her own season best, a 25.35 from AT&T Winter Nationals in December, swimming a 25.54 for the silver medal.
Lauren Pitzer finished third in 25.95, followed by Texas’s Anelise Diener in 26.09, Texas’s Mimi Schneider in 26.26, and Santa Barbara’s Kimmie Kreuzberger in 26.48.
Men’s 50 Free – Finals
- Brad Tandy, Unattached: 22.31
- Kyle Robrock, TOPS: 22.90
- John Murray, Texas: 22.93
The University of Arizona’s Brad Tandy swam his season-best 22.31 to take a huge win in the men’s 50 free tonight, outswimming the field by over a second and a half.
Tandy, a South Africa native, has already punched his ticket to Rio, where he will be competing in this event.
Kyle Robrock scored second place in 22.90, followed by Texas’s John Murray in 22.93. Fourth went to Colorado Star Kent Olson-Stavrakas in 23.10, followed by Texas’s Jeremy Nichols in 23.33.
Its been 2 years since he swam a tapered freestyle race? I think this turns out to be a pretty big coaches mistake to have not done a rested 100/200 last summer or earlier this year. I was all for giving him a pass onto the relays but now I take my pass back and he needs to do prelim swims 48.5/1:45.5 in Omaha to swim the rio relays.
Way to go Rebecca Millard to take first in a tough event.
“Second went to Haas’s Texas teammate Clark Smith, who is also coming off an NCAA championship (his in the 500), in 1:47.97.”
Clark Smith won the 500 at NCAAs in 2015, no? Haas won this year.
It looks to me like Phelps may have to do a full taper just to make the team, especially for the 4×200 free and 4×100 relay spots . He swam great last summer at the US Nationals which was basically concurrent with the Worlds, but I believe that he was on a full taper for that meet. Before that he showed flashes but nothing that would be final season top 3. So what would you do if you’re his coach? Even for his signature events in the fly and IM, I believe that it would be very dicey just to make the team without a complete taper (he might just barely do it but then again he might just narrowly… Read more »
He may get away with not doing a full taper at OT if he concentrates on 100 fly, 200 IM and the heats of the 200 free.
But they take the first 6 & then 3-6 must swim heats if they are in no other events. If trials are as competitive as hoped for then there will not be 3-6 backing up elsewhere. Imo with only one 1.45 it looks very open for a relay spot at this moment .
I like your thoughts. I vote for a full taper. If he doesn’t make the team in one of his events, at least he’ll always know he gave it his best shot.
I like your thoughts. I vote for a full taper. If he doesn’t make the team in one of his events, at least he’ll always know he gave it his best shot.
Phelps has never had a problem tapering twice before. I expect him to do what he’s done in past Olympics: taper down for 2 weeks before trials, go up in yardage for 1-2 weeks, and taper back down for 2-3 weeks before the games.
Bowman will probably tweak that formula based on Phelps’ current strengths/weaknesses, but I think it’s safe to say Phelps will be fast at Trials.
MP should focous on only the 100 fly & 200 IM come trials and Rio. The maybe he has a chanse to final in those events at Rio. Last summer he did some great times but that was at a meet with no semifinals and he could swim realy slow in the heats. He wont be faster this year.
He did not have a 1-2 month old baby. Tea Rex – they are dire times where everything goes out the door.
To add perspective, Missy Franklin used this meet as her final tune-up before 2012 Olympic Trials:
100 FR: 54.73
200 FR: 1:57.91
400 FR: 4:13.36
200 BK: 2:08.74
men’s 200 back
1 Jonathan Robert 20 UN 2:04.83 1:58.74TOLY
27.81 57.66 (29.85)
1:28.14 (30.48) 1:58.74 (30.60)
2 Matt Grevers 31 Tucson Ford 2:03.51 2:00.01TOLY
27.65 57.74 (30.09)
1:28.78 (31.04) 2:00.01 (31.23)
3 Will Glass 20 CMSA 2:03.62 2:00.69TOLY
27.93 57.89 (29.96)
1:28.89 (31.00) 2:00.69 (31.80)
Still makes me happy to see Schmitt having a better year. She’s a worker, that one.
MP not well rested enough to back-half a complete 200 free. Dwyer has less muscle while being more distance oriented, so it makes sense that his 200 free would come with less rest. Phelps should swim the 2 at trials (at least prelims) because it isn’t exactly fair to Lochte, Dwyer, Rooney, Haas, Klueh, Conger, Youngquist, Dressel, and crew that one of them gets a free pass because of Bowman as head coach. Yes MP is the best 200 freestyler of all time. Yes he performed on relays every Oly games he’s been to. But just because he’s fast at the fly and IM does not mean he gets immunity from the selection process. He has to earn his spot.… Read more »
I agree. A lot of overreaction to this performance, but he does need to put down a time at trials now.
I am a big Phelps fan, but I think that Thorpe has as much claim to the 200 best ever title.