2017 Arena PSS – Santa Clara: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2017 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES – SANTA CLARA

• Thursday, June 1st-Sunday, June 4th
• LCM (50m)
• Prelims 9 am/Finals 5 pm (PST)
• Santa Clara, California
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Friday Prelims Heat Sheet

After a few timed final distance events opened the meet last night, the 2017 Santa Clara Pro Series is set for its first prelim session this morning with the 100 fly, 200 breast, 100 free and 400 free on the schedule.

Katie Ledecky threw down a quick 15:35 last night in the 1500, the 5th fastest swim in history. She was initially entered to swim the 100 free today, but appears to have scratched that. That leaves just the 200 on her schedule for the meet.

A lot of the events here in Santa Clara will be previews for the World Trials at the end of the month, with many of the best Americans competing. In particular for today, the men’s and women’s 100 fly, and the men’s 200 breast and 100 free all loaded and will be interesting to see where everyone is at in their training.

Women’s 100 Fly Prelims

• Meet Record: 57.03, Dana Vollmer, 2012

1. Kelsi Worrell, CARD, 57.81
2. Hellen Moffitt, NCAC, 58.83
3. Katie McLaughlin, CAL, 59.89
4. Lauren Case, TXLA, 1:00.01
5. Farida Osman, CAL, 1:00.10
6. Maggie MacNeil, CANJ, 1:00.31
7. Hang Yu Sze, HKG, 1:00.33
8. Isabella Paez, VEN, 1:00.65*
9. Kathleen Baker, UN, 1:00.65*

2016 Olympian Kelsi Worrell cruised to win the 8th and final heat of the women’s 100 fly, clocking 57.81 for the top time of the morning. She was just three tenths off her season best of 57.50 that ranks her 6th in the world.

Hellen Moffitt and Katie McLaughlin won the other two circle-seeded heats, also cracking a minute in 58.83 and 59.89 respectively for 2nd and 3rd overall. The rest of the field was very tight, with swimmers 4 through 12 all within a second of each other.

NCAA champ Farida Osman also moved on in 5th at 1:00.10, and Kathleen Baker also slides into the final after tying for 8th with Venezuela’s Isabella Paez in 1:00.65 (nine swimmers qualify for the A-final).

Highlighting the B-final tonight will be Janet Hu (1:00.72), Kylie Masse (1:01.12) and Ella Eastin (1:01.38).

Men’s 100 Fly Prelims

• Meet Record: 51.61, Michael Phelps, 2008

1. Tom Shields, CAL, 53.14
2. Caeleb Dressel, BSS, 53.34
3. Gunnar Bentz, ABSC, 53.37
4. Santiago Grassi, ARG, 53.45
5. Jack Conger, UN, 53.48
6. Andrew Liang, UN, 53.51
7. Pace Clark, ABSC, 53.56
8. Justin Lynch, CAL, 53.60
9. Tripp Cooper, UN, 53.80

The prelims of the men’s 100 fly were very closely contested, with all nine A-finalists within 0.66 of each other. Tom Shields won the final heat for the top overall seed in 53.14, followed by Santiago Grassi who qualifies 4th overall in 53.45.

Caeleb Dressel out-touched Gunnar Bentz for the win in the first circle-seeded heat, and they qualify 2nd and 3rd overall. Bentz had the fastest back half of the field in 27.89. Jack Conger won heat 8 in 53.48 and heads into finals seeded 5th.

Among those missing the A, Michael Andrew was 10th overall in 53.91 and Matthew Josa was 14th in 54.14. Both led their heats at the 50m mark but struggled coming home.

Women’s 200 Breast Prelims

• Meet Record: 2:23.38, Rebecca Soni, 2011

1. Emily Escobedo, UN, 2:26.91
2. Marina Garcia, CAL, 2:27.13
3. Esther Gonzalez Medina, MEX, 2:29.18
4. Madisyn Cox, TXLA, 2:29.32
5. Melissa Rodriguez, MEX, 2:30.02
6. Riley Scott, MP, 2:30.53
7. Allie Szekely, UN, 2:31.32
8. Zoe Bartel, FAST, 2:32.19
9. Kim Williams, UN, 2:33.32

Emily Escobedo and Marina Garcia stormed their way to the top two times of the morning in the 6th and final heat, posting times of 2:26.91 and 2:27.13 respectively.

Mexico’s Esther Gonzalez Medina won the first circle-seeded heat in 2:29.18 for the 3rd seed, just ahead of Madisyn Cox who qualified 4th overall.

Stanford freshman Allie Szekely dominated the 3rd heat in 2:31.32, qualifying 7th overall out of a non-circle-seeded heat. Zoe Bartel won the second-to-last heat easily, but barely made the final in 8th at 2:32.19.

Men’s 200 Breast Prelims

• Meet Record: 2:10.37, Brenton Rickard, 2009

1. Kevin Cordes, UN, 2:12.86
2. Miguel De Lara Ojeda, MEX, 2:13.22
3. Nicolas Fink, ABSC, 2:13.58
4. Josh Prenot, CAL, 2:14.32
5. Chase Kalisz, NBAC, 2:14.82
6. Will Licon, TXLA, 2:15.19
7. Carlos Claverie, CARD, 2:15.78
8. Ryan Telford, AJAX, 2:18.53
9. Frederik Kamminga, TAB, 2:18.79

All of the big names cruised through to the final in the men’s 200 breast, led by Kevin Cordes who absolutely dominated the 5th of 6 heats in a time of 2:12.86.

In heat 4 Miguel De Lara Ojeda opened up a lead over Chase Kalisz and Will Licon early and managed to hold them off, touching in 2:13.22 for the 2nd seed. That swim improves his best of 2:13.79 from the 2015 Pan Am Games. Kalisz and Licon qualified 5th and 6th overall.

The last heat was a three man race, with Nicolas Fink using a strong final 50 (33.74) to take out top seed coming in Josh Prenot, 2:13.58 to 2:14.32. Daniel Roy was with them the whole race, but ended up being disqualified.

Women’s 100 Free Prelims

• Meet Record: 53.50, Cate Campbell, 2008

1. Simone Manuel, UN-ST, 54.90
2. Lia Neal, UN-ST, 55.04
3. Abbey Weitzeil, CAL, 55.05
4. Siobhan Haughey, HKG, 55.17
5. Kelsi Worrell, CARD, 55.50
6. Rebecca Millard, UN, 55.51
7. Sarah Fournier, CNQ, 55.76*
8. Amy Bilquist, CAL, 55.76*
9. Katie McLaughlin, CAL, 55.81

Simone Manuel, Lia Neal and Abbey Weitzeil each won their heat to take the top three times into tonight’s final, led by Manuel in 54.90. Neal and Weitzeil were just 0.01 apart at 55.04 and 55.05.

Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey qualified 4th overall in 55.17, and both Kelsi Worrell and Katie McLaughlin made their second A-final of the day qualifying 5th and 9th respectively.

Isabel Ivey (55.87), Farida Osman (56.41) and Katrina Konopka (56.95) highlight tonight’s B-final, and Cierra Runge (57.19) will swim in the C. It’s also worth noting Kathleen Baker was a no-show.

Men’s 100 Free Prelims

• Meet Record: 48.08, Nathan Adrian, 2013

1. Caeleb Dressel, BSS, 49.38
2. Marcelo Chierighini, UN, 49.49
3. Conor Dwyer, TROJ, 49.94
4. Federico Grabich, ARG, 50.16
5. Michael Jensen, CAL, 50.21
6. Yuri Kisil, UBCD, 50.23
7. Nathan Adrian, CAL, 50.31
8. Maxime Rooney, PLS, 50.43*
9. Vladimir Morozov, TROJ, 50.43*
10. Ali Khalafalla, UN, 50.43*

All three swimmers under 50 seconds this morning came from heat 11, led by Dressel in a very solid 49.38. Marcelo Chierighini and Conor Dwyer also cracked the mark for the 2nd and 3rd seeds heading to the final. Michael Jensen of Cal also qualified out of that heat. This was a strong swim from Dwyer, who hasn’t competed much since the 2016 Olympics.

Argentina’s Federico Grabich won the final heat in 50.16, putting him 4th overall while Nathan Adrian‘s 50.31 puts him 7th. The first circle-seeded heat saw Yuri Kisil out-touch Maxime Rooney and Vladimir Morozov, putting him 6th overall. Rooney, Morozov and Ali Khalafalla all tied for 8th at 50.43, meaning there will likely be a swim-off where the top-2 move to the A-final.

Among those in the B-final tonight will be Cullen Jones (50.46) and Jack Conger (50.75), while Javier Acevedo (50.92) and Cameron Craig (51.07) highlight the C-final.

Also in action were veterans Matt Grevers (51.57) and Anthony Ervin (52.16), 36th and 49th overall. Tom Shields was a declared false-start.

Women’s 400 Free Prelims

• Meet Record: 4:04.57, Bronte Barratt, 2008

1. Katie Drabot, UN-ST, 4:11.39
2. Mackenzie Padington, ISC, 4:12.45
3. Cierra Runge, WA, 4:14.11
4. Meryn McCann, ABSC, 4:14.28
5. Ella Eastin, UN-ST, 4:14.58
6. Leah Stevens, UN-ST, 4:14.81
7. Miranda Heckman, PLS, 4:15.67
8. Kristel Kobrich, CHI, 4:15.90
9. Megan Byrnes, UN-ST, 4:16.91

The 400 heats were done with the two circle-seeded heats at the beginning, and the slowest heat at the end.

In the first heat Katie Drabot put up the top time in 4:11.39, followed by Cierra Runge (4:14.11) and Meryn McCann (4:14.28). Drabot leads the field heading to finals, while Runge and McCann sit 3rd and 4th behind Mackenzie Padington who won heat 2 in 4:12.45.

Leah Stevens and Miranda Heckman also had solid swims out of the 2nd heat to qualify 6th and 7th overall. Chile’s Kristel Kobrich qualified 8th overall after finishing 2nd in the 1500 last night.

Ella Eastin, entered with a yards time, posted the 5th fastest time in the morning out of heat 4.

Men’s 400 Free Prelims

• Meet Record: 3:43.82, Peter Vanderkaay, 2008

1. Clark Smith, TXLA, 3:52.70
2. Marcelo Acosta, CARD, 3:53.26
3. True Sweetser, UN-ST, 3:53.36
4. Liam Egan, UN-ST, 3:54.58
5. Jay Litherland, DYNA, 3:54.69
6. Ricardo Vargas Jacobo, MEX, 3:54.72
7. Matt Hutchins, WA, 3:55.17
8. Grant Shoults, UN-ST, 3:55.23
9. Jeremy Bagshaw, ISC, 3:55.74

Clark Smith put up a quick 3:52.70 in the first heat of the men’s 400 to take the top seed into tonight, just ahead of Marcelo Acosta and True Sweetser.

Liam Egan won heat 2 in 3:54.58 for the 4th seed, followed by Ricardo Vargas Jacobo of Mexico, Matt Hutchins and Grant Shoults who all qualified for the final in 6th, 7th and 8th.