2018 Indianapolis Pro Swim Series: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2018 INDIANAPOLIS PRO SWIM SERIES

• May 16th-20th, 2018
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• 50m
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Omega Results
• Thursday Finals Heat Sheet
• Live Stream

After timed final heats of the 1500 got things kicked off in Indianapolis at the TYR Pro Swim Series on Wednesday night, the first full finals session goes off tonight from the IUPUI Natatorium with a field full of Olympic and World champions.

Katie Ledecky, fresh off her world record performance last night, will swim a pair of events this evening, coming in as the top seed in the 400 free and the 6th seed in the 100 free. Olympic champion Simone Manuel and rising Canadian star Taylor Ruck lead that 100 field.

Nathan Adrian is undefeated in the 100 free at these Pro Swim meets (and on U.S. soil since 2010), but will have his work cut out for him to keep that streak going tonight as he faces a loaded field that includes top seed Blake Pieroni, NC State speedsters Justin Ress and Ryan Held, and 2017 World Championship gold medalist (400 free relay prelim) Zach Apple.

Other high profile names competing tonight include Lilly King, Kelsi Dahlia, Mallory Comerford and Kevin Cordes.

In terms of scratches, Held was the only one amongst A-finalists, opting out of the 100 fly.

In addition to tonight’s finals, there will also be a mixed medley relay consisting of the SwimSquad teams. Lineups for that can be found here.

Women’s 100 Fly Final

1. Kelsi Dahlia, CARD, 57.38
2. Mallory Comerford, UOFL, 58.51
3. Hellen Moffitt, TE, 58.94

Just as we saw in the prelims Kelsi Dahlia of Cardinal Aquatics got out fast in the women’s 100 fly, turning in 26.85 before extending her lead coming home to win easily in 57.38. That puts her 6th in the world for the 2018 calendar year.

Her Louisville teammate Mallory Comerford was just 6th at the halfway mark, but charged back in 30.78 to grab 2nd in 58.51. Hellen Moffitt was the other swimmer sub-59 in 58.94 for 3rd, while HPC Ontario’s Rebecca Smith took 4th in 59.01.

Katie Drabot was 5th in 59.30, while Amanda Kendall and Veronica Burchill tied for 6th in 59.33. Ella Eastin got under a minute from the B-final in 59.67.

Men’s 100 Fly Final

1. Gunnar Bentz, DYNA, 53.03
2. Tom Shields, CAL, 53.08
3. Vini Lanza, IST, 53.12

The men’s 100 fly final proved to be incredibly close, with the top-3 finishers all within a tenth of each other. Indiana’s Vini Lanza got out to the early lead turning in 24.56, but Gunnar Bentz and Tom Shields were hot on his tail as the three raced for home. At the wall it was Bentz, who came back in 27.94, out-touching the other two for the win in 53.03, with Shields 2nd in 53.08 and Lanza 3rd in 53.12.

Camden Murphy of the Athens Bulldogs had the fastest back half of anyone in 27.73, claiming 4th in 53.30, while Drew Kibler (53.62) and Nicolas Albiero (53.92) also cracked 54 seconds for 5th and 6th. Carson Foster won the B-final for 9th overall in 55.18.

Women’s 400 Free Final

1. Katie Ledecky, STAN, 3:57.94
2. Leah Smith, FORD, 4:06.67
3. Katie Drabot, UN, 4:08.29

Katie Ledecky was dominant in the women’s 400 final as expected, blitzing her way to a time of 3:57.94, which is the 2nd fastest in history. She breaks her own U.S. Open Record of 3:58.44, and now owns the ten fastest swims in history, knocking Federica Pellegrini‘s 3:59.15 from 2009 into 11th. Her world record stands at 3:56.46 from the 2016 Olympics.

Leah Smith had a rough mile last night, but came back with two solid 400s today, earning the runner-up position in a time of 4:06.67. Katie Drabot negative split the race to overtake Hali Flickinger late and claim 3rd in 4:08.29, with Flickinger 4th in 4:08.61. This was a quick turnarund for Drabot who swam the 100 fly at the beginning of the session. Erica Sullivan was 5th in 4:12.01, while Ally McHugh won the B-final in 4:11.41.

Men’s 400 Free Final

1. Zane Grothe, MVN, 3:48.79
2. Marwan El Kamash, UN, 3:48.92
3. Felix Auboeck, CW, 3:50.53

Austrian Felix Auboeck of Club Wolverine led the men’s 400 final early on, but Zane Grothe and Marwan El Kamash pulled ahead over the final 100 metres and were locked in a sprint heading home. El Kamash ended up out-splitting everyone with a 27.20 final length, but Grothe managed to hang on and take the win in 3:48.79, closing in 27.55. El Kamash was just over a tenth back in 3:48.92, while Auboeck settled for 3rd in 3:50.53.

Auboeck’s Club Wolverine teammate Ricardo Vargas had a solid showing to grab 4th in 3:53.24, followed by Logan Houck (3:54.68) of the Sandpipers of Nevada and Marcelo Acosta (3:56.00). Jay Litherland had a dominant win in the B-final in 3:54.65.

Women’s 200 Breast Final

1. Melanie Margalis, SPA, 2:24.62
2. Emily Escobedo, COND, 2:24.71
3. Lilly King, IST, 2:24.95

Just like the men’s 100 fly it was a three-way battle in the women’s 200 breast, as Lilly King turned first at the 50, Emily Escobedo turned first at the 100 and 150, but Melanie Margalis was right there waiting to pounce. Margalis charged home in 37.09, narrowly overtaking Escobedo at the end to win in 2:24.62 to Escobedo’s 2:24.71. King had trailed off on the third 50, but stormed home faster than either of them in 36.92 to nearly make up the gap, but ran out of room and touched 3rd in 2:24.95.

Bethany Galat took 4th in 2:28.16, with Annie Lazor (2:28.70) 5th and Allie Szekely (2:30.46) 6th. Mariia Astashkina of Louisville won the B-final in 2:30.14.

Men’s 200 Breast Final

1. Daniel Roy, UN, 2:09.73
2. Chase Kalisz, ABSC, 2:09.90
3. Nic Fink, ABSC, 2:11.33

Daniel Roy and Chase Kalisz had an epic duel in the men’s 200 breast final, with Kalisz maintaining a slight edge heading into the last 50. While Kalisz is known for strong closing speed, it was Roy who charged back in 33.54 to overtake the double medley world champion and book the win in 2:09.73. Roy’s swim lowers his own 17-18 National Age Group Record, which previously stood at 2:10.77.

Kalisz was a little less than two tenths back in 2:09.90, while his Athens teammate Nic Fink was 3rd in 2:11.33. Kevin Cordes (2:13.19) and Cody Miller (2:13.20) were just a hundredth apart for 4th and 5th, while Marat Amaltdinov (2:14.42) got by Reece Whitley (2:14.85) for 6th.

Women’s 100 Free Final

1. Taylor Ruck, HPCO, 53.42
2. Simone Manuel, STAN, 53.84
3. Margo Geer, MVN, 54.40

Taylor Ruck went head-to-head with reigning world champion Simone Manuel and didn’t flinch, taking the lead early and not giving an inch. Ruck flipped 1st in 25.89, and only gave up .01 to Manuel coming back as she won by over four tenths in 53.42. Manuel closed in 27.52 to overtake Margo Geer and take 2nd in 53.84, with Geer 3rd in 54.40.

Mallory Comerford (54.51), Katie Ledecky (54.56) and Kayla Sanchez (54.62) all joined Ruck and Manuel by coming back sub-28 to finish 4th, 5th and 6th. Allison Schmitt won the B-final in 55.13.

Men’s 100 Free Final

1. Nathan Adrian, CAL, 48.69
2. Blake Pieroni, IST, 49.13
3. Justin Ress, WOLF, 49.18

Going up against a loaded field many thought Nathan Adrian‘s 100 freestyle unbeaten streak in the Pro Swim Series was in jeopardy tonight, but he proved he’s still the man with a very impressive swim of 48.69. The Cal Aquatics swimmer was out fast in 23.35, flipping first by nearly three tenths, and then only extended his advantage coming home in 25.34.

Indiana’s Blake Pieroni was a tick off his morning swim for 2nd in 49.13, and Justin Ress managed to close better than his teammate Ryan Held to take 3rd in 49.18 to Held’s 4th place 49.54. The two had identical opening 50s of 23.74. Zach Apple was also sub-50 in 49.91 for 5th.

Mixed Medley Relay

1. Team Krayzelburg, 1:43.35
2. Team Coughlin, 1:45.47
3. Team Lezak, 1:45.49

Team Krayzelburg had strong splits all around to win the mixed 200 medley relay going away, with Matt Grevers (25.34), Nic Fink (27.47), Kelsi Dahlia (25.72) and Olivia Smoliga (24.82) combining for a time of 1:43.35.

Team Coughlin edged Team Lezak by .02 for 2nd, with Ryan Held of Team Coughlin coming off a quick turnaround after the 100 free and faced with the task of running down Simone Manuel. Held split 23.58, narrowly getting by Manuel who was 24.89 for Team Lezak. Justin Ress also had basically no recovery time after the 100 free, still leading off the Bonus squad with a respectable 25.46 50 back. Team Sandeno was DQed.