2018 TYR Pro Derby: Live Recap

2018 TYR PRO DERBY

The 2018 TYR Pro Derby is set to get underway today from the University of Louisville, with several big names slated to compete in the three round, shootout style 50 freestyle. Sam Kendricks will be on hand announcing, and Ryan Lochte will act as the emcee. There was also a drowning prevention clinic held on Thursday the 26th, and a banquet on the 27th. Along with the pro competition, a 12 & under category will also compete using the same format.

HOW IT WORKS

  1. First Round – eight swimmers race, one heat for men, one for women. The top six qualify to the next round.
  2. Second Round – six swimmers race, one heat for men, one for women. The top four qualify to the next round.
  3. Third Round – four swimmers race, one heat for men, one for women. The top four all win cash prizes. $4,000 for first, down to $1,000 for fourth.

PARTICIPANTS:

Women

#1 Kelsi Dahlia Team ?? 24.79
#2 Farida Osman Team ?? 24.62
#3 Caroline Baldwin Team ?? 25.02
#4 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace Team ?? 24.34
#5 Margo Geer Team ?? 24.78
#6 Hellen Moffitt Team ?? 25.85
#7 Madison Kennedy Team ?? 24.39
#8 Lia Neal Team??24.77

The women’s side is loaded with American talent, with Egypt’s Farida Osman and Bahamas’ Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace being the international representatives. Though last year’s winner Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) won’t be in attendance, Vanderpool-Wallace was the winner back in 2016 when the meet was raced SCY. Also in action will be hometown favorite Kelsi Dahlia (formerly Worrell), who was 4th last year and 3rd in 2016.

Men

#1 Dylan Carter Team ?? 22.39
#2 João De Lucca Team ?? 22.38
#3 Andriy Govorov Team ?? 21.46
#4 Kristian Gkolomeev Team ??21.69
#5 Shinri Shioura Team ?? 21.88
#6 Bruno Fratus Team ?? 21.27
#7 Michael Chadwick Team ?? 21.96
#8 Michael Andrew Team ?? 21.75

Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece will defend his title on the men’s side, as he’ll go up against a stacked field full of international talent. 2017 World Championship runner-up Bruno Fratus of Brazil will compete alongside countryman Joao De Lucca, while we’ll also see Andriy Govorov (Ukraine), Shinri Shioura (Japan) and Dylan Carter (Trinidad & Tobago). Michael Chadwick and Michael Andrew will be the lone American entrants.

Gkolomeev, Andrew and De Lucca have made it through to the finals each of the past two years, with Andrew and De Lucca trading 3rd and 4th place finishes while Gkolomeev went back and forth at the top with the now retired Josh Schneider.

LIVE STREAM

PRELIMS

Women

  1. Madison Kennedy, 24.88
  2. Margo Geer, 24.97
  3. Lia Neal, 25.04
  4. Farida Osman, 25.23
  5. Kelsi Dahlia, 25.34
  6. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, 25.41
  7. Caroline Baldwin, 25.43
  8. Hellen Moffitt, 26.02

Veteran Madison Kennedy won the women’s opening round, putting up a quick time of 24.88. Margo Geer also cracked the 25-second barrier in 24.97, with Lia Neal close behind in 25.04. Geer has been the fastest of anyone in the field this season with a 24.78 from the Atlanta Pro Swim.

Farida OsmanKelsi Dahlia and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace also made it through to the next round, with Vanderpool-Wallace the cut-off time at 25.41. Caroline Baldwin missed out on advancing (or perhaps forcing a swim-off?) by .02 (25.43). Baldwin and Hellen Moffitt, who was 8th, are both UNC grads.

Men

  1. Bruno Fratus, 21.74
  2. Michael Andrew, 22.04
  3. Andriy Govorov, 22.08
  4. Kristian Gkolomeev, 22.20
  5. Shinri Shioura, 22.46
  6. Michael Chadwick, 22.62
  7. Joao De Lucca, 22.90
  8. Dylan Carter (DQ)

Bruno Fratus showed that he’s on good form, blasting a time of 21.74 to lead the pack. He was the only one sub-22, and it’s the 54th time he’s done so in his career. The Brazilian was a blistering 21.35 a week ago at the Maria Lenk Trophy (putting him #2 in the world), so we’ll see how much he has left in the tank for the next two rounds.

Michael Andrew and Andriy Govorov were both 22.0 for 2nd and 3rd, led by Andrew at 22.04. Defending champ Kristian GkolomeevShinri Shioura and Michael Chadwick (22.62) made it through in 4th, 5th and 6th, while Joao De Lucca was on the outside looking in at 7th (22.90). Dylan Carter opted to take the DQ, swimming the entire race underwater. Behind Fratus, Andrew is the next fastest this season at 21.93.

SEMI-FINALS

Women

  1. Margo Geer, 25.01
  2. Madison Kennedy, 25.24
  3. Lia Neal, 25.32
  4. Farida Osman, 25.39
  5. Kelsi Dahlia, 25.52
  6. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, 25.58

Margo Geer showed great consistency from her first to her second swim, adding just four one-hundredths to take over the top spot heading to the final. Madison Kennedy was nearly four tenths slower than round one in 25.24, but still holds 2nd spot.

Lia Neal (25.32) and Farida Osman (25.39) made it through to the final in 3rd and 4th, while Kelsi Dahlia and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace found themselves on the outside looking in, both in 25.5. All six swimmers added time from round one.

Men

  1. Michael Andrew, 22.03
  2. Bruno Fratus, 22.15
  3. Shinri Shioura, 22.24
  4. Kristian Gkolomeev, 22.32
  5. Andriy Govorov, 22.42
  6. Michael Chadwick, 22.86

Like Geer, Michael Andrew moved up from 2nd to 1st in round two with some good consistency, dropping .01 from his initial swim to go 22.03, overtaking Fratus. Fratus added about four tenths up to 22.15, so we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s fatigued or was saving his energy for the final round.

Shinri Shioura joined Andrew as the only swimmers to get faster in round two, dropping over two tenths to get down to 22.24 and secure a spot in the final. Gkolomeev grabbed the last finals spot in 22.32, with Govorov (22.42) and Chadwick (22.86) both missing out.

FINALS

Women

  1. Margo Geer, 24.91
  2. Madison Kennedy, 25.02
  3. Lia Neal, 25.15
  4. Farida Osman, 25.84

Margo Geer is your 2018 TYR Pro Derby winner on the women’s side, taking home a cool $4,000. Geer had her fastest swim of the three in the final, showing incredible consistency through her swims with times of 24.97, 25.01 and 24.91.

Madison Kennedy was just over a tenth back for 2nd in 25.02, taking home $3,000, while Lia Neal was 3rd in 25.15 for $2,000. Farida Osman felt the pain during the last round, but still takes home $1,000 for her 4th place finish.

Men

  1. Michael Andrew, 21.84
  2. Bruno Fratus, 21.87
  3. Kristian Gkolomeev, 21.99
  4. Shinri Shioura, 22.62

Andrew, Fratus and Gkolomeev all stepped up big in the final, throwing down sub-22 swims in their third race in less than an hour. At the end Andrew got his hand on the wall first, touching in 21.84 to narrowly get by Fratus (21.87). Andrew improves his season best by almost a tenth and jumps to 7th in the world rankings, taking home $4,000 in the process. To come that close to his lifetime best (21.75) in these conditions is a very positive sign for this summer.

Fratus was the only swimmer to produce multiple sub-22 swims, but just got edged by Andrew at the end. Gkolomeev was 22.2 and 22.3 in the early rounds, but got all the way down to 21.99 in the final to ultimately place 3rd. That’s actually faster than he went to win the event a year ago (22.03). Japan’s Shioura takes home 4th place with his 22.62.

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E Gamble
5 years ago

Nice job Michael Andrew. Why in the world would Bruno Frutus swim a 21.74 in prelims? I saw that and immediately knew after semifinals that Michael would have enough in the tank to get the win. ?

Gary P
Reply to  E Gamble
5 years ago

Yeah, MA’s gaining both experience and confidence in these shoot-out style events. Swam this one to perfection.

Observer
Reply to  Gary P
5 years ago

Yeah, but Olympics and World Champs are not shoot-outs…
Good for Michael, but still a long way to go.

tammy touchpad error
Reply to  Observer
5 years ago

Last time it was a traditional Prelims-Finals format, he beat Adrian… I’d say he’s well on track for a top 2 finish for Americans this summer to get on the Worlds team. Don’t see Adrian beating him this summer in the 50. The big story will be Adrian’s 100 (which MA has no shot in), and potentially MA adding another event to his 2019 Worlds schedule.

I think at this point most people around here won’t be shocked if MA is ahead of Adrian this summer in 50 Free.

Observer
5 years ago

Go Margo! Way to race

Troy
5 years ago

This was a great event and I am glad these pro were able to earn a little money in the process

Yozhik
Reply to  Troy
5 years ago

$4000 per 1,5 min of racing is not that little. Even if to add some time for preparation and warming up it will be still very impressive rate of earnings.

Oldswim
5 years ago

Out of curiosity, what did Carter go for his underwater 50??

Dressel will break 20 long course
Reply to  James Sutherland
5 years ago

I’m curious if maybe he just messed up his start and then made the decision to just do it all underwater because he had no chance at that point? But at the same time that would be pretty quick decision.

Swimmer A

It almost looks like that’s what happened

marklewis
5 years ago

Michael Andrew is challenging (and sometimes beating) the best in the world in the 50 free.

If he can break 21.5 this season, he will be right at the very top.

Hswimmer
Reply to  marklewis
5 years ago

I think he will 🙂

Dressel will break 20 long course
5 years ago

Louisville Practice + Pancakes?

Admin
5 years ago

That’s the 54th time Bruno Fratus has been faster than 22 seconds. I believe only Cielo (58) has done it more.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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