2018 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – MESA
- Thursday, April 12 – Sunday, April 15
- Skyline Aquatic Center, Mesa, AZ
- Long Course Meters
- Meet site
- Psych Sheet
- Live Stream
- Friday Finals Heat Sheet
- Live Results
Tonight’s session at the 2018 Mesa Pro Swim will feature finals of the 800 free, 100 back, 200 fly, 100 breast, 100 free, and 200 IM. Several Olympic medalists headline tonight’s events, including Ryan Murphy (100 back), Matt Grevers (100 back), Nathan Adrian (100 free), Chase Kalisz (200 fly/200 IM) Allison Schmitt (100 free), Melanie Margalis (200 IM), and Leah Smith (800 free/200 fly/200 IM), among others. One of the toughest fields tonight will be the men’s 100 breast, where Michael Andrew leads a group that includes Olympic medalists Josh Prenot, Cody Miller, and Kevin Cordes.
WOMEN’S 800 FREE:
- GOLD: Leah Smith, 8:31.79
- SILVER: Ashley Neidigh, 8:41.23
- BRONZE: Cierra Runge, 8:48.65
Arizona postgrad Leah Smith, in her first of 3 swims tonight, had a dominant performance, stretching out her lead throughout the race to win by almost 10 seconds. Smith will be competing in the 200 fly and 200 IM later on in the session. Indiana postgrad Ashley Neidigh followed in 2nd as she in Cierra Runge were the only other swimmers to break 8:50 tonight. Olivia Anderson (8:50.46) made a move as she started to close the gap on Runge around the 600 mark, but Runge took off again in the final 200.
MEN’S 800 FREE:
- GOLD: Zane Grothe, 7:55.53
- SILVER: Marwan El Kamash, 7:55.75
- BRONZE: Jordan Wilimovsky, 7:58.10
As Zane Grothe held his lead down the stretch, he and teammate Marwan El Kamash had another close finish. El Kamash brought it home in 56.50 to Grothe’s 57.00, but ran out of room as Grothe won it by 2 tenths. That comes after last night’s extremely close 200 free in which El Kamash out-touched Grothe by .02. They’ll battle again tomorrow in the 400 free.
WOMEN’S 100 BACK:
- GOLD: Olivia Smoliga, 1:00.08
- SILVER: Ali Deloof, 1:01.27
- BRONZE: Katharine Berkoff, 1:01.69
Olivia Smoliga notched another backstroke win, flipping in 29.42 en route to a 1:00.08. She beat the field by over a second, as National Teamer Ali Deloof topped junior standout Katharine Berkoff. Deloof came from behind, outsplitting Berkoff by half a second on the back half. In the B final, USC postgrad Anika Apostalon came within tenths of her best asa she won the heat in 1:02.56. Her best is a 1:02.22 from last month’s Atlanta Pro Swim.
MEN’S 100 BACK:
- GOLD: Ryan Murphy, 53.98
- SILVER: Matt Grevers, 54.51
- BRONZE: Mark Nikolaev, 54.77
Matt Grevers flipped in 26.52 to take a slight edge over Ryan Murphy, but Murphy pulled ahead on the back half to win it by half a second. Grand Canyon’s Mark Nikolaev, who made program history as their first NCAA scorer this season, edged out Jacob Pebley (54.88) for the bronze. Per the USA Swimming database, Nikolaev was just over a half second shy of his lifetime best.
From the B final, Louisville’s Nicolas Albiero was about a second shy of his best to dominate his heat. Albiero touched in 56.07, while his best stands at a 55.04 from 2017 World Juniors.
WOMEN’S 200 FLY:
- GOLD: Hali Flickinger, 2:09.77
- SILVER: Kelsi Dahlia, 2:11.49
- BRONZE: Ruby Martin, 2:12.74
Hali Flickinger was slightly off her prelims time, but still won by nearly 2 seconds as the onyl women to break 2:10 tonight. Kelsi Dahlia mad a big drop from prelims to take 2nd. The 2 junior swimmers in the field, Winter Juniors champions Eastern Iowa Swim Federation’s Ruby Martin and Enfinity Aquatics’ Olivia Carter, battled closely for bronze. Martin was a second faster up front, but Carter started to close in on the 3rd 50. Carter ran out of room at the finish, touching 4th in 2:12.87.
MEN’S 200 FLY:
- GOLD: Chase Kalisz, 1:56.69
- SILVER: Justin Wright, 1:57.77
- BRONZE: Pace Clark, 1:59.67
Georgia postgrad Chase Kalisz picked up his 2nd win of the meet, leading the 200 fly all the way through. Arizona’s Justin Wright, in his first meet as a postgrad, started to catch up to Kalisz on the back half, but wound up 2nd. Another National Teamer and Georgia postgrad, Pace Clark, rounded out the podium. Clark was a member of the 2017 U.S. World Championships team in this race, while Wright competed in the event at WUGs. South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth was just off the podium in 1:59.86. That’s his fastest ever in-season swim and his first time sub-2:00 at a non-championship meet.
WOMEN’S 100 BREAST:
- GOLD: Molly Hannis, 1:06.65
- SILVER: Breeja Larson, 1:08.28
- BRONZE: Micah Sumrall, 1:08.43
Tennessee postgrad Molly Hannis was just about a half second shy of her best time, dominating the race in 1:06.65. She set her best at the Atlanta Pro Swim in 1:06.09. Hannis has been putting up some fast 50 breast swims this year, so tomorrow’s swim could be something special. Breeja Larson and Micah Sumrall, both U.S. Olympic breaststrokers in 2012, each picked up another breaststroke medal.
MEN’S 100 BREAST:
- GOLD: Michael Andrew, 1:00.16
- SILVER: Youssef El Kamash, 1:01.05
- BRONZE: Kevin Cordes, 1:01.16
Michael Andrew was just 3 tenths shy of his lifetime best as he topped a stacked field that included several Olympians. Andrew was 9 hundredths short of his season best from the Atlanta Pro Swim last month. Grand Canyon landed another swimmer on the podium as Youssef El Kamash out-touched Kevin Cordes for 2nd. Cal’s Josh Prenot followed closely in 1:01.28 ahead of Indiana’s Ian Finnerty (1:01.39) and Cody Miller (1:01.47). Last month, Finnerty became the first man to ever break 50 in the 100 yard breast. This meet was a quick turnaround from NCAAs, but he was just over a second shy of his best time.
WOMEN’S 100 FREE:
- GOLD: Mallory Comerford, 54.30
- SILVER: Margo Geer, 54.42
- BRONZE: Lia Neal, 54.75
Indiana postgrad Margo Geer held the lead as she approached the final 10 meters, but Louisville’s Mallory Comerford put her head down and dug in to out-touch Geer at the finish. Comerford, who’s coming off an NCAAs in which she became the 2nd woman ever to break 1:40 in the 200 free, was briefly the American Record holder in this event last summer before that record was broken again by Simone Manuel. Fellow World Championships team member Lia Neal picked up 3rd ahead of USC’s Louise Hansson, who also had a strong showing at NCAAs last month.
MEN’S 100 FREE:
- GOLD: Nathan Adrian, 48.84
- SILVER: Michael Chadwick, 49.17
- BRONZE: Bruno Blaskovic, 50.10
Cal’s Nathan Adrian is still perfect in the Pro Swim 100 free. Since the series was rebranded from the Grand Prix to the Pro Swim Series in 2015, Adrian has never lost a 100 free final at one of these meets. Michael Chadwick matched Adrian’s speed on the back half, but Adrian had a 3-tenths advantage up front and that was ultimately the difference maker. Adrian was about 3 tenths shy of his season best from the Atlanta Pro Swim.
WOMEN’S 200 IM:
- GOLD: Melanie Margalis, 2:13.90
- SILVER: Leah Smith, 2:16.68
- BRONZE: Vien Nguyen, 2:16.99
Melanie Margalis was head an shoulders above the field as she won the race by almost 3 seconds, but Leah Smith had an impressive swim in her own right to take the silver. In her 3rd swim of this session and 5th race of the day, Smith swam another best time. Coming into today, Smith’s best was a 2:21.52 from 2014. She broke 2:20 for the first time in prelims and clipped her best time by a couple of tenths tonight. That was Smith’s 3rd best time of the day. She put up bests in both the 200 fly and 200 IM this morning, and now the 200 IM tonight.
MEN’S 200 IM:
- GOLD: Chase Kalisz, 1:57.68
- SILVER: Josh Prenot, 2:00.57
- BRONZE: Daniel Sos, 2:04.34
Chase Kalisz picked up another gold on the back end of his double, dominating with the only sub-2:00 swim of the night. He was over a second faster than Prenot at the 100 and kept extending his lead through the back half. That was likely Kalisz last swim of the meet, unless he opts to swim the mystery IM tomorro.
Impressed by Andrews’ 100 breast. And I’ve read that it was very windy. So even more impressive.
Finnerty’s time doesn’t look crazy good but be careful. In the last SCY season he has had huge time drops in the championship season. Looks like he’s not a fast in-season swimmer.
Also impressed by Kalisz’ 200 IM. I think he can swim under 1.55 next summer.
And another 48 for Adrian. His consistence at these Grand Prix meets is amazing.
Hockey overtime
I am a fan of USRPT and MA but for in-season meets like this, he is essentially always tapered or in a semi-tapered state. I don’t see huge time drops for him unless he gets more strength whereas other swimmers peak bigger for Nats/trials. I don’t see him getting the bigger gains and time drops that others get when they nail a full taper.
Is he plateauing career-wise?
Can we chill on asking if he’s peaked or plateauing? He had a huge PB in the 50 last summer and finished the year as the 2nd fastest American. I’m sure he would have looked to be a little faster in the 100 breaststroke last year, but this time was great today, especially given the conditions. If he doesn’t perform well at nationals that’s a different conversation, but he’s still 18 and I don’t know of a single male at this level who peaked at 18.
It’s a nightmare for me to understand something about Michael Andrew’s career, about his progression and overall about his best events for the future as his strengths can change every year.… Read more »
But to be fair he can have big time drops in the championship season.
Last year in Mesa at the same meet he swam:
27.86 in the 50 breast
54.37 in the 100 fly
22.62 in the 50 free
1.02.88 in the 100 breast
2.04.52 in the 200 IM
And in August at world juniors he swam:
27.33 in the 50 breast
21.75 in the 50 free
1.00.33 in the 100 breast
2.00.92 in the 200 IM
The open question is if Allison Schmitt was tapered for this meet. Her races were well balanced with strong second half both in 200 and 100. At her “Deck Pass Live” interview after day 1 she looked very relaxed like a person in great mood. She didn’t give an impression of the person who is in hard training currently. I wouldn’t exclude the supposition that this meet was of great importance to her and required special preparation. I wish I’d misread her and she will progress toward National Championships.
No she wasn’t. She only announced she was coming back in February. She always looks relaxed like a person in a great mood.
Chase just basically went Mitch Larkins tapered 2 IM time in Mesa unrested during heavy training ( 1:57.67 Mitch 1:57.68 Chase).
But Murphy did not reach Larkin the 100.. The big question is who won the 16th place 400 im Mesa or CWG?
Mitch Larkin was 53.18 in the 100 M backstroke at CW Games and Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley were 53.24 and 53.26 untapered in Atlanta in March.
April outdoor pools = Larkin for the win . You do take these things seriously ! Has his neck gotten bigger , I was beginning to think he would be a professional truck puller at rodeos .
Commonwealths was a weak 2IM field though compared to other races, particularly with Litchfield out.
Out of interest, is there a reason PSS is always LCM? Most of these guys swam in college and I think it would be interesting. and judging by SwimSwam, popular with American swimming fans, to see how they track post NCAA with a couple of SCY pro meets.
World Cups are all SCM and it doesn’t seem to drastically impact those who swim tgat.
“I believe that swimming is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical.” – Michael Andrew.
No wonder his technique is weird.
He’s looking great right now, despite conditions and having been “swallowed by fortnite” in the last month. Awesome to see him carry the momentum towards Nationals.
Ah, yes, the classic: Fortnite
But doesn’t he shave for every meet?
Weird, but effective. Technique is always changing. High elbow. No straight arm. Nah, hybrid. Amanda Beard cobra, Adam Peaty turnover. Phelps breathing every stroke even in a 100 to the last stroke in an Olympic final. Dressel no-breathing the last 25 of a 100 fly. I wouldn’t dismiss his “weird” technique.
It’s not that its just weird; he swims with techniques that in today’s swimming world are proven to be empirically inferior.
I’m not a big fan of his freestyle, but his other strokes are pretty convincing. Yes, he doesn’t come up as high in the breast but 1) his torso is super long compared to other breaststrokers so geometrically his stroke has to be different to be effective and 2) with a kick like his, who needs to come up high?
Think about where his center of mass must be vs. the classic leggy breaststroker. If he comes up the same way Kevin Cordes does, it’s not going to have the same effect. Also, with a long torso, coming up a foot out of the water doesn’t have as much of an effect on hip drive as it would if one… Read more »
Think of this he did a 52 something fly and a 1:00 breaststroke, few can do that since Flyers are poorer at breaststroke and breaststokers are poorer at fly.
Huh?
Haha I laughed to myself when Andrew said that. Sounds like he has everything figured out.
We could have an alt swim measure What was the year the winning time would have been a WR .
W 800 – 40 years !!!!! . Pretty sure Tracey Wickham hit 8.30 March 1978.
February 1978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_record_progression_800_metres_freestyle
It would be fair to mention that it’s not only Americans being that slow in 800. 8:30 will have ranking #12 by far this season.
Last season #100 was 8:41.4 Let’s be patient. But I agree with you that I wouldn’t pay money to watch this meet. The only point of interest in women competition was if Allison Schmitt’s return is for real and if skipping of two PSS stops by Leah Smith was for a reason.
I need some yellow platform shoes to celebrate .
Do you now the link to the document that has results of Chinese National Championships and can be read by the person who doesn’t speak Chinese language. There is much more intrigue in this competition than in Mesa meet.
I don’t think Rowdy said one word about the race during the women’s 200 fly, he just went on a rant about the status of the women’s 200 fly on the world stage. Cmon man promote these swimmers, there were several olympians in that heat