2018 TYR Pro Swim Series – Mesa: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

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
• Saturday Finals Heat Sheet
• Austin Pro Swim Shootout Recaps
• Live Results

It’s the last night of finals at the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series stop in Mesa and swimmers are getting ready for the 400 free, 50 stroke shootouts, and 200 mystery IM. In the shootouts, the top 8 swimmers in each of the respective strokes will compete in the quarterfinal. The 4 fastest swimmers then move on to the semifinal, with the fastest 2 from the semifinal moving on to the final. Those swimmers then go head-to-head to determine the winner. In the mystery IMs, swimmers won’t know which stroke order they’re swimming in until they draw a lane number. The stroke order varies from lane to lane.

MEN’S 400 FREE:

1. GOLD: Marwan El Kamash , 3: 49.52
2. SILVER: Zane Grothe, 3:53.86
3. BRONZE: Jordan Wilimovsky, 3:54.37

It was all Marwan El Kamash tonight as he was the only swimmer to break 3:50 tonight. El Kamash is the Egyptian Record holder with his 3:46.3 from last summer’s Worlds. His teammate, Indiana postgrad Zane Grothe, finished 2nd as he held off Jordan Wilimovsky down the stretch. Wilimovsky is an open water World Champion and Grothe is the American Record holder in the short course 500 free.

WOMEN’S 50 FLY:

WINNER: KELSI DAHLIA, 25.74

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Kelsi Dahlia (26.12), Louise Hansson (26.26), and Farida Osman (26.37), were narrowly separated to make up the top 3. Hellen Moffitt, the 8th fastest American ever, also advanced to the semifinal with a 26.39 as she out-touched Aliena Schmidtke (26.52). Louisville’s Mallory Comerford (26.65) wound up 6th, but will compete later tonight in the 50 free where she’s the 2nd seed.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Kelsi Dahlia was once again the fastest to the wall as she touched in 26.18, nearly matching her round 1 time. It was a close call into the finish, but NCAA 100 fly champ Farida Osman (26.30) dug in as she swam through the closing meters to out-touch Louise Hansson (26.37) and Hellen Moffitt (26.45).
• Round 3 (Final): Dahlia had a huge advantage with her killer underwaters and never let up, winning with the 6th fastest time in the world this year as she touched in 25.74. That was less than 2 tenths shy of her American Record and a new Pro Swim Series Record, breaking the 25.80 done by Dana Vollmer in 2012. Osman touched in 26.95 for 2nd.

MEN’S 50 FLY:

WINNER: MICHAEL ANDREW, 23.38

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Michael Andrew was the top man through in 23.46. that was less than a tenth shy of his prelims time and a couple of tenths off his lifetime best 23.22. Tim Phillips also broke 24 in the first round, touching 2nd in 23.77. Marcus Schlesinger (24.08) and Meiron Cheruti (24.21) advanced to the semifinal. Giles Smith, an All-American at Arizona turned postgrad for Phoenix Swim Club, was just .05 shy of advancing.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Andrew was slightly faster this time throguh with a 23.40 to win it, while Phillips tied his round 1 time in 23.77. Schlesinger touched 3rd in 24.28 ahead of Cheruti (24.77), both slightly slower than their quarterfinal times.
• Round 3 (Final): Andrew had his fastest swim of the night as he dominated in 23.38. Phillips was a few tenths shy of his best of the day in 24.11.

WOMEN’S 50 BACK:

WINNER: OLIVIA SMOLIGA, 27.43

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Olivia Smoliga was the fastest through the quarterfinal by over 3 tenths in 28.08, just .07 shy of her prelims swim. Smoliga, the 9th fastest American in history, will look to move up in the American rankings tonight. Her best is a 27.89 from the Austin Pro Swim this year, where she narrowly missed winning the shootouts. Also advancing were Ali Deloof (28.43), Katharine Berkoff (28.68), and Amy Bilquist (29.00).
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Smoliga tied her lifetime best to dominate the semifinal, touching 27.89. She remains the 9th fastest American performer ever. Fellow National Teamer Ali Deloof will advance to the semifinal with her, as she touched in 28.45 ahead of Berkoff (28.75) and Bilquist (28.85)
• Round 3 (Final): Olivia Smoliga came through with a new American Record in 27.43, clearing the former mark of 27.48 done by Kathleen Baker last summer. That makes her the fastest American Record ever after she entered the meet at #9 all-time among Americans.

All-Time Top American Performers: Women’s 50 Back

MEN’S 50 BACK:

WINNER: MATT GREVERS, 25.42

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Mark Nikolaev, Grand Canyon’s first NCAA scorer, was once again the fastest through as he touched in 25.55 in the quarterfinal ahead of Olympic gold medalist Matt Grevers (25.95). Youssef Said (25.98) and Kyle Robrock (26.55) will join them in the semifinal.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Matt Grevers had the upper hand this time, touching in 25.53 ahead of Nikolaev (25.65) as they advanced to the final.
• Round 3 (Final): Grevers knocked a tenth off his semis time to win the final in 25.42, as Nikolaev followed in 26.19. Grevers is now undefeated in the 50 back shootout titles since they were first implemented at the Austin Pro Swim in January.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE:

1. GOLD: Leah Smith, 4:07.25
2. SILVER: Hali Flickinger, 4:09.68
3. BRONZE: Cierra Runge, 4:14.37

Leah Smith completed the 200-400-800 sweep at this meet as she dominated in 4:07.25. This was her first meet of the 2018 season, but she was still a few hundredths faster tonight than she was in the final at this meet last season. Runner-up Hali Flickinger was the only other swimmer to break 4:10, finishing just a few tenths sshy of her season best from Atlanta. Cierra Runge nabbed another bronze as she outpaced Winter Nats 500 champ Ashley Neidigh (4:15.05). and Vietnamese Record holder Vien Nguyen (4:16.71) was in position to challenge Neidigh for 4th, but Neidigh and Sophie Cattermole (4:16.31) pulled ahead in the closing meters.

WOMEN’S 50 BREAST:

WINNER: MOLLY HANNIS, 29.97

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Molly Hannis rolled through in a 30.44, while Breeja Larson was the only other swimmer to break 31 in 30.78. Junior National Teamer Zoe Bartel (31.65) and Peyton Kondis (31.79) also advanced to the semifinal.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Larson was the fastest through this time, clipping Hannis 30.47 to 30.50 as they advanced to the final. Bartel was 3rd in 31.57 ahead of Kondis (31.82).
• Round 3 (Final): Hannis used her quick turnover to pull away in the final 15 meters, once again dipping under 30 in 29.97. Larson finished 2nd in 30.42.

MEN’S 50 BREAST:

WINNER: NIC FINK, 27.69

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): It was an extremely close race into the finish, but Itay Goldfaden (27.59) out-touched Ian Finnerty (27.60) by a hundredth. Narrowly behind were Austin shootout winner Nic Fink (27.69) and Egyptian Record holder Youssef El Kamash (27.76) as they advanced to the semis. Missing out by 5 hundredths was Olympic breaststroker Kevin Cordes in 27.81.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Nic Fink has a shot at winning another round of shootouts after he qualified 1st for the final round in 27.74. Ian Finnerty, the first man to break 50 in the 100 yard breast, will join him in the final as he touched 2nd in 27.82.
• Round 3 (Final): It was a close race into the finish, but Fink put up his fastest swim of the day, a 27.69, tying his quarterfinal swim to win it. He’s now undefeated in 50 breast shootouts since he won the event in Austin as well. Finnerty was close behind in 27.89 for 2nd.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE:

WINNER: MALLORY COMERFORD, 25.10

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Mallory Comerford and Margo Geer were both sub-25 right out of the gate tonight, with Comerford touching slightly ahead 24.94 to 24.96. Also moving on were Madison Kennedy (25.07) and Kelsi Dahlia (25.24), winner of the 50 fly shootouts. Olympic sprinter Lia Neal was just out of the top 4 in 25.36 for 5th.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): Notably, Kennedy didn’t swim this round, so Neal was bumped up into the semifinal. Comerford was the fastest through again in 25.00, while Neal hit the wall in 25.42. Neal narrowly out-touched Geer, the Austin 50 free shootout champ, and Dahlia, who tied for 3rd in 25.48.
• Round 3 (Final): Comerford got the job done in the final round, touching in 25.10 ahead of Neal’s 25.59. Comerford’s fastest swim of the rounds, her 24.94 from the quarterfinal, was just 6 hundredths shy of her best time. That’s a sold swim coming off a break after NCAAs last month.

MEN’S 50 FREE:

WINNER: NATHAN ADRIAN, 22.94

• Round 1 (Quarterfinal): Shortly after his 50 fly win, Andrew returned for the 50 free shootouts, leading the first round in 22.25 ahead of Michael Chadwick (22.41). Nathan Adrian was a nail behind in 22.44. Also moving on is Bruno Blaskovic, who took 4th in 22.72. Cullen Jones narrowly missed the semis with his 22.80 for 5th place.
• Round 2 (Semifinal): It’ll be Adrian vs. Andrew again in the final round, as Adrian touched in 22.52 with Andrew following in 22.69. Chadwick followed closely in 3rd as he touched in 22.77.
• Round 3 (Final): Adrian once again took the win over Andrew, 22.94 to 23.70. Adrian is still undefeated in 50 free shootouts as he won the race in Austin.

WOMEN’S 200 MYSTERY IM:

1. GOLD: Leah Smith, 2:18.19
2. SILVER: Callie Dickinson, 2:18.79
3. BRONZE: Eleanna Koutsouveli, 2:18.85

Leah Smith got to start with freestyle out of lane 1, flipping in 28.07 to take the early lead. Smith then had to swim backstroke, but Zoe Bartel started to catch up as she was swimming fly. Isleta eventually took over the lead with free on the 2nd leg. Smith took over the lead again as she swam fly on the 3rd leg, but she had to swim breast on the final lap. Isleta and Bartel both had to finish with breast as well. Smith was able to hold off the field in 2:18.19, followed by Callie Dickinson (2:18.79) and Eleanna Koutsouveli (2:18.85).

MEN’S 200 MYSTERY IM:

1. GOLD: Gianluca Urlando, 2:06.09
2. SILVER: Jarod Arroyo, 2:06.89
3. BRONZE: Isaac Stump, 2:07.35

Daniel Sos led with a 25.93 free leg up front, followed closely byASU’s Grant House. Gianluca Urlando then took over by 3 seconds as he had free on the 2nd leg. He still led through the 3rd leg, but Sos was catching back up. Both men had to close with breaststroke. Urlando was able to hold off the field in 2:06.09, while Jarod Arroyo swam free on the final leg to touch 2nd. Arizona’s Isaac Stump swam back on the final leg to run down Sos for bronze.