2018 U.S. Nationals Day 4: Bethany Galat Scratches 100 Breast A Final

2018 U.S. National Championships

• Wednesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
• William Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
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The finals session on Day Four of the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships will consist of women’s and men’s 400 free, 100 breast, and 100 back, all events whose winners will earn berths to the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Japan next month.

Bethany Galat of Aggie Swim Club scratched the 100 breast final, moving #9 Jorie Caneta into the A final and #17 Grace Zhao into the B final. Galat went 1:08.13 in heats this morning for 6th place overall, 1.4 seconds off the PB she swam last summer at U.S. Nationals. There, she placed third behind Lilly King and Katie Meili. Galat was runner-up in the 200 breast (an event she swam at 2017 World Championships) here in Irvine on Thursday night.

Penn State’s Ally McHugh, the 2018 National Champion in the 400 IM, has scratched the B final of the 400 free. McHugh is seeded 9th in Sunday’s 1500 free; given that she dropped 6 seconds off a 2-month-old PB in the 800 free on Wednesday, she may have a big swim left in her for tomorrow’s mile. McHugh’s absence moves #17 Brooke Forde of Stanford into the B final tonight.

16-year-old Alex Walsh of Nashville Aquatic Club is out of the B final of the 100 back despite going a PB of 1:00.83 in morning heats. Walsh was 13th overall; she cedes her place in the B final to #17 Bridgette Alexander of Kentucky Aquatics.

There was very little movement on the men’s side of the meet. The only scratches among top-16 finishers came in the 400 free, where Cal’s Nick Norman and St. Petersburg’s Robert Finke opted out of finals. Norman took 2.77 seconds off a 2-month-old PB, going 3:52.16 to place 15th overall. Finke went his best time by 3.3 seconds to land a 3:52.25. Finke is seeded 9th in Sunday’s 800 free while Norman is 18th. #18 Logan Houck moves up to compete in the B final tonight.