2019 Bloomington Pro Swim Series: Day 1 Distance Timed Final Live Recap

2019 BLOOMINGTON PRO SWIM SERIES

• Thursday, May 16 – Sunday, May 19, 2019
• Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center, Bloomington, Indiana
• Long course meters (LCM) format
• Eastern Time zone
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (Thursday timed finals 4 PM)
• Meet site
• Live Stream:
  • Prelims & B finals & Thursday Timed Finals
  • A finals
• Psych sheets
• Live results

The fourth of five stops on the 2019 Pro Swim Series begins tonight in Bloomington, Indiana, with timed final heats of the men’s and women’s 1500 frees.

We’ll be updating the mile results as they come in, with three heats of men and three heats of women set to swim fastest-to-slowest tonight.

Hannah Moore is the top seed on the women’s side, looking to win her second-straight PSS meet in this event. Moore beat Chile’s Kristel Kobrich by seven seconds in Richmond. Kobrich is the second seed tonight, while Knoxville champ Katie Ledecky isn’t swimming the event and Des Moines champ Wang Jianjiahe is not competing in Bloomington.

For the men, we’ll get a new mile winner for the first time this series, as Knoxville/Des Moines/Richmond champ Anton Ipsen is absent. Zane Grothe is the top seed, and he’s been third at the past two meets. Meanwhile Marcelo Acosta was the runner-up in Richmond, and he’ll also be competing tonight.

Women’s 1500 Free – Timed Final

• Pro Swim Series record: 15:20.48 – Katie Ledecky (2019)
• 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 16:49.19

Current top 8:

1. Hannah Moore (Wolfpack Elite) – 16:11.42
2. Kristel Kobrich (Chile) – 16:23.19
3. Becca Mann (Unattached) – 16:25.49
4. Sierra Schmidt (Michigan) – 16:33.67
5. Cassy Jernberg (Unattached) – 16:38.48
6. Cierra Runge (Sun Devil) – 16:46.12
7. Kaitlynn Sims (MAC) – 16:46.35
8. Hayley Pike (NW Arkansas) – 16:57.07

Hannah Moore rolled through the opening heat for NC State’s Wolfpack Elite club, going 16:11.42. That’s a season-best for Moore, about two seconds faster than she went in winning this event in Richmond last month.

Chile’s Kristel Kobrich is running second – she was the runner-up in Richmond. Kobrich held off Becca Mann for second, besting Mann by two seconds. From there, things dropped back to Big Ten duo Sierra Schmidt (Michigan) and Cassy Jernberg (Indiana), with two heats to go.

Men’s 1500 Free – Timed Final

• Pro Swim Series record: 14:53.12 – Jordan Wilimovsky (2016)
• 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials cut: 15:44.89

Current top 8:

1. Zane Grothe (Boulder City Henderson) – 15:17.12
2. Marcelo Acosta (Louisville) – 15:28.66
3. Ricardo Vargas (Michigan) – 15:30.04
4. Mikey Calvillo (Indiana Swim Club) – 15:40.94
5. Will Roberts (Michigan) – 15:46.91
6. Ford Blaylock (Mercersburg) – 15:55.16
7. Jake Mitchell (Carmel) – 15:56.67
8. Hayden Curley (Louisville) – 16:07.66

Zane Grothe is in line to get his first 1500 win of the series, going 15:17.12 to win the opening heat tonight. That time is actually slower than he went in Des Moines back in March (he was 15:13), but is much better than his Richmond swim last month (15:26). Grothe did go 15:05 at this time last year, so he’s a little off that. But his time tonight is similar to what he went a few times in-season last year before going 14:48 at the end of the summer.

Marcelo Acosta sits second, and could get his second runner-up finish in a row in this event. Acosta was 15:28.66, holding off Michigan’s Ricardo Vargas by two seconds. Indiana’s Mikey Calvillo sits fourth, with another Michigan swimmer, Will Roberts, close behind.