2022 Pro Swim Series – Westmont: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2022 PRO SWIM SERIES – WESTMONT

• March 2-5, 2022
• FMC Aquatic Center, Westmont, Illinois
• Start Times (CST): 9:00 am prelims / 6:00 pm finals
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On day 3 of the 2022 Pro Swim Series in Westmont, we’ll start things off with a head-to-head battle between Paige Madden and Leah Smith in the women’s 200 freestyle. During prelims, Madden had the quickest swim in a 1:57.67 to Smith’s 1:58.71. Patrick Callan was the fastest in the field on the men’s side with a 1:50.58, but Marwan Elkamash (1:50.71) and Michigan teammate Jake Mitchell (1:50.86) weren’t far behind him.

Claire Curzan and Landon Driggers are the top seeds in the women’s and men’s 200 backstrokes and will be faced with a tough field of seasoned vets in their final such as Olivia Smoliga, Shaine Casas, and Ryan Murphy. Then Emma Weyant, Leah Smith, and Katie Ledecky will face off in the 400 IM, as will Charlie Swanson and Tommy Bried in the men’s race.

The last 2 races of the night will be the women’s and men’s 100 butterflies, featuring an elite slate of entrants such as Claire Curzan, Kelsi Dahlia, Caeleb Dressel, Michael Andrew, and Zach Harting.

Women’s 200 Freestyle

• World Record: Federica Pellegrini (ITA): 1:52.98
• American Record: Allison Schmitt: 1:53.61
• US Open Record: Allison Schmitt (USA): 1:54.40
• World Junior Record: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS): 1:55.11
• Pro Swim Record: Katie Ledecky (USA): 1:54.40

Top 3:

1. Leah Hayes: 1:59.14
2. Erika Brown: 1:59.36
3. Gabby DeLoof: 1:59.98

Abbey Weitzeil got out in a 57.77 here to flip in first place at the 100, but Leah Hayes was stronger of the back half and overtook the field to take gold in a 1:59.14. That makes Hayes the 15th fastest 16&U American in this event in history. Hayes came into the meet with a PB of 2:02.63 and lowered that to a 1:59.91 during prelims before getting even quicker tonight.

Hayes won the event by a narrow margin as Erika came in with a 1:59.36 to trail her own PB of 1:57.68 from 2019. Gabby DeLoof and Abbey Weitzeil battled it out to claim bronze, touching just 0.01 seconds apart from each other. DeLoof touched first in a 1:59.98, while Weitzeil got in right under 2 minutes with a 1:59.99.

Melanie Margalis, a 2016 Olympic champion in the 4×200 freestyle relay, came in with a 2:00.30 for 5th place. The two top seeds from the prelims, Paige Madden and Leah Smith were noticeably absent in the final.

Men’s 200 Freestyle

• World Record: Paul Biedermann (GER): 1:42.00
• American Record: Michael Phelps: 1:42.96
• US Open Record: Michael Phelps (USA): 1:44.10
• World Junior Record: Sunwoo Hwang (KOR): 1:44.96
• Pro Swim Record: Sun Yang (CHN): 1:44.82

Top 3:

1. Marwan Elkamash: 1:48.59
2. Jake Mitchell: 1:48.63
3. Zane Grothe: 1:49.19

Maxime Rooney looked like he night secure the victory here when he flipped first at the 150, but on the final leg, Marwan Elkamash charged to the wall and touched first in a 1:48.59. Jake Mitchell and Zane Grothe also overtook Rooney here with their 2nd and 3rd place swims of 1:48.63 and 1:49.19. respectively.

Elkamash holds a lifetime best in this event of 1:47.40, which is also an Egyptian national record, from the 2019 World Championships. Elkamash noted after the race that while the 200 free used to be his best event, he is heading in the direction of distance swimming. That has been true thus far in Westmont considering his gold medal performances in both the 1500 freestyle (15:18.45) AND 400 freestyle (3:50.59).

Jake Mitchell dipped under 1:49 here to slightly improve upon his PB of 1:48.92 from back in 2019. The 400 freestyle Olympian swam a 1:50.86 this morning. Behind Mitchell, Zane Grothe put up a 1:49.19 for bronze, which is a bit off his fastest-ever time of 1:46.39.

Patrick Callan of Michigan, a 4×200 freestyle Olympian, swam a 1:49.83 for 4th place, Rooney was a 1:50.12 to snag 5th place, and Caeleb Dressel put up a 1:50.54 for 6th place.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

• World Record: Regan Smith (USA): 2:03.35
• American Record: Regan Smith: 2:03.35
• US Open Record: Missy Franklin (USA): 2:05.68
• World Junior Record: Regan Smith (USA): 2:03.35
• Pro Swim Record: Regan Smith (USA): 2:05.94

Top 3:

1. Claire Curzan: 2:07.31
2. Olivia Smoliga: 2:09.35
3. Tegan O’Dell: 2:14.52

Claire Curzan swam her way to a 2:07.31 200 backstroke here, becoming the 5th fastest 18&U American in the event all-time. Curzan, who is known for her sprint freestyle and butterfly, shared in a post-race interview that she’s been training more backstroke in practice. Curzan came into the meet with a 2:10.16, hit a 2:09.95 in the prelims, and got down to a 2:07 in the final.

American 18&U Women’s 200 Backstroke Rankings

1. Regan Smith (2019) – 2:03.35
2. Missy Franklin (2012) – 2:04.06
3. Phoebe Bacon (2021) – 2:06.40
4. Isabelle Stadden (2021) – 2:07.28
5. Claire Curzan (2022) – 2:07.32

Curzan is now the second-fastest woman in the world in 2022 behind Olympic gold medalist Kaylee McKeown who swam a 2:04.64 in February.

Olivia Smoliga put up a near-PB here to take the silver medal with a 2:09.35. Her fastest swim ever came in 2018 at US National Championships when she swam a 2:08.58. With that swim, Smoliga becomes the 3rd-fastest in the world for 2022.

Tegan O’Dell and Quinlan Hinerfeld touched in 3rd with a 2:14.52 and 4th in a 2:18.03, respectively, while Vera Conic was disqualified in the final.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

• World Record: Aaron Peirsol (USA): 1:51.92
• American Record: Aaron Peirsol: 1:51.92
• US Open Record: Aaron Peirsol: 1:53.08
• World Junior Record: Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS): 1:55.14
• Pro Swim Record: Xu Jiayu (CHN): 1:55.04

Top 3:

1. Ryan Murphy: 1:56.78
2. Shaine Casas: 1:58.09
3. Sam Stewart: 2:00.30

Ryan Murphy could not be stopped in the men’s 200 backstroke final, powering to the wall in a 1:56.78 to himself to the top of the world rankings for 2022. Murphy was behind runner-up Shaine Casas at the halfway mark, having split a 57.46 to Casas’ 56.87.

Murphy closed with a sub-minute split of 59.32 to get gold and replace Yohan Ndoye-Brouard’s former #1 global time of 1:58.83. Casas also got under that time with his 1:58.09 to become #2 in the world this year. Murphy swam a PB in this event back in 2018 with a 1:53.57 and put up a 1:54.15 at the Tokyo Games last summer to win a silver medal.

Casas holds a PB of 1:55.79 in the 200 backstroke, which he swam, in 2019 at the US Championships and swam a 1:58.04 at the Tokyo Olympic Trials.

Sam Stewart nearly got under 2 minutes here with a 2:00.30 for the bronze medal, while Landon Driggers delivered a 2:01.03 for 4th place.

Women’s 400 IM

• World Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN): 4:26.36
• American Record: Katie Hoff: 4:31.12
• US Open Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN): 4:31.07
• World Junior Record: Alba Vazquez (ESP): 4:38.53
• Pro Swim Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN): 4:31.07

Top 3:

1. Hali Flickinger: 4:36.46
2. Leah Smtih: 4:39.78
3. Katie Ledecky: 4:40.28

Catherine Yu started things off in the 400 IM with a heroic swim as the only competitor in the B final; a result of having exactly 10 entrants in the event with only 9 spots in the A final. Yu swam a 5:07.98 PB to improve upon her prelims time of 5:08.14

In the A final, however, it was a battle of Olympians as Emma Weyant, Katie Ledecky, Fantine Lesaffre, Leah Smith, and Hali Flickinger battled it out.

Hali Flickinger got the early lead in the butterfly and held it until the 200 mark with a 2:12.15 split following the backstroke leg. As her competitors attempted to overtake her during the breaststroke, Flickinger held on and was in the #1 spot at the 300 with a 3:34.44.

Flickinger closed with a 100 freestyle split of 1:02.02, which was slightly faster than Leah Smith‘s final 100 of 1:02.08. That allowed Flickinger to hold onto the lead and post a 4:36.46 for gold, while Leah Smith came in with a 4:39.78 for silver.

Flickinger won bronze in this event in Tokyo with a 4:34.90, but her lifetime best is the 4:33.96 she swam at the Tokyo Olympic Trials a few weeks earlier. Flickinger’s fellow Olympic medalist Emma Weyant, who took silver in Tokyo, swam a 4:43.68 for 4th place tonight. That was a bit slower than Katie Ledecky‘s 4:40.28 for bronze.

Weyant is in the middle of a busy month, following her performance at the 2022 ACC Championships where she raced for Virginia. Weyant has just a few days to go until the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championships.

Men’s 400 IM

• World Record: Michael Phelps (USA): 4:03.84
• American Record: Michael Phelps: 4:03.84
• US Open Record: Michael Phelps (USA): 4:05.25
• World Junior Record: Ilia Borodin (RUS): 4:11.17
• Pro Swim Record: Chase Kalisz (USA): 4:08.92

Top 3:

1. Charlie Swanson: 4:20.29
2. Will Licon: 4:20.30
3. Landon Driggers: 4:25.71

It was a battle of the Longhorns pros in the men’s 400 IM as Charlie Swanson and Will Licon took it down to the wire on the final leg. Swanson, who swam collegiately at Michigan, had the faster touch here and took gold with a 4:20.29, while Licon came in just 0.01 seconds later in a 4:20.30.

Swanson was 6.35 seconds faster than his prelims swim of 4:26.64 here and has a lifetime best of 4:11.46 in the event from the Pan Am Games back in 2019. Licon on the other hand established a new PB in the final, bettering his 4:20.70 by a narrow 0.40 seconds.

Landon Driggers rounded out the podium here with a 4:25.71, while Tommy Bried took 4th place overall in a 4:27.07. Alec Enyeart came in 0.13 seconds after Bried with a 4:27.20.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

• World Record: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): 55.48
• American Record: Torri Huske: 55.66
• US Open Record: Torri Huske (USA): 55.66
• World Junior Record: Penny Oleksiak (CAN): 56.46
• Pro Swim Record: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): 56.38

Top 3:

1. Claire Curzan: 56.89
2. Kelsi Dahlia: 57.53
3. Beata Nelson: 58.24

Claire Curzan pulled off a double victory tonight, having already won the 200 backstroke, by swimming a 56.89 100 butterfly. Curzan out-swam competitor Kelsi Dahlia, who put up a 57.53, while Beata Nelson was a 58.24 for third place.

This was a repeat dual from Olympic Trials when Curzan and Torri Huske qualified to race the 100 fly in Tokyo as Dahlia finished in 3rd place, missing the team. After that, however, Dahlia had a strong fall and wound up breaking the short course world record in this same event.

Curzan, Dahlia, and Huske are all expected to battle it out again next month at World Trials. Curzan’s best time in this event is a 56.43 from Trials, while Dahlia holds a PB of 56.44 from the 2018 Pan Pac Championships.

Beata Nelson got in ahead of 4th-place Lucy Bell who shaved 1.15 seconds off her morning swim with a 58.69 of 59.84. 5th went to Olympian Natalie Hinds, while Linnea Mack took 6th in a 59.66.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

• World Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA): 49.45
• American Record: Caeleb Dressel: 49.45
• US Open Record: Caeleb Dressel: 49.76
• World Junior Record: Kristof Milak (HUN): 50.62
• Pro Swim Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA): 50.92

Top 3:

1. Michael Andrew – 51.74
2. Shaine Casas – 51.77
3. Caeleb Dressel – 51.79

Michael Andrew showed off his typical front-end speed in the men’s 100 fly final as he touched first with a 23.70 at the 50. He followed that up with a 28.04 on the back half to swim a 51.74 for the gold medal. Shaine Casas out-split Andrew on the final 50 with a 27.62, but it wasn’t enough to catch him and Casas wound up with silver in a 51.77.

World record holder Caeleb Dressel came in another 0.02 seconds later to take bronze, meaning that the top 3 finishers were only separated by 0.05 seconds. Dressel is the reigning Olympic champion in this event, having swum a 49.45 world record to win the event at the Tokyo Games. Dressel had the quickest back half in the field with a 27.03.

Federico Burdisso also got under 52 seconds in the final with his time of 51.97, but it wasn’t enough to get him on the podium and he settled for 4th place. Next was Vini Lanza with a 52.89, while Maxime Rooney touched in 6th with a 53.18.