2022 Pro Swim Series – Westmont: Day 4 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
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• All The Links You Need
• Storylines to Watch
• How To Watch

The last finals session of the 2022 Pro Swim Series in Westmont will kick off with the 800 freestyle highlighted by the distance queen Katie Ledecky.

Then there will be a battle in the women’s 100 back between top seed Hali Flickinger, who swam a lifetime best in prelims, and fellow Olympians Olivia Smoliga and Claire Curzan.

Shaine Casas will have a rematch with world record holder Ryan Murphy, who he beat this morning, in the men’s 100 back final.

The women’s 200 breast has a star-studded crew topped by Olympians Annie Lazor, Lydia Jacoby, and Lilly King. Iceland’s Anton McKee is the top seed in the men’s event followed by 16-year-old Nick Mahabir and Olympian Nic Fink.

16-year-old Leah Hayes is the top seed in the women’s 200 IM and came within a second of Katie Hoff‘s National Age Group record this morning. This will be Flickinger’s second event of the session, but also watch out for Olympians Leah Smith and Melanie Margalis. 17-year-old Nate Germonprez leads the men’s event.

The final event of the session will be the 50 free where the top seeds on both the men and women’s sides are Tokyo Olympians: Michael Andrew for the men and Abbey Weitzeil for the women. Andrew still has to answer to American Record holder Caeleb Dressel, though, who placed 7th in prelims.

Women’s 800 Free

• World Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:04.79
• American Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:04.79
• US Open Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:06.68
• World Junior Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:11.00
• Pro Swim Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:06.68

Top 3:

1. Katie Ledecky – 8:21.81
2. Leah Smith – 8:26.28
3. Alex Reyna – 8:51.55

Katie Ledecky took control of the 4-swimmer heat from the start, splitting 1:02 high’s and then mainly 1:03 mid’s to increase her lead.

Leah Smith held consistent 1:04 low’s and 1:03 high’s to stay within sight of Ledecky and ultimately touch the wall in 2nd place.

16-year-old Alex Reyna came within 2 seconds of her lifetime best to snag 3rd place while Illektra Lebl took nearly 6 seconds off her lifetime best to place 4th with a 9:03.94.

Men’s 800 Free

• World Record: Lin Zhang – 7:32.12
• American Record: Bobby Finke – 7:41.87
• US Open Record: Zane Grothe – 7:44.57
• World Junior Record: Mack Horton – 7:45.67
• Pro Swim Record: Michael McBroom – 7:49.96

Top 3:

1. Marwan Aly Elkamash – 7:58.65
2. Alec Enyeart – 8:00.82
3. Nicolas D’Oriano – 8:08.13

It was a dual in the middle of the pool between Enyeart and Elkamash – similar to the 1500 free final on Thursday where Elkamash out touched Enyeart on the final 50 meters.

Elkamash pushed 18-year-old Enyeart to a lifetime best time tonight; he took 1.3 seconds off the time he swam in August.

With this win, Elkamsh swept the 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free at this meet. He split a blistering 27.59 on the last 50 to come within 6.5 seconds of his lifetime best 800 free time from November 2020.

Women’s 100 Back 

• World Record: Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 57.45
• American Record: Regan Smith – 57.57
• US Open Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 57.92
• World Junior Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 57.57
• Pro Swim Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 58.18

Top 3:

1. Claire Curzan – 58.94
2. Olivia Smoliga – 59.53
3. Hali Flickinger – 59.78

Claire Curzan was .12 off her lifetime best time from May but the 17-year-old has now established herself as the 12th all-time fastest 100 backstroker in the 17-18 age group.

She was tied with Smoliga at 28.89 at the halfway mark but it was her final 50 split of 30.05, half a second faster than Soliga, that secured the win.

Men’s 100 Back 

• World Record: Ryan Murphy (USA) – 51.85
• American Record: Ryan Murphy – 51.85
• US Open Record: Aaron Piersol (USA) – 51.94
• World Junior Record: Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) – 52.53
• Pro Swim Record: David Plummer (USA) – 52.40

Top 3:

1. Ryan Murphy – 53.05
2. Shaine Casas – 53.28
3. Sam Stewart – 55.01

In a sort of repeat Murphy-Casas showdown as what happened at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, Murphy took the win tonight with a narrow .13 second lead. It was the first 50 that made all the difference; he split a 25.69 compared to Casas’ 25.92.

Casas came within .56 of his lifetime best time from 2019 to snag 2nd place while Sam Stewart powered home in 28.65 to take 3rd place.

Women’s 200 Breast

• World Record: Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA) – 2:18.95
• American Record: Rebecca Soni – 2:19.59
• US Open Record: Rebecca Soni (USA) – 2:19.59
• World Junior Record: Viktoria Gunes (TUR) – 2:19.64
• Pro Swim Record: Annie Lazor (USA): 2:20.77

Top 3:

1. Annie Lazor – 2:22.59
2. Lilly King – 2:24.65
3. Lydia Jacoby – 2:28.22

King went out aggressive as she normally does, splitting 32.24 on the first 50 meters to gain a .86 lead over the entire field. But Annie Lazor held steady and pushed the second half to ultimately break away and win by 2 full seconds.

This was a solid swim for Lazor, only 1.52 seconds off what she swam to win the event at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II.

Jacoby came within one second of her lifetime best time from April 2021.

Men’s 200 Breast 

• World Record: Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.12
• American Record: Josh Prenot – 2:07.17
• US Open Record: Josh Prenot (USA) – 2:07.17
• World Junior Record: Haiyang Qin (CHN) – 2:09.39
• Pro Swim Record: Andrew Wilson (USA) – 2:08.95

Top 3:

1. Will Licon – 2:11.75
2. Nic Fink – 2:12.20
3. Anton McKee – 2:12.68

Anton McKee went out just as fast as Fink, in 30.09, and then snagged the lead at the halfway mark. But it was Will Licon‘s back-half, specifically his finishing speed and final 50 split of 33.38, that got him to the wall first.

Fink was about 5 seconds off the time he posted to win this event at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II while Licon was only 3.25 seconds off the time he swam at that meet to place 3rd.

Women’s 200 IM 

• World Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 2:06.12
• American Record: Ariana Kukors – 2:06.15
• US Open Record: Kathleen Baker (USA) – 2:08.32
• World Junior Record: Rikako Ikee (JPN) – 2:09.98
• Pro Swim Record: Katinka Hosszu (HUN): 2:08.66

Top 3:

1. Leah Hayes – 2:11.27
2. Beata Nelson – 2:11.76
3. Melanie Margalis – 2:12.03

After blasting a 2:11.22 this morning to become the 4th all-time fastest 15-16 year-old in the event, Leah Hayes repeated that feat to the tenth of a second. She was within .9 of Katie Hoff‘s National Age Group Record which she set at the 2005 World Championships.

Beata Nelson had the early lead after the fly leg but Hayes went off on the back and the breast. This was a solid time for Nelson, within .21 of her lifetime best from the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II.

Margalis nearly caught Nelson on the back-half, splitting a 37.53 on the breast which was 1.7 seconds faster than Nelson’s split.

Men’s 200 IM 

• World Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.00
• American Record: Ryan Lochte – 1:54.00
• US Open Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.56
• World Junior Record: Haiyang Qin (CHN) – 1:57.06
• Pro Swim Record: Michael Phelps (USA) – 1:56.32

Top 3:

1. Sam Stewart – 2:00.71
2. Tommy Cope – 2:01.66
3. Nate Germonprez – 2:02.45

Fresh out of the 100 back final, Sam Stewart came within 3 seconds of his lifetime best time to win the 200 IM. He earned his lead on the back and free, splitting 31.48 and 28.59, respectively.

17-year-old Nate Germonprez took a full second off his prelims time to snag 3rd place. He went out with the 2nd-fastest 50 fly split in the field: 25.66, only out swam by 4th-place finisher Vini Lanza with a 25.21.

Tommy Cope devoured their leads on the breast with a 33.90 to ultimately place 2nd.

Women’s 50 Free 

• World Record: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 23.67
• American Record: Simone Manuel – 23.97
• US Open Record: Pernille Blume (DEN) – 24.08
• World Junior Record: Rikako Ikee (JPN) – 24.33
• Pro Swim Record: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 24.17

Top 3:

1. Claire Curzan – 24.59
2. Abbey Weitzeil – 24.73
3. Erika Brown – 24.87

This was 4th win of the meet for Curzan meaning she swept every event she competed in. It was a hectic and tight race which pushed 17-year-old Curzan within .42 of her lifetime best time to win.

Her fellow Olympians Abbey Weitzel and Erika Brown rounded out the top three as the last swimmers under the 25.00 mark.

Men’s 50 Free 

• World Record: Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 20.91
• American Record: Caeleb Dressel – 21.04
• US Open Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.04
• World Junior Record: Michael Andrew (USA) – 21.75
• Pro Swim Record: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.51

Top 3:

1. Michael Andrew – 21.73
2. Ian Ho – 22.22
3. Ryan Held – 22.29

Three of the ‘A’ finalists here were members of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trial final (Dressel, Andrew, and Bowe Becker) creating an electric racing environment. Michael Andrew came within .25 of the time he swam at Trials (which earned him 2nd place there) to win the race tonight.

Held out touched 4th-place finisher Caeleb Dressel by .08 to earn 3rd place behind Ian Ho.