2024 U.S. Open: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2024 U.S. Open Championships

• December 4th -7th, 2023
• Greensboro, N.C
• Prelims: 9:00 am EST/ Finals 6:00 pm EST
• SCY (25 yards)
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Day 2 Finals Heat Sheet

It’s the second night of finals at the 2024 U.S. Open in Greensboro, NC and one of the busiest people this evening will be Kennedi Dobson. The high school senior and UGA commit is the top seed in both the women’s 500 freestyle and the women’s 200 IM. With only the men’s 500 freestyle consolation and championship finals, and the women’s 200 IM consolation final, she’ll have even less turn around time than she did this morning during prelims.

Dobson leads the way in the 500 free with a 4:41.68, nearly four seconds ahead of Cal alum Rachel Klinker. Expect Klinker to make up some ground this evening though. In the 200 IM, Dobson posted a lifetime best 1:58.49 to lead the way through prelims. On paper, the 200 IM projects as a much closer race than the 500 free, as Margaret Markvardt (1:58.85), Rhyan White (1:59.41), and Emerson Calis (1:59.79) all joined her under the two-minute mark in prelims.

In the men’s 500 freestyle, Max Carlsen (4:21.67), Quinton Cynor (4:21.82), and Bradley Dunham (4:21.91) are the top three seeds and are separated by just .24 seconds. West Virginia’s Danny Berlitz leads the way in a similarly packed 200 IM ‘A’ final, where the top seven are within a second of each other after prelims.

In the 50 freestyles, SMU’s Maddy Parker is the top qualifier for the women, clocking a 22.43 in prelims to touch three-hundredths ahead of Ekaterina Nikonova. On the men’s side, it’s Drew Kibler in lane four of the ‘A’ final after the two-time Olympian swam 19.48 in prelims.

Women’s 500 Freestyle — Final

• American Record: 4:24.06 – Katie Ledecky (2017)
• US Open Record: 4:24.06 – Katie Ledecky (2017)
• Meet Record: 4:29.54 – Katie Ledecky (2014)

Top 8:

1. Kennedi Dobson (EEX), 4:36.87
2. Rachel Klinker (CAL), 4:43.87
3. Erin Dawson (UN), 4:49.54
4. Morgan Moore (PSU), 4:50.05
5. Brooke Bennett (PLS), 4:52.59
6. Clara Renner (BUCK), 4:52.97
7. Rylee Hutchinson (PLS), 4:53.75
8. Emmaleigh Zeitlow (IU), 4:55.76

This race was all about Kennedi Dobson; the 17-year-old jumped on the race from the first 50 and never looked back. She took the lead on the opening 50 and swam a remarkably even split race, distancing herself from the field through the middle part of the race as she swam her way to the U.S. Open title in a lifetime best of 4:36.87. The UGA commit’s previous lifetime best was a 4:37.33 from October.

She grew her lead over the back half of the race, going from a 2.01 second lead over Rachel Klinker at the halfway point to a 3.86 lead at the 400-yard mark. Klinker was on an island in second place for much of the race, and clocked a 4:43.87 to finish as the runner-up to Dobson, improving from her prelims time by 1.51 seconds.

Erin Dawson won the race between her and Penn State’s Morgan Moore for third, swimming 4:49.54 to out-touch Moore by .51 seconds.

SMU’s Mira Szimcsak won the ‘B’ final in 4:50.91, which would’ve placed fifth in the ‘A’ final.

Men’s 500 Freestyle — Final

• American Record: 4:04.45 – Rex Maurer (2024)
• US Open Record: 4:02.31 – Leon Marchand (2024)
• Meet Record: 4:07.25 – Zane Grothe (2017)

Top 8:

1. Bradley Dunham (SA), 4:17.76
2. Max Carlsen (LVSC), 4:19.07
3. Jones Lambert (UTAH), 4:20.43
4. Jonas Cantrell (UN), 4:21.28
5. Quinton Cynor (UN), 4:21.57
6. Patrick Branon (UN), 4:22.31
7. Sean Atkinson (UN), 4:22.34
8. Nicholas Subagyo (UN), 4:26.58

University of Georgia alum Bradley Dunham moved into the lead at the 200-yard mark of the men’s 500 freestyle championship final. He overtook Jonas Cantrell and Jones Lambert, who’d been running first and second until then and swam to the win with a 4:17.76, the second fastest swim of his career.

NC State commit Max Carlsen passed Lambert and Cantrell as well and did his best to close the gap to Dunham. Dunham widened the gap to over a second with 100 yards to go, which Carlsen closed to .87 seconds, but the gap went out again on the final 50 yards and Carlsen took second 1.31 seconds behind Dunham in 4:19.07.

Lambert and Cantrell stayed locked together for the entire race up in lanes one and two. Lambert was able to get his hand on the wall ahead of Cantrell, 4:21.28 to 4:21.57 to take the final step of the podium.

Women’s 200 I.M. — Final

• American Record: 1:48.37 – Kate Douglass (2023)
• US Open Record: 1:48.37 – Kate Douglass (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:52.63 – Melanie Margalis (2017)

Top 8:

1. Kennedi Dobson (EEX), 1:57.38
2. Lily Mead (LOYO), 1:58.53
3. Sadie Buckley (NCAP), 1:58.65
4. Margaret Markvardt (PSU), 1:59.14
5. Rhyan White (WOLF), 1:59.69
6. Teia Salvino (SMU), 2:00.36
7. Ava Muzzy (UNC), 2:00.89
8. Emerson Calis (QSTS), 2:00.94

Dobson used a strong back half to win her second event of the session in another lifetime best. It was U.S. Olympian Rhyan White who held the lead at the halfway mark after opening her race in 53.18. The field came back together on the breaststroke leg, but Dobson’s 35.65 split gave her a .13 second advantage over Loyola’s Lily Mead, with NCAP’s Sadie Buckley hanging third three-tenths back.

Dobson split 27.38 on the freestyle leg to power her way to the win in 1:57.38. It’s her second 200 IM best of the day; overall, she dropped 1.28 seconds on the day. Mead anchored her race in 28.66, outlasting Buckley and getting her hand on the wall for silver by .12 seconds. Mead’s 1:58.53 just misses her lifetime best of 1:58.37 from 2021.

Buckley’s 1:58.65 was a huge lifetime best for her, marking her first swim under the two-minute mark.

Men’s 200 I.M. — Final

• American Record: 1:37.91 – Destin Lasco (2024)
• US Open Record: 1:36.34 – Leon Marchand (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:40.08 – Ryan Lochte (2007)

Top 8:

1. Charlie Egeland (YALE), 1:44.60
2. Tim Wu (PLS), 1:45.25
3. Jack Doyle (UN), 1:45.51
4. Danny Berlitz (UN), 1:45.80
5. Tate Anderson (GMU), 1:46.65
6. Sean Honey (PSU), 1:46.69
7. Angus Macdonald (UN), 1:46.80
8. Minkyu Noh (EVO), 1:47.18

Yale’s Charlie Egeland swam his second 200 IM lifetime best of the day to win the men’s 200 IM U.S. Open title. Coming into the meet, Egeland’s lifetime best was a 1:46.78 he swam less than two weeks ago at the Ohio State Fall Invite. He broke that in prelims, clocking a 1:46.49.

In the final, he broke away from the field on the breaststroke leg, moving from sixth at the halfway mark into first with a 29.16 split. He anchored in 25.25, stopping the clock at 1:44.60 to win the event. Pleasanton Seahawks’ Tim Wu, a Cal commit, was sixth heading into the freestyle leg. He split a field-best 24.41 on the freestyle leg to move up and take the silver medal in 1:45.25, a lifetime best of his own.

Jack Doyle was just off his lifetime best with a third-place finish, clocking 1:45.51 to step onto the podium ahead of Danny Berlitz (1:45.80).

Women’s 50 Free — Final

• American Record: 20.37 – Gretchen Walsh (2024)
• US Open Record: 20.37 – Gretchen Walsh (2024)
• Meet Record: 21.46 – Natalie Coughlin (2007)

Top 8:

1. Maddy Parker (SMU), 22.26
2. Adalynn Biegler (EDI), 22.27
3. Chloe Stepanek (TAMU), 22.35
4. Erin Palmer (UTAH)/Ekaterina Nikonova (UN), 22.50
5. (tie)
6. Zita Szoke (BSC), 22.58
7. Lily Mead (LOYO), 22.63
8. Kennedy Gilbertson (IFLY), 22.75

Maddy Parker defended her top seed and won the women’s 50 freestyle in a new lifetime best of 22.26. She narrowly out-touched Adalynn Biegler, who clocked a lifetime best of her own, a 22.27 to finish a hundredth behind Parker. Parker swims for SMU during the collegiate season and broke the 22.36 lifetime best she swam at the SMU Invite just before Thanksgiving with this swim. Biegler’s previous lifetime best was a 22.38, so this swim marked a .11 second improvement for her.

Texas A&M’s Chloe Stepanek snagged the bronze medal with a 22.35. She’s been as fast as 22.06 in her career.

Men’s 50 Free — Final

• American Record: 17.63 – Caeleb Dressel (2018)
• US Open Record: 17.63 – Caeleb Dressel (2018)
• Meet Record: 18.77 – Nathan Adrian (2017)

Top 8:

1. Brady Samuels (PU), 19.33
2. Drew Kibler (NYAC), 19.49
3. Shane Eckler (UN), 19.68
4. Miles Simon (CAD), 19.74
5. Howat Howat (NCAP), 19.87
6. Idris Muhammad (PUR), 19.89
7. Nien Levy (QU), 19.95
8. Hrvoje Tomic (UN), 20.00

Purdue’s Brady Samuels carried the strong start he’s had to the NCAA season to the national level, winning the men’s 50 freestyle U.S. Open title. Samuels swam a lifetime best 19.33 to claim the title, beating Drew Kibler by .16 seconds. Samuels’ previous lifetime best was the 19.46 he swam at the 2023 Men’s NCAA Championships.

This meet is Kibler’s first time racing in yards since he graduated from Texas. He clocked 19.49 for his runner-up finish, adding a hundredth from his morning swim but still finishing well ahead of Shane Eckler, who rounded out the podium in third with a 19.68.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay — Timed Final

• American Record: 3:22.34 — Virginia (Walsh, Wenger, Walsh, Douglass), 2022
• U.S. Open Record: 3:21.01 — Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker), 2024
• Meet Record: 3:29.91 — Cal (Pelton, Carcia Urzainqui, Bootsma, Franklin), 2013

Top 8: 

1. NCAP, 3:38.67
2. Fresno State, 3:40.24
3. Queens, 3:41.51
4. Marshall University, 3:41.69

The NCAP girls followed up their 200 medley and 800 freestyle relay wins from night one with another win in the 400 medley relay to stay undefeated in relays at the U.S. Open. Gwyn Frick (53.74), Caroline Agee (1:01.68), Emma Cigna (53.53), and Alyssa Sagle (49.72) got the job done for NCAP, swimming 3:38.67 to win the event by 1.57 seconds ahead of the Fresno State quartet.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay — Timed Final

• American Record: 3:01.51 — Cal (Murphy, Hoppe, Josa, Jensen), 2017
• U.S. Open Record: 2:57.32 — Arizona State (Kos, Marchand, Kharun, Kulow), 2024
• Meet Record: 3:05.69 — Arizona (Friedemann, Cordes, Smith, Shapira bar-or), 2012

Top 8: 

1. Loyola ‘A’, 3:12.80
2. Loyola ‘B’, 3:14.16
3. Utah, 3:15.26
4. Queens, 3:15.34
5. NCAP, 3:15.93
6. Saint Louis, 3:21.73

The Loyola quartet of Joe Hayburn (47.33), Michael Gozdan (53.42), Patrick Hayburn (47.86), and Brennan Coyle (44.19) swam the third-fastest time in school history to win the men’s 400 medley relay at the 2024 U.S. Open. The group swam 3:12.80, about a second slower than Loyola’s ‘A’ relay at the H2ounds Invitational, which featured a slightly different line-up (for example, Coyle was on breaststroke during that relay).

With Purdue’s relay disqualified, Loyola went 1-2 in the event, as their ‘B’ squad clocked a 3:14.16, finishing about a second ahead of Utah (3:15.26).