19-year old Abbey Weitzeil of the Canyons Aquatic Club has followed-up her 50 yard freestyle fireworks from Saturday with the 3rd-best 100 yard freestyle in history.
Swimming at the 2016 American Short Course Championships in Austin, Texas (not a true national championship meet), Weitzeil swam a 46.47 in prelims of the 100 free on Sunday. That time ranks behind only her own 100 free from 2014 (46.29) and Simone Manuel from last year’s NCAA Championships (46.09).
Weitzel’s previous best time in the 100 free crushed the American Record by almost four-tenths of a second, though it only lasted a few months. In her swim on Sunday morning, she turned at the 50 almost two-tenths faster than she did in that record-breaking swim, before fading from the pace in the last lap.
Even though she broke the American Record in the 50 free on Saturday, doing the same is not assured in the 100. In her long course 100 free on Friday, Weitzeil was out very fast (just as she was Sunday morning), but wound up fading in the last 50. Of course, the final time of 53.77 ranks her 7th in the world this year, so the overall strategy was still successful.
