Sean Lehane Drops Lifetime Best 1:55.74 200 Back in Brown Deer

2016 SPEEDO SECTION 1 CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Brown Deer, WI
  • Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center
  • Meet Central
  • Results: Meet Mobile

In the 200 back prelims at the Brown Deer Sectional Championships in Wisconsin this morning, Sean Lehane rocketed his way to a new best time of 1:55.74.

Prior to today, Lehane’s best was the 1:56.43 he swam in semifinals at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. He would go on to finish 4th in the final with a 1:56.44.

  • Lehane, OT finals: 27.20 – 56.58 (29.28) – 1:26.06 (29.58) 1:56.44 (30.38)
  • Lehane, OT semis: 27.44 – 56.93 (29.49) – 1:26.63 (29.70) 1:56.43 (29.80)
  • Lehane, prelims today: 27.77 – 57.16 (29.39) – 1:26.68 (29.52) 1:55.74 (29.06)

200s of stroke can be difficult to pace, and strategies differ from swimmer to swimmer. “I swam it a lot differently than [at] trials,” Lehane told SwimSwam. “[I was] out slower and worked the back half of the race.”

Lehane’s strategy this morning, which focused more on saving for the finish, certainly paid off. The big drop came in his final 50, where he nearly split a 28 after hovering around a 29-high/30-low at the end of his swims in Omaha.

With that time, Lehane shoots up from a tie for 13th to 8th in the world this season.

2015-2016 LCM Men 200 BACK

MitchellAUS
LARKIN
11/07
1.53.17
2Ryan
MURPHY
USA1.53.6208/11
3Evgeny
RYLOV
RUS1.53.9708/11
4Jacob
PEBLEY
USA1.54.7707/01
5Jiayu
XU
CHN1.54.7904/08
6Tyler
CLARY
USA1.55.3307/01
7Irie
RYOSUKE
JPN1.55.4202/13
8Sean
LEHANE
USA1.55.5607/23
9Guangyuan
LI
CHN1.55.8908/11
10Radolslaw
KAWECKI
POL1.55.9805/21
View Top 26»

At the 2015 Pan Am Games, Lehane set a new meet record in prelims (1:57.11) and won the gold in finals (1:57.47). The Naperville, Ill. native recently graduated from the University of Tennessee, where he was a 20-time All-American and two-time SEC Champion in the 200y back.

Lehane is the top seed for tonight’s 200 back final by almost nine seconds.

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Stay Human
8 years ago

Brown Deer: Bringing you fast swims since at least circa 1979…..

random fan
8 years ago

1:55.56 in finals!

taa
8 years ago

Nice finish

Skoorbnagol
8 years ago

American backstroke for men is truly astonishing, there consistency for so long and depth.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Skoorbnagol
8 years ago

Most Impressive field on the planet right now – hands down

Chips and COOKIES
8 years ago

GO SEAN!!!!

VFL
8 years ago

Vols baby!

PVSFree
8 years ago

8th in the world and only the 4th fastest American…

NotSoFastSwimmer
Reply to  PVSFree
8 years ago

Many world’s top backstrokers do not need to swim fast yet. Better picture after Rio.

About Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon studied sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in May of 2018. He began swimming on a club team in first grade and swam four years for Wesleyan.

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