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.

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.