2018 Pan Pacs: Andrew Wilson (USA), Jessica Hansen (AUS) Scratch 200 Breast Championship Finals

2018 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, August 9 – Tuesday, August 14, 2018
• Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center, Tokyo, Japan
• Meet site
• Psych Sheet
• Start Lists
• Meet Results

Swimmers are getting ready for the last finals session of the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, Japan. We’ll see the races for the championship titles in the 200 back, 50 free, 200 breast, women’s 1500 free, and men’s 800 free individually tonight. Swimmers will also race in the 400 medley relay finals at the end of the session. For a recap of how this morning’s prelims session went, click here.

Day 4 Finals Scratches:

Australia’s Jessica Hansen has scratched out of the championship final of the women’s 200 breast. Hansen, who had a big swim to take silver in the 100 breast earlier on in the meet, will likely be focusing on the 400 medley relay, where Australia hopes to end the USA’s winning streak. They have a great chance of doing so here, as they’ve all been swimming well and the Americans haven’t all been hitting their times. One of the key difference makers here will be the difference between Lilly King and Hansen. King will be swimming the 200 breast final, so that will make Hansen a bit fresher for the relay. This summer, Hansen and King were training partners for a couple of weeks at Indiana. The scratch moves Argentina’s Macarena Ceballos up to the championship final.

Similarly, the USA’s Kelsi Dahlia has scratched out ofo the 50 free B final. She initially qualified for the B heat when she tied teammate Mallory Comerford in prelims, but finished behind Simone Manuel and Abbey Weitzeil. Now, the 2 swimmers representing the U.S. in the B final are Comerford and Margo Geer. Dahlia was a 25.08 in prelims, which is a few tenths shy of her lifetime best 24.79 from 2017 Nationals.

Though she’s out of the 50 free, Dahlia should be swimming the fly leg of the USA’s 400 medley relay at the end of the session. Dahlia nearly swam a best time in that event here, earning a silver medal in the process. She also earned a silver medal as a member of the 400 free relay last night.

On the men’s side, Andrew Wilson has scratched out of the men’s 200 breast. This seems to be the same strategy as Hansen’s, with Wilson the likely candidate for the breast leg on the USA men’s relay. Both of the USA’s top breaststrokers, Wilson and Michael Andrew, were slated to swim individual events tonight as Andrew is the 50 free top seed. Wilson was faster than Andrew in the 100 breast final at this meet, and his 200 breast would’ve come very shortly before the relay. His scratch puts China’s Wang Lizhuo into the A final.