Gianluca Urlando Goes Another Lifetime Best in 100 Fly Finals at Zajac

2019 MEL ZAJAC JR. INTERNATIONAL MEET

• May 24-26, 2019
• Vancouver, Canada (University of British Columbia)
• LCM (50m)
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American 17-year old Gianluca Urlando shaved another few hundredths off his personal best time in the 100 meter fly on Saturday evening in Vancouver. He swam a 52.04, which bettered his 52.12 from prelims as the 2nd-best time in 17-18 age group history.

Only the legendary swimmer Michael Phelps has been better as an 18 & under thanks to a 51.10 that he swam in 2003 – which at the time was good for silver at the World Championships.

Urlando opened in 24.59 and closed in 27.45 – that’s effectively the same splitting as in prelims (24.59/27.57). He’s now won all 3 finals that he’s swum at this meet, and posted lifetime bests in each of those events. On Friday, he won the 200 free (1:47.56 in prelims) and the 50 fly (24.15). On Saturday, he was the top qualifier in the 200 IM in prelims (2:00.94 – not a best time) but scratched the final. 18-year old Finlay Knox won that 200 IM in his absence in 2:02.19. That’s the fastest he’s been in a non-national/international championship meet.

In the women’s 100 fly, American 16-year old Torri Huske won in 59.33. That came within a few hundredths of her lifetime best that was done at Winter Nationals in 59.27. Fellow American Olivia Bray took 2nd in 59.48. She’s already been 58.3 this year.

Huske later doubled up with a win in the 50 free in 25.45 (her best time is 25.42). She tied with Canadian Sarah Fournier (best time 25.33) for the win. That time by Fournier matches her top result from the Canadian World Championship Trials in April.

Other Day 2 Winners:

• Danica Ludlow from the University of Calgary won the women’s 400 free in 4:12.69. That’s about 2 seconds slower than she was at Canada’s World Championship Trials in April. 16-year old Emma O’Croinin was the only competitive swimmer in that final: she took 2nd in 4:12.80.
• 27-year old Canadian National Teamer Jeremy Bagshaw won the men’s 400 free in 3:55.99, beating out Calgary’s Tristan Cote (3:57.09).
• Canadian 17-year old Jade Hannah won the women’s 50 back in 28.24, beating-out UBC’s Ingrid Wilm (28.66). That’s a new personal best for Hannah in a primary backstroke event. She hadn’t been a lifetime best in any backstroke race since 2017. In fact, she’s only been a best time in the 100 short course fly in the last 2 seasons, until Saturday night.
• Markus Thormeyer won the men’s 50 back in 25.56, just squeezing past runner-up Cameron Auchinachie, who was 2nd in 25.62. Thormeyer’s best time is a 25.50 from 2018.
• Kelsey Wog won the women’s 200 IM in 2:13.34. 15-year old American Charlotte Hook crushed her personal best with a 2:13.67 for 2nd place. Her previous best time was a 2:15.85 from last summer. That makes Hook the first American 15-16 to go under 2:15 so far this season, and moves her into 15th-place all-time in the event in American 15-16 history: jumping ahead of the legendary Tracy Caulkins on that list.
• Wog later won the women’s 200 breaststroke as well in 2:29.21
• The aforementioned Cameron Auchinachie of Denver University won the men’s 50 free in 22.73, beating American junior David Curtiss (22.78). That’s a new lifetime best for Auchinachie, improving the 22.81 he swam in a time trial at the Tennessee Invitational in December.
• American-trained Caspar Corbeau, a Texas commit and member of the Dutch National Team program, won the men’s 200 breaststroke in 2:15.34. He ran away from American 16-year old Josh Matheny, the runner-up, who took 2nd in 2:18.22.