2020 Art Adamson Invite
- Wednesday, November 18-Friday, November 20
- Teams: Texas A&M, LSU, Incarnate Word
- Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
- Prelims/Finals
- Format: Short Course Yards (SCY)
- Prelims @10AM Central, Finals @6PM Central
- 2021 NCAA Championship Qualifying Times
- Results Available on Meet Mobile: “Art Adamson Invitational”
- Live Results
Texas A&M junior Shaine Casas dominated in freestyle, backstroke, and IM in the first finals session of the 2020 Art Adamson Invite in College Station. As the lead-off swimmer for A&M’s 200 freestyle relay, Casas posted a time faster than anyone else leading off and faster than anyone in the individual 50 would swim later. Then, in the 200 IM, Casas dominated the field, winning by over 5 seconds and posting the fastest time in the nation. Then, leading off the 400 medley relay, Casas blasted the fastest 100 backstroke time in the nation so far this season.
Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:28.43
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:29.21
The Texas A&M ‘A’ team of Emma Carlton, Jing Quah, Emma Stephenson, and Chloe Stepanek won the women’s 200 freestyle relay by nearly a second over the ‘A’ team from LSU, posting a 1:30.30 to LSU’s 1:31.16. Splits, unfortunately, are a bit jumbled for this race.
Texas A&M’s ‘B’ squad managed 3rd place (1:33.53) while Incarnate Word’s ‘A’ team got in for 4th (1:33.53).
Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay ‘A’ Final
No video, will update if/when available.
Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:17.17
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:17.86
The Texas A&M ‘A’ team of Shaine Casas, Mark Theall, Kaloyan Bratanov, and Tanner Olson won the men’s 200 freestyle relay handily, defeating their nearest competitors, the A&M ‘B’ team, by nearly three and a half seconds. Casas led off the relay in a personal best time of 19.15, shaving 0.32 from his previous lifetime best, also leading off a relay, and coming within 0.11 of the team record, set by Cory Bolleter in 2017 (19.04). Following Casas, distance specialist Theall threw down a 19.27, handing over to Bratanov who put up a 19.14, and finally Olson, a breaststroke specialist, who anchored in 18.92.
This is also a new team record for the Aggies who narrowly surpassed the 1:16.57 they put up at the 2020 SEC Championships, although Theall was the only member of tonight’s relay that also swam on the Aggies’ 200 free relay at SECs.
LSU’s ‘A’ team took third in 1:20.70 and featured an impressive 19.34 lead-off by Brooks Curry, just o.04 shy of his lifetime best in the 50. Incarnate Word’s ‘A’ team placed 4th in 1:21.89.
Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay ‘A’ Final
Women’s 500 Freestyle
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:35.76
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:47.20
Texas A&M freshman Chloe Stepanek held onto her #1 seed in tonight’s final, touching the wall in 4:44.40, a little slower than her prelims time but nearly a second ahead of teammate Camryn Toney who posted a 4:45.19 for second. Both swimmers managed NCAA ‘B’ cuts.
A&M senior Haley Yelle placed 3rd in tonight’s final in 4:48.22, a little over 3 seconds off her prelims time and a little more than 8 seconds off her lifetime best. Ximena Conde of Incarnate Word achieved her second best time of the day in this race with a 4:50.72, exactly one second faster than she was this morning which was itself 1.2 seconds faster than her previous PR.
Women’s 500 Freestyle ‘A’ Final
Men’s 500 Freestyle
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:11.82
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:23.34
The men’s 500 free belonged solely to A&M’s Mark Theall who blasted a 4:10.67 to take a tenth off his previous best time and school record and slip under the NCAA ‘A’ cut by a full second.
A&M junior Luke Stuart placed 2nd in 4:21.88, comfortably meeting the ‘B’ cut standard. For Stuart, tonight’s swim was just half a second shy of his lifetime best from this meet in 2018.
LSU’s Brooks Curry chose not to swim the 500 in the finals after qualifying 3rd this morning, making room for A&M sophomore William Coakley who placed 8th in 4:28.23, securing A&M an additional 11 points.
Men’s 500 Free ‘A’ Final
Women’s 200 IM
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.66
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:59.94
Jing Quah dominated the women’s 200 IM with a 1:57.25, finishing a full 2.4 seconds ahead of runner-up and top-seed Summer Stanfield who touched in 1:59.69. Though Stanfield was stronger on the first half of the race, particularly the backstroke, Quah was dominant on the breaststroke and the freestyle.
While Quah’s breaststroke split was nearly 2 seconds faster than Stanfield’s it was not the fastest of the field as that accolade was earned by A&M freshman Bobbi Kennett who put up a 34.20, contributing to an overall time of 2:00.71 and a 4th-place finish. This is a lifetime best for Kennett by 2.02 seconds and a good sign for her 100 breaststroke tomorrow.
Women’s 200 IM ‘A’ Final
Men’s 200 IM
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.34
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:46.77
Shaine Casas dominated the men’s 200 IM with a blistering 1:38.95, winning by more than 5 seconds over A&M teammate Kaloyan Bratanov who posted a 1:44.17, missing his lifetime best by just 0.10. A&M placed 1st through 6th, and 8th, in this race tonight, with 7th place going to LSU’s Emil Hassling in 1:48.20.
Casas is now the third-fastest performer all-time in the 200 yard IM and one of only three swimmers to go sub-1:39 in the 200 IM, alongside World Record holder Caeleb Dressel and three-time individual NCAA Champion Andrew Seliskar. You can read more about Casas’ swim here.
Sophomore Andres Puente Bustamante placed 3rd in 1:45.34, shaving over a second from his lifetime best. Freshman Vincent Ribeiro took 4th in 1:45.70, a 0.13 improvement upon his prelims swim which itself was a new lifetime best by a second. The ‘A’ final of the men’s 200 IM was young overall with Casas, Bratanov, and Hudson Smith (6th, 1:48.16) being the only upper-classmen, and Smith the only senior among them.
Men’s 200 IM ‘A’ Final
Women’s 50 Freestyle
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 21.66
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 22.76
Chloe Stepanek pulled off an unlikely double by winning both the 500 and the 50 freestyle tonight. In the 50, Stepanek took 0.12 off her prelims time to hit the wall in 22.26, comfortably under the NCAA ‘B’ cut for the second time today and making for an overall improvement of 0.61 in the 50.
LSU was strong in the women’s 50 freestyle, placing 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 8th. Event runner-up, sophomore Katarina Milutinovich, shaved 0.2 from her prelims time to hit the wall in 22.76, nailing the NCAA ‘B’ standard exactly. In 3rd place and just off the ‘B’ cut was sophomore Olivia Taylor in 22.83.
Swimming in the ‘C’ final, A&M freshman Jade Hallum posted a 23.88, the 8th-fastest time overall in the women’s 50 free tonight and just 0.08 shy of her lifetime best from 2018 when she was 15-years-old.
Women’s 5o Freestyle ‘A’ Final
Men’s 50 Freestyle
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.96
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 19.96
After just missing his lifetime best in the 50 freestyle leading off the 200 free relay, Brooks Curry lowered it by 0.02 in the individual 50 freestyle to hit a 19.28, also lowering LSU school record in the splash-and-dash. This ended up being the only race of the night that Texas A&M did not win, thanks to Curry, though the Aggies did still place 2nd through 6th. Three men including Curry went under 20 seconds in the 50 free tonight, with the others being A&M breaststroke specialist Tanner Olson with a 19.39, and Bratanov with a 19.71. All three men earned NCAA ‘B’ cuts.
Men’s 50 Freestyle ‘A’ Final
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:31.66
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:33.78
The Texas A&M ‘A’ team won the women’s 400 medley relay handily over LSU, though LSU kept it close for the first 200 yards, thanks in particular to a 59.91 breaststroke split from Emilie Boll. However, a 52.80 fly split from A&M’s Quah and a 48.49 freestyle split from Stepanek broadened the gap between A&M and LSU. Ultimately, A&M’s ‘A’ team finished in 3:35.61 to LSU’s 3:37.93.
Despite swimming exhibition, A&M freshman Olivia Theall blasted a 52.38 butterfly split for the ‘B’ team while senior Taylor Pike put up a 53.01 butterfly split on the A&M ‘C’ team. Theall’s time appears to have been the fastest among all of the swimmers in the field.
Women’s 400 Medley Relay ‘A’ Final
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:05.95
- NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:07.74
Casas led off the A&M medley relay in a blistering 44.25, lowering his personal best and school record in the 100 backstroke by 0.15. Puente Bustamante took over on breaststroke, registering a 52.15, while Jace Brown put up a 47.45 on the butterfly. Theall took over on freestyle and anchored in a 42.36 for an overall time of 3:06.21, a provisional or ‘B’ time for the 400 medley relay.
A&M’s ‘B’ team placed 2nd in 3:12.12, while LSU’s ‘A’ team took 3rd in 3:14.07, thanks to a 41.85 freestyle split from Curry. Incarnate Word rounded out the field with 6th and 7th place finishes.
Only three swimmers in the field, all of whom swam freestyle, had faster splits than Casas did leading off the relay in backstroke, those being Theall, Curry, and Clayton Bobo, at least, we can be fairly sure Bobo was sub-44.25 in his 100 freestyle split. The results are incomplete, but if you do the math the results indicate that Bobo’s second 50 split was 23.36, so for a guy that’s been 43.28 from a flat start the estimation of a sub-44.25 split is reasonable.
Tanner Olson is not the school record holder in the 100 breast.
I’m not sure one way or the other, but are Casas’ pullouts legal? Seems like a prolonged dolphin kick, but I could be wrong here.
Kinda looks like exaggerated “undulation” as he pulls his body back in line, technically legal but certainly pushing it, a lot of breaststrokers do that to get around being called for a deliberate second kick. The camera angle makes it a bit harder to tell. Unless there’s underwater video it’s pretty difficult to call it 100%
Is it just me or does it look like his feet separate during his underwater kicks, so when he snaps them down (or up on backstroke) he kind of has a semi freestyle kick going on?
A simple no wouldve been fine
Casas should do a 500/200im/50fr triple on day one of SECs