2021 Pro Swim Series – Richmond: Day 1 Finals Recap

2021 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – RICHMOND

• January 14-17, 2021
• Collegiate School Aquatics Center, Richmond, VA
• Start Times (Eastern Time): Women’s Prelims: 9:00 a.m. / Men’s Prelims: 90 minutes after women’s prelims (between 11:30-12:00) / Finals: 7:00 p.m.
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Info (Both Sites)
• Schedule/Initial Timelines
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Psych sheets
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2021 TYR Pro Swim Series – Richmond”

Tonight, the Pro Swim Series is finally back, kicking off the 2021 slate with simultaneous meets in Richmond, Va., and San Antonio, Texas.

The 800 free is up tonight on the men’s and women’s sides, with TAC Titans’ Ashley Twichell the top seed on the women’s side and Dylan Porges, a Princeton swimmer training with the TAC Titans as the Ivy League is redshirting this NCAA season, the top men’s seed. Standout teens Cavan Gormsen (Long Island Aquatic Club) and Claire Weinstein (Westchester Aquatic Club) are two other big names to watch tonight. Gormsen is 15 and Weinstein is just 13; Weinstein will go for her first Olympic Trials cut, which would make her the youngest OT qualifier in the country.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE – TIMED FINALS

• Olympic Trials cut – 8:48.09

1. Ashley Twichell (TAC Titans) – 8:35.16
2. Caroline Pennington (TAC Titans) – 8:40.50
3. Paige McKenna (NCAP) – 8:43.57

TAC Titans led the 1-2 sweep tonight in the women’s 800, led by veteran Ashley Twichell at 8:35.16. UVA ’25 commit Caroline Pennington, who has been training with the TAC Titans since the beginning of the pandemic, hit a lifetime best 8:40.50 to take second, dropping almost four seconds from her old best.

Pennington has been on a lifetime best tear since summer 2019. She first broke nine minutes in this event in July 2019 (8:57.55), and she went 8:52.26 the next month. Her first 800 with TAC Titans came in October 2020, an 8:49.83, and then she nabbed an Olympic Trial cut in this race in November at the U.S. Open (8:44.45).

NCAP’s Paige McKenna (Wisconsin ’25) and Long Island Aquatic Club’s Cavan Gormsen followed up in third and fourth at 8:43.57 and 8:43.87, respectively. For the 15-year-old Gormsen, that’s a lifetime best by over seven seconds, and her first Olympic Trials cut in this event.

13-year-old Claire Weinstein of Westchester Aquatic Club was fifth in 8:45.34, dropping over 21 seconds. A big drop was expected after she dropped 20 seconds in the 1000 yard free recently, going 9:43.75. That makes Weinstein the youngest Olympic Trials qualifier, as she clears the standard by over two seconds.

NOVA of Virginia 16-year-old Claire Dafoe (Pitt ’26) and East Carolina Aquatics 16-year-old Emma Hastings (NC State ’26), earned their first OT cut, too. Dafoe was sixth at 8:46.94, dropping ten seconds, and Hastings was seventh in 8:47.30, dropping over six seconds.

MEN’S 800 FREE – TIMED FINALS

• Olympic Trials cut – 8:12.99

1. Dylan Porges (TAC Titans) – 8:07.03
2. Joshua Parent (Bluefish Swim Club) – 8:08.95
3. Anders Aistars (Mission Viejo Nadadores) – 8:15.74

Dylan Porges led another TAC Titans victory with a win in the men’s 800 free, clocking an 8:07.03 and dropping over five seconds off of his old best of 8:12.42 from the 2020 U.S. Open. He finished just ahead of Bluefish Swim Club 16-year-old Josh Parent, who lopped over four seconds off of his old best.

Parent clocked an 8:08.95, getting well under the OT standard for his first-ever OT cut.

16-year-old Anders Aistars of Mission Viejo Nadadores was 8:15.74 for third, the only other swimmer under 8:20, as he took out his old best of 8:23.02 by a hefty margin.