2021 Atlanta Classic
- May 14-16, 2021
- McAuley Aquatic Center @ Georgia Tech
- Atlanta, GA
- Hosted by SwimAtlanta
- LCM Format (50m)
- Top 40 Finals: A, B, C, D (18&U)
- Meet Site
- Meet Packet
- Psych Sheets
- Wave I & II Olympic Trials Cuts
- FINA Olympic Qualifying Standards
Day 3 Women’s Prelims Live Stream
Day 3 Women’s Prelims Heat Sheets
The final prelims session of the 2021 Atlanta Classic will kick off with the women’s 200 IM where 2016 Olympian Melanie Margalis is the top seed. Alabama’s Rhyan White leads the field in the 200 back and Gretchen Walsh is seeded first in the last event of the morning, the 100 free.
Women’s 200 IM – Prelims
- Meet Record: 2:10.54 – Ella Eastin (2016)
- Wave II cut: 2:15.26
- Wave I cut: 2:17.39
Top 10 Qualifiers:
- Melanie Margalis (Saint Petersburg) – 2:12.52
- Alexis Yager (Tennesse) – 2:15.93
- Zoie Hartman (Athens Bulldog) – 2:16.03
- Meghan Small (Tennessee Aquatics) – 2:16.18
- Lauren Poole (Kentucky) – 2:16.68
- Trude Rothrock (Tennessee) – 2:16.71
- Hannah Ownbey (Unattached-SE) – 2:16.86
- Portia Brown (Athens Bulldog) – 2:17.32
- Kathleen Golding (Florida) – 2:17.81
- Cat Wright (Alabama) – 2:17.90
- Danika Katzer (Tennessee) – 2:18.17
Melanie Margalis took control of the backstroke length, expanding her lead to 2.5 seconds after the breast. She finished first with a substantial lead over Zoie Hartman of Athens who touched 2nd in that heat and 3rd overall. Margalis was about 3.8 seconds off her entry time.
Tennessee’s Alexis Yager broke 2:16.00 for the first time to snag the 2nd seed spot in tonight’s final. Her previous lifetime best was set at 2:16.37 from January 2020.
Meghan Small of Tennessee Aquatics made her move on the breaststroke length, touching the 150-meter mark a second ahead of the field in heat 7. She finished in 4th overall, followed by Kentucky’s Lauren Poole who dropped half a second from her entry time.
Poole led a quartet of lifetime best swims as Trude Rothrock dropped one-third of a second from her best time from January 2020, Hannah Ownbey shaved half a second off her lifetime best from August 2019, and Portia Brown took nearly a second off her lifetime best from June 2019.
Women’s 200 Back – Prelims
- Meet Record: 2:09.82 – Asia Seidt (2017)
- Wave II cut: 2:12.94
- Wave I cut: 2:14.69
Top 10 Qualifiers:
- Rhyan White (Alabama) – 2:08.55
- Lisa Bratton (Aggie Swim Club) – 2:10.44
- Sophie Sorenson (Kentucky) – 2:11.14
- Summer Smith (Bluefish) – 2:11.48
- Rosie Zavaros ((Unattached-Florida) – 2:12.84
- Morgan Liberto (Alabama) – 2:12.96
- Caitlin Brooks (Kentucky) – 2:13.33
- Torie Buerger (Kentucky) – 2:14.30
- Sherridon Dressel (Gator Swim Club) – 2:14.36
- Rye Ulett (Dynamo) – 2:15.02
Alabama’s Rhyan White had a staggering 10-meter lead over heat 6 as she barreled into the wall with a time of 2:08.55, cracking 2:10.00. She took out the race in 1:02.25, coming home in 1:06.30 and she was slightly more than one second off her entry time. White’s season best time of 2:07.24 from the Pro Swim Series last month still ranks her 5th in the world this year:
2020-2021 LCM Women 200 Back
McKeown
2:04.28
| 2 | Kylie Masse | CAN | 2:05.42 | 07/31 |
| 3 | Margherita Panziera | ITA | 2:05.56 | 03/31 |
| 4 | Rhyan White | USA | 2:05.73 | 06/19 |
| 5 | Emily Seebohm | AUS | 2:06.17 | 07/31 |
In heat 5, Lisa Bratton and Sophie Sorenson pulled away from the field to have a battle of their own. Sorenson remained about had a body length behind Bratton, but ultimately Bratton fended her off for 2nd place going into tonight’s final. This was a new lifetime best for Sorenson by .73.
Bluefish’s Summer Smith crushed her previous lifetime best time of 2:12.63 from March 2019 to snag the 4th spot in tonight’s final. Close behind was Rosie Zavaros (2:12.84) and Alabama’s Morgan Liberto who also posted a lifetime best time, taking one-third of a second off her best time from August 2019.
Women’s 100 Free – Prelims
- Meet Record: 54.11 – Simone Manuel (2016)
- Wave II cut: 55.56
- Wave I cut: 56.29
Top 10 Qualifiers:
- Natalie Hinds (Athens Bulldog) – 54.63
- Olivia Smoliga (Athens Bulldog) – 54.85
- Anika Apostalon (USC Aquatics) – 54.93
- Julie Meynen (Unattached – SE) – 55.29
- Cora Dupre (Alabama) – 55.48
- Gretchen Walsh (Nashville) – 55.59
- Morgan Scott (Alabama) – 55.65
- Maxine Parker (Athens Bulldog) – 55.92
- Talia Bates (Unattached- Florida) – 55.95
- Riley Gaines (Kentucky) – 56.34
Athens Bulldogs had a 1-2 finish in the 100 free as Natalie Hinds dominated heat 9 to earn the top seed spot in tonight’s final by a significant margin in a sprint event, .22. Hinds split the race 26.19 / 28.44 by 50 meters and she was about one-third of a second off her entry time.
Olivia Smoliga and Nashville’s Gretchen Walsh were neck-and-neck in last heat, until the last 10 meters when Smoliga pulled ahead and Alabama’s Cora Dupre powered into the wall and snuck between them at the finish. Walsh was the top seed going into this event with an entry time of 53.74, her lifetime best time that she posted in August 2019, so we might see some extra speed from her in the finals tonight. This was Dupre’s first time under 56.00 and she dropped half a second off her lifetime best from December 2019.
This was a solid swim for USC’s Anika Apostalon who snagged 3rd and dropped .27 from her entry time. She was about .65 off her lifetime best from July 2018. Julie Meynen earned 4th ahead of Dupre.
Anyone knows how curzan did in the prelims of the 100 free???
54.77 in the morning.
Curzan went 55.27 in prelims last month before dropping 54.4… she should be well under 54, but by how remains to be seen until we see the results… Either way the American 4×100 should be able to compete Aussie and contend for gold not just minor medals
The question now is will Katie Ledecky swim the women’s 100 meter freestyle at the 2021 Olympic Team Trials as was the case at the 2016 Olympic Team Trials?
The most recent performances from Erika Brown, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia do not instill confidence in the women’s 100 meter freestyle.
As a footnote, Kelsi Worrell finished 8th in the final of the women’s 100 meter freestyle at 2016 Olympic Team Trials.
If they have to use Ledecky they are not winning gold. Best bet is to have Manual sub 52 and three 52.5s and the likely ones are Weitzell, Huske and Curzan. I would put the % as follows for odds: G 15% S 60% B 25%
Greg Meehan may have to use Katie Ledecky just to salvage silver.
At this rate, I don’t see Brown (53.42), Comerford (52.59), Dahlia (53.87) making the 2021 Olympic Team.
🇨🇦 raises their hand….
Taylor 51 best relay split
Unrested from last week:
Penny 53 mid looking on form
Kayla 53.5 best time
Maggie 54.0 after epic NCAA season, big taper drops based on history
These 4 were leading USA and AUS at the 300m mark in 2019, as 18/19 year olds…
Yup!
The Canadians do worry me now that Mallory Comerford (52.59 leadoff split in the final of the women’s 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay at the 2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships) has fallen off a cliff.
Melanie Margalis
Women’s 200 meter individual medley
2016 – 4th
2017 – 4th
2019 – 4th
One of these days ………
Look she is 29 years old in a sport where lots of girls are under 18. If she goes and wins a medal that is great, particularity since she is somewhat older than the average.
I would love to see Melanie Margalis qualify in the women’s 200 meter individual medley at the 2021 Olympic Team Trials. Melanie Margalis deserves another shot at the podium.
Can’t wait to see what White can throw down tonight – given that 58.4 from yesterday I think we might be in for something special!
And curzan and smoliga in the 100 free well!! Spectacular performance this week in america
Speaking of the women’s 100 meter freestyle, whatever happened to Lia Neal?
2016 Olympic Team Trials
Women’s 100 meter freestyle
Weitzeil, Manuel, Weir, Neal, Schmitt, Vollmer
2:06 low for White?
And G Walsh has been fairly quiet this meet – Curzan and Huske have surpassed her and she has yet to respond.
The irony of it all:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_FINA_World_Junior_Swimming_Championships
Reminder she split 53.01 and that was TWO years ago. I havent seen a 52 split out of Curzan or Huske so she hasn’t quite been passed yet
If there’s any consolation Curzan posted a 24.17 in the 50 free and she has the 100 free tonight she has the potential to answer mckeon’s 52.29 (McKeon went 24.5 “50free” and 56.8 “100 fly” in the same session compared to curzan 24.17 “50 free world Jr record” and 56.4 “100 fly”) so it’s plausible that she can post a sub 53 today in the 100 free
Cate Campbell broke the world record in the women’s 100 meter freestyle (52.06) on 2 Jul 2016. What good did that accomplish on 11 Aug 2016 at the 2016 Summer Olympics?
What do Aussie olympic failures have to do with Gretchen Walsh? By your definition Reagan Smith is all washed up since she hasn’t matched her WR from 2019
The response was to Emma McKeon’s recent performance in the women’s 100 meter freestyle.
It’s a complete joke to compare Gretchen Walsh to Regan Smith. Regan Smith won the gold medal in the women’s 200 meter backstroke at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships. Regan Smith broke two world records at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships. To date, Gretchen Walsh has accomplished nothing at the senior level.
Gretchen Walsh has yet to match her personal best time of 53.74 in the women’s 100 meter freestyle in nearly two years.
Which tells you she is probably faster than that as she is older/stronger etc. Did you see what her sister did at UVA this past year? My guess is she is not close to being done improving. We find out in a couple weeks.
G. Walsh is a big taper swimmer, like her sister Alex.