Brooks Curry Blasts 19.12 50 Free At Day 1 Prelims of Art Adamson Invite

2022 Art Adamson Invitational

  • November 16-18, 2022
  • Texas A&M Student Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Start Times: Prelims – 9:30 am / Finals – 5:30 pm (CT)
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “Art Adamson Invitational”
  • Live Stream

Brooks Curry kicked off college invite season with a bang on Wednesday morning, posting the top time in the nation in the men’s 50 freestyle during the first preliminary session of the Art Adamson Invite at Texas A&M.

Curry’s time, which is nearly identical to his heats swim from last season’s invite (19.14), overtakes Florida’s Josh Liendo (19.27) for the top time in the NCAA, and improves on his previous season-best of 19.45 set in early October in a dual against South Carolina.

Curry, an LSU senior who is the defending national champion in both the 50 and 100 free, owns a personal best time of 18.56 in the event, set at NCAAs in March.

Qualifying second for the final was USC sophomore Artem Selin (19.56), and Texas A&M junior Kraig Bray advanced third in 19.58. Selin owns a best time of 19.38 from the 2021 Art Adamson Invite, while Bray has a PB of 19.54 from the American Short Course Championships this past March.

Curry’s LSU sprinting counterpart, Maggie MacNeil, qualified first into the final of the women’s 50 free, clocking 21.86 to lead USC’s Anicka Delgado (21.97) and Alabama’s Morgan Scott (22.07).

MacNeil, who placed third at NCAAs last year in a time of 21.38, slightly improves her season-best of 21.90, maintaining her spot as the #2 swimmer in the country behind UVA’s Gretchen Walsh (21.16).

MacNeil owns a best time of 21.17, and her fastest-ever midseason swim was the 21.50 she produced at the 2021 Minnesota Invite.

FINALS QUALIFIERS

Women’s 500 Free

  1. Marlene Kahler (USC), 4:42.10
  2. Chloe Stepanek (Texas A&M), 4:43.68
  3. Kensey McMahon (Alabama), 4:43.73
  4. Jolee Liles (LSU), 4:45.59
  5. Luciana Thomas (Arkansas), 4:45.98
  6. Mackenzie Brandt (Alabama), 4:46.18
  7. Giulia Goerigk (Texas A&M), 4:47.10
  8. Jenna Bridges (LSU), 4:47.57

USC sophomore Marlene Kahler paced the women’s 500 free heats in a time of 4:42.10, well under her season-best of 4:45.28 to move up into fourth in the NCAA this season.

Texas A&M’s Chloe Stepanek qualified second in 4:43.68, just shy of her 4:43.40 personal best set at this meet last year.

Alabama’s Kensey McMahon, an NCAA ‘A’ finalist in this event last season, advanced third in 4:43.73.

Men’s 500 Free

  1. Victor Johansson (Alabama), 4:15.51
  2. Charlie Hawke (Alabama), 4:17.29
  3. William Coakley (Texas A&M), 4:20.75
  4. Geremia Freri (TCU), 4:22.63
  5. Stuart Higdon (LSU), 4:24.35
  6. Wen Zhang (Air Force), 4:24.42
  7. Paul Retterer (USC), 4:25.21
  8. Trent Martinez (USC), 4:25.81

Alabama fifth-year Victor Johansson posted the top time in the men’s 500 free in 4:15.51, slightly quicker than the 4:16.08 he put up in last year’s prelims (while with USC) before he won the final in 4:14.48.

His Crimson Tide teammate Charlie Hawke, an Aussie sophomore, neared his lifetime best to qualify second in 4:17.29, having been as fast as 4:16.06 at the 2022 SECs.

Women’s 200 IM

  1. Isabelle Odgers (USC), 1:57.26
  2. Ashley McMillan (USC), 1:57.29
  3. Justina Kozan (USC), 1:57.81
  4. Rhyan White (Alabama), 1:58.18
  5. Diana Petkova (Alabama), 1:58.36
  6. Bobbi Kennett (Texas A&M), 1:58.71
  7. Cat Wright (Alabama), 1:59.10
  8. Katherine Adams (USC), 1:59.75

USC claimed half of the lanes for tonight’s ‘A’ final in the women’s 200 IM, including the top three qualifiers in senior Isabelle Odgers and the freshman duo of Ashley McMillan and Justina Kozan. A third Trojan first-year, Katherine Adams, also made the big heat by taking eighth.

Men’s 200 IM

  1. Baylor Nelson (Texas A&M), 1:43.07
  2. Anze Fers Erzen (Texas A&M), 1:43.70
  3. Kaloyan Bratanov (Texas A&M), 1:44.33
  4. Derek Maas (Alabama), 1:44.87
  5. Vincent Ribeiro (Texas A&M), 1:44.99
  6. Andres Puente Bustamante (Texas A&M), 1:45.12
  7. Ben Dillard (USC), 1:45.15
  8. Alex Sanchez (Texas A&M) / Matt Menke (Alabama), 1:45.49

Texas A&M was dominant in the heats of the men’s 200 IM, led by freshman Baylor Nelson.

Nelson, SwimSwam’s top-ranked recruit coming into this season, had an impressive invite debut by clocking the top time of the session in 1:43.07, just over a second back of his lifetime best of 1:42.01 set last December.

Nelson had previously been 1:43.32 this season at the SMU Classic, so despite dropping in his swim this morning, he remains #3 in the country behind ASU’s Leon Marchand (1:42.55) and Texas’ Carson Foster (1:42.68).

The Aggies appear to have six qualifiers for tonight’s ‘A’ final—Alex Sanchez tied with Alabama’s Matthew Menke for eighth in 1:45.49, but Sanchez is listed as eighth and Menke ninth in the Meet Mobile results.

Women’s 50 Free

  1. Maggie MacNeil (LSU), 21.86
  2. Anicka Delgado (USC), 21.97
  3. Morgan Scott (Alabama), 22.07
  4. Kalia Antoniou (Alabama), 22.19
  5. Chloe Stepanek (Texas A&M), 22.37
  6. Hanna Henderson (USC), 22.44
  7. Andrea Sansores (Arkansas), 22.48
  8. Bella Cothern (Arkansas), 22.61

Besides MacNeil’s performance, Anicka Delgado had a strong showing in the women’s 50 free, becoming the third swimmer sub-22 this season in 21.97. Her best time sits at 21.89 from the 2022 Pac-12s.

Texas A&M’s Stepanek was the lone swimmer to qualify for two ‘A’ finals on the session, following up her 500 free swim by advancing fifth into the 50 free final in 22.37, just over a tenth shy of her 22.26 PB.

Men’s 50 Free

  1. Brooks Curry (LSU), 19.12
  2. Artem Selin (USC), 19.56
  3. Kraig Bray (Texas A&M), 19.58
  4. Connor Foote (Texas A&M), 19.65
  5. Ethan Gogulski (Texas A&M), 19.70
  6. Tim Korstanje (Alabama), 19.82
  7. Max Saunders (USC), 19.88
  8. Pawel Uryniuk (LSU) / Raphael Paiva Da (TCU), 19.89

Along with Curry, Selin and Bray’s swims, as noted above, Texas A&M had two more finals qualifiers in Connor Foote and Ethan Gogulski, giving them 10 ‘A’ final swims in just three individual events on the day.

LSU’s Pawel Uryniuk and TCU’s Raphael Paiva Da tied for eighth in 19.89, and a swim-off has been scheduled, according to Meet Mobile, though results have yet to come through.

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Andrew
2 years ago

Curry is Seeliger’s daddy

Bigbluefan
2 years ago

MacNeil was also unsuited

Texas A&M Swim Fan
Reply to  Bigbluefan
2 years ago

I was at the prelims & though my “main focus “ was on the men’s side of things, I can’t remember any female swimmer that was not suited! If someone has a video of Mc Neil’s prelim race, I’d like to see it posted here. Not downplaying her swim but I believe that she was suited like the other women.

Xman
Reply to  Texas A&M Swim Fan
2 years ago

Idk if it’s true. But I don’t understand the resistance to wearing tech suits. They change body position and how the core and legs respond learning to race that way is needed.

Years ago it was a cost issue, you wanted to preserve the suit as much as possible because they didn’t last long. But now the suits are made to last in fact some feel better once they are broken in a bit.

By this point each swimmer probably has at least 3 suits collecting dust in their underwear drawer, just use them.

Bigbluefan
Reply to  Texas A&M Swim Fan
2 years ago

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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