2024 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INVITATIONAL
- May 15-18, 2024
- Irvine, California
- Long Course Meters (50m), Prelims/Finals
- Live Stream on Irvine’s site
- Results on Meet Mobile: 2024 CA Southern California Invitational
- Day 1 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Day 3 Recap
After 2021 Tokyo Olympian Torri Huske bested Olympian Abbey Weitzeil in the 100 free earlier in the week, the pair wrapped up racing at the Southern California Invitational on Saturday with another showdown, this time in the 50 free.
It was once again Huske, 21, who came away with the win, this time by a 24.41 to 24.50 margin. That time was within a tenth of Huske’s personal best in the event – which was done at the Pro Swim Series meet in Westmont in early March.
Huske has taken big advantage of her redshirt season, swimming the three best time of her career in the 50 free since late November. Still, Weitzeil has the faster time of the pair this season, having posted a 24.27 at the Pro Swim Series in San Antonio. That ranks her 8th in the world this season, while Huske ranks 12th.
They are the #2 and #4 in the US this year, respectively, with Kate Douglass (23.91) and Gretchen Walsh (24.29), training partners at Virginia, intruding in the rankings.
37-year-old mother of three Brooke Boak swam 25.41 for 3rd place, while Cal undergrad Morgan Brophy finished 4th in 25.53. That’s Brophy’s best time by four-tenths of a second and pushes her under the Olympic Trials cut in the event – her second cut after the 100 fly.
Other Olympians who won races on Saturday include Ryan Murphy in the 100 back in 53.16, another season-best following one in the 200 back on Friday in 1:54.83. Keaton Jones was 2nd in 55.48 and Destin Lasco was 3rd in 56.17.
Michael Andrew won the 50 free in 22.09 to cap an encouraging meet for the up-and-down 25-year-old. He also won the 100 breast (59.87) and 100 fly (51.83) this week in what seems like a final tuneup for Trials.
The Stanford women continued their roaring weekend when Lucy Bell swam another best time to win the 200 IM in 2:13.28. While that drop of four tenths is much less than the two-and-a-half she dropped in the 400 IM on Friday, it is another positive sign a month out from Trials.
In the 800 free, Stanford swimmer Aurora Roghair didn’t swim in spite of lifetime bests (and wins) in the 200, 400, and 1500 freestyles earlier in the meet. Sammie Hamilton, who last week won the California High School State Championship in the 500 yard free, won the event in 8:51.33 – a new best time by half-a-second.
Other Saturday Winners & Highlights
- Cal’s Isabelle Stadden won the 100 back by almost three-and-a-half seconds in 59.22. That is her best time since last year’s World Championship Trials and just .23 seconds away from her lifetime best as part of a loaded US backstroke field headed toward Indianapolis in June.
- USC’s Kaitlyn Dobler won the 200 breaststroke in 2:28.64 ahead of her training partner Isabelle Odgers (2:29.50). Odgers had the lead at the halfway mark, but a big back half split of 1:15.93 for the sprinter Dobler ran away for the win. Dobler has a best time of 2:26.47, and in that race her back-half split was only 1:16.31.
- Former Stanford swimmer Daniel Roy, who recently returned to the pool after almost two years away from racing, swam 2:11.24 to win the men’s 200 breast. He was 2:09.57 at Sectionals in March to lock in a spot at the Olympic Trials.
- 17-year-old Campbell McKean of the Bend Swim Club in Oregon swam 2:03.25 to win the 200 IM by .04 seconds ahead of 19-year-old Mission Viejo Nadador Noah Sech. McKean’s best time of 2:03.07 from Winter Juniors in December already had him locked in for Trials, but he’s now been 2:03-low twice in the last two months (2:03.39 on March 17 at Sectionals).
- Cal’s Gabriel Jett won the 800 free in 8:04.79. That’s his best time by just over five seconds and vives him another Olympic Trials qualification. That’s the 7th different event in which he has a cut – among the most of any man in the country.
Not going to lie I’m a little worried about Abbey Weitzeil. She’s a taper swimmer for sure but her times this season have not been promising. Hope she can get back to that form like when she went 24.00 at World Trials.
Weitzeil has already been on two Olympic teams individually, at this moment I see her as a very safe 5th place in the 100 freestyle and being part of that relay, however individually I am not very sure, in any case she could fight for a place in the 50 freestyle, since Douglass will not do it and Huske is not so focused here since he can also opt for 200 im in trials, she will fight it with Manuel and Walsh.
It’s not only the 50 FR (24.00) but also the 100 FR (53.11). Abbey Weitzeil has been definitely off the pace in calendar year 2024.
I feel like Weitzeil is in a similar pace as last season but just the rest of US sprinters have stepped up this year so she’s not winning all of the in season races like last season
Ah, no!
W 50 FR
24.27 dated 13 Apr 2024
24.41 dated 30 Nov 2023
Abbey Weitzeil was trending in the right direction only to put up a stinker in the month of May.
Eh, disagree. Wasn’t she setting PRs last year?
Huske only swam the 50 and 100 free this meet and looked good in both beating Weitzel that was ahead of her last year.
Murphy looked really good for 75 meters then again got into it with the lane line. He bear Lasco handily in both backstrokes and he will be the huge favorite at trials.
This is same outdoor pool the nationals were held in 2018 minus most of the stands. I volunteer told me that when nationals are held there they extend the stands. It was a small crowd mostly families and friends.
I was sitting near MAs family vert nice people. MA told his family he wasn’t happy with the first half of his… Read more »
Up and down or seller of the century?
Why the hate?
Why the hype?
Gabriel Jett has had a great swim and personal best – he has tied the fastest woman ever to the 100th of a second.
Will Michael Andrew qualify for Paris?
Up for yes, down for no.
Yes but barely in 100 breast only
Forget the 50 free and 100 fly I’ll be damned if he gets below 21.5 and 51.00 respectively
It’s Nic Fink or bust. If Nic Fink can’t get the job done, USA Swimming is in a world of hurt in the men’s 100 meter breaststroke. I’m not expecting any miracles either.
59.8 is awful I don’t know what he’s doing but its clearly not working I wish he was the Atlanta classic somov would have smoked him
I’m pretty sure every top US contender except Noah Nichols raced this weekend, and no one else broke a minute. MA isn’t known as a taper swimmer, but he had to have been putting in work to be ready to swim hundreds at trials, so I expect a drop. Back into the 58s? We’ll see.
My money was on Matheny and Nichols to separate themselves as the main contenders for the 2nd spot, but now I think Cope and Andrew are right there with just as good a shot, with Jake Foster as a dark horse.
You’re grasping at straws. The Cult of Andrew kool-aid has warped your mind. Your nearest detox clinic awaits.
I have him in the mix for 2nd to Fink, which he absolutely is, because no one has emerged and set themself apart. A cultist would have him back in American record form, which is definitely not the case.
The OQT is 59.49 in the men’s 100 meter breaststroke. A month from the 2024 Olympic Team Trials, yet Michael Andrew can’t below the cut. Pathetic!
Fink went over a minute at the Texas meet. None of these swimmers are tapered, including MA, and you keep making definitive statements about how they’re going to do in Indy.
Michael Andrew has choked the last two years at the domestic trials in the 100 BR and 100 FL. Michael Andrew did not even qualify for the “A” final in the men’s 100 meter breaststroke at the 2023 Phillips 66 National Championships. Ditto, the men’s 100 meter butterfly.
He focused on 50s for both Fukuoka and Doha, which almost all of us thought was a really bad idea, including me. He does his own thing, which makes some people view everything he does through a negative prism and every bad time as a sure sign of the end of his career. I try not to do that, but I do think he put himself in a really tough spot to be ready to swim his 100s at his best by trials.
All that said, I still think he has a solid shot for 2nd in breaststroke if no one else can step up and get into something like 58.6 – 58.7 range.
Where the relay names guy at?
He’s out in here trolling. lol
Sjostrom’s 100 fly record is on its last legs.
Torri’s versatility in free, fly, and IM is very, VERY impressive. I’m glad she’s really maximizing her potential in the lead up to trials.
It’s amazing that Sjostrom WR still survive after onslaughts from Maggie Macneil, Zhang Yufei, and Torri Huske in the last few years.
I predict multiple swimmers will swim under the WR in Paris.
You have to wonder if she’ll think about going pro after the performances she’s had this year. I guess it depends on what happens in the summer.
Murphy didn’t go 1:54 on Friday, he went that at WCs😅
Anyway, why were there no live recaps of this and Indiana? They seemed to be better meets than Atlanta overall
Oh really?
Katie Ledecky
All-Time Top Performances
15:38.25 – 17th
3:59.44 – 33rd (tied)