Swims You Might Have Missed From Night One Of The 2025 U.S. Summer Championships

2025 U.S. Summer Championships

• Tuesday, August 5 – Friday, August 8, 2025
• Irvine, California
• William Woollett Aquatics Center
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 9:00 am local / 12:00 pm ET
  • Finals: 5:00 pm local / 8:00 pm ET
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream Info (Available on USA Swimming Network App)
• Live Recaps:
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

The first night of finals of the 2025 U.S. Summer Championships featured great swims from many well-known names such as Americans Caeleb Dressel, Hunter Armstrong, and Gabby Rose as well as Australians like Jamie Jack and Mia O’Leary. However, SwimSwam wants to highlight a few things that may have gone under the radar and weren’t discussed in significant detail in our full session live recap.

Without further ado…

• In the 1500 free, open water veteran Becca Mann finished 6th in 16:43.69 to officially qualify for the National team. While the time was far from her 16:05.42 best from the 2015 Charlotte Grand Prix, it was a crucial swim that met the qualification standards and put her back on the national team for the first time since 2021. To make the team, swimmers were required to place top 6 in the 10K at Open Water Nationals in April and swim under the US national cut of 16:45.69 in the 1500 over the past year. She finished 7th in the 10K, but with two Japanese swimmers ahead of her, she was the 5th quickest American, which satisfied the requirement. The 27-year-old had been just shy of the required time in her previous four 1500s since Open Water Nationals, with her season best resting at 16:48.34 prior to this swim.
• After a five-year hiatus due to injuries and a focus on his fashion career, 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Calvyn Justus grabbed two personal bests in the 50 free. In prelims, the South African representing Fast Swim Team touched the wall in 22.46 to snag lane eight in the championship heat. He then upgraded to seventh place by dropping five hundredths to 22.38 in finals, going under his pre-meet best of 22.43 in the process. Prior to 2025, Justus had never cracked 23 seconds, as he always focused on the 100 and 200 free as well as the 100 back.
• 37-year-old Madison Kennedy of Rose Bowl Aquatics finished 4th in the ‘B’ final of the women’s 50 free with a time of 25.96. Kennedy missed out on making the 2016 Olympic team by 0.15 in the event with a 24.48 clocking. Her PB of 24.30 from 2013 would have made the grade, but she has continued to swim ever since. She last represented Team USA internationally at the 2019 Pan American Games and has swum at all nationals and trials meets minus last summer’s Olympic Trials.
• Though Australian Molly Walker did grab silver in the women’s 1500 free, most of the attention was on her teammate and gold medal winner Tiana Kritzinger. The 20-year-old, Craig Stewart-trained Walker put up a huge swim, taking 2nd in 16:18.38, which took a little over eight seconds off her best time. She was within striking distance of Kritzinger throughout the race, sitting just behind her the entire time.
• Isaac Fleig broke new ground in the men’s 800 free. He touched the wall seventh overall in 7:59.93, dipping under the eight-minute barrier for the first time in his career. The 20-year-old represents Fishers Area Swimming Tigers in Indiana and had a previous best of 8:01.97 from last summer’s Olympic Trials. He originally committed to Kentucky in fall 2021 before changing his commitment to Wisconsin in August 2022. In December 2023, he moved training bases at the club swimming level and announced he would join Arizona State beginning in fall 2024. Furthermore, he announced his transfer to Ohio State in May.
• Louisville rising junior Summer Cardwell dropped 2.44 seconds from her best time during prelims of the 200 IM, logging a result of 2:14.99 to qualify 3rd into the championship final. The 20-year-old, best known for her middle distance freestyle talents, set her former mark over three years ago at the Sarasota Sharks Open in June 2022. She was out in 28.66 on the fly leg, which compared to her 30.07 from her previous best time, represented the biggest area of improvement. Her strong opening gave her a lead of just over two tenths after the butterfly leg. She was 34.04 on back compared to her previous 35.13, extending her lead to 1.41 at the halfway mark. However, former USC Trojan Isabelle Odgers took the lead by 0.57 at the breaststroke turn. Cardwell chopped a few tenths off her breaststroke (40.86 vs 41.27), but closed slightly slower in 31.43 compared to 30.96 in her previous swim. In the final, Cardwell dropped even more, notching 2:13.64 to slice 1.35 seconds off her morning swim. She split 28.38, 33.86, 40.47, and 30.93, improving across all four strokes from her prelims swim. She stayed with the lead pack through the 100 before falling back to 4th at the 150, a body’s length back of 3rd. She nearly clawed back for a top-3 spot but fell just 0.06 shy, finishing 4th overall.