Allison Schmitt: I’m really excited with where I am (Video)

^{Produced by Coleman Hodges.}

^{Reported by Hannah Hecht.} 

WOMEN’S 200 FREE – FINALS

1. Allison Schmitt, North Baltimore: 1:56.87
2. Missy Franklin, Colorado Stars: 1:57.78
3. Cierra Runge, North Baltimore: 1:57.97

North Baltimore’s defending Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt took the win tonight in what will certainly be one of the most hotly-contested events in Omaha at the end of this month. Her 1:56.87 came in nearly a second ahead of fellow Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, who took second in 1:57.78.

Schmitt nearly hit her season-best tonight, a 13th-in-the-world 1:56.52 from the Arena PSS at Mesa earlier this spring. That Mesa time sits her second in the U.S. rankings (behind only Katie Ledecky), but Leah Smith and Franklin are well within reach, and Simone Manuel and Maya DiRado have also been under 1:58 this season.

Franklin’s season best is a 1:56.73 from the Arena PSS in Minneapolis in the fall. There is a question of whether Franklin will take on this event in Omaha. She is never one to back down from a tight schedule, but the semifinals of the 200 free come just one event before finals of the 100 back, and the backstroke features an incredibly crowded field.

Schmitt’s teammate Cierra Runge, who will be tranferring from Cal to Wisconsin this fall after sitting out this NCAA season to train with Bob Bowman at NBAC, fought Franklin all the way to the finish, but came up short in 1:57.97. However, today’s swim was nearly a second faster than her previous season best, a 1:58.88 from Mesa.

Madisyn Cox of Longhorn Swim Club finished fourth in 2:00.81, after dropping the 400 IM to focus on this race. Texas’s Joanna Evans hit fifth in 2:01.73, followed by North Baltimore’s Sierra Schmidt in 2:01.76.

North Baltimore’s Danish Olympic medalist Lotte Friis came up seventh in 2:02.33.