Ally McHugh Talks 30x100LCM @1:30 after Dropping 15:59 1500 PR

2021 PRO SWIM SERIES – INDIANAPOLIS (#4)

Reported by James Sutherland.

WOMEN’S 1500 FREE TIMED FINAL

  1. Ally McHugh (WA), 15:59.54
  2. Emma Nordin (SUN), 16:01.37
  3. Sierra Schmidt (UN), 16:06.85

Ally McHugh ran down early leader Emma Nordin over the final few hundred meters to ultimately win the fastest heat of the women’s 1500 free in 15:59.54, marking her first time under the 16-minute threshold.

McHugh, 23, came into the meet with a personal best time of 16:02.56, set at the 2018 U.S. Summer Nationals. She now takes over eighth in the world for the 2020-21 season, and is also the second-fastest American behind top-ranked Katie Ledecky.

McHugh notably negative-split the race: out in 8:01.11 at the 750 (with a 8:33.27 800 free split), and then back in 7:58.43.

Nordin, who couldn’t match McHugh’s speed over the last 100, produces a massive best time, chopping almost 10 seconds off her previous PB in 16:01.37 to rank 10th in the world this season. The 21-year-old Sun Devil had previously been 16:11.23 at the Mission Viejo PSS in April. Prior to that her best time was a 16:36.69 from 2019.

2020-2021 LCM WOMEN 1500 FREE

KATIEUSA
LEDECKY

04/11
15:40.55
2 WANG
JIANJIAHE
CHN 15:45.59 09/27
3 SARAH
KOHLER
GER 15:52.20 04/16
4 LI
BINGJIE
CHN 15:52.31 01/02
5 ANASTASIA
KIRPICHNIKOVA
RUS 15:53.18 12/12
6 SIMONA
QUADARELLA
ITA 15:57.03 04/03
7 MARTINA RITA
CARAMIGNOLI
ITA 15:59.13 04/03
8 ALLY
MCHUGH
USA 15:59.54 05/12
9 KAREENA
LEE
AUS 16:01.02 12/16
10 EMMA
NORDIN
USA 16:01.37 05/12

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Ol' Longhorn
2 years ago

I still can’t believe adults voluntarily do these things.

ReneDescartes
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
2 years ago

Imagine being a swimmer.

Azswim
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
2 years ago

Like what, make a passive aggressive comment on a swimming forum? Lol

Hswimmer
2 years ago

Second spot behind ledecky??? Will L. Smith swim the mile?

Hooooos
Reply to  Hswimmer
2 years ago

400 free …..

wow
Reply to  Hswimmer
2 years ago

Don’t know if L. Smith will even swim the mile to be honest. I think she’s lasered in on the 400 and 800, and hoping to get her 4×200 finals spot back. I think Nordin is gonna have a huge drop in the 400 and I think Madden is gonna have a huge drop in the 200. I think the 400 IM is more likely than the 1500 for her to swim. I see the race for second in the mile between Twichell, Nordin, McHugh, and Sullivan.

Last edited 2 years ago by wow
Hswimmer
Reply to  wow
2 years ago

Wonder if Madden will do the mile LC? She didn’t here so I’m guessing she does 1,2,400 at trials

swimswamswum
Reply to  Hswimmer
2 years ago

I believe Madden said in a post NCAAs interview that she is done with the mile, so I would guess her trials line up is 200/400/800

Hswimmer
Reply to  swimswamswum
2 years ago

I think she could do the 100 pretty well, she’s doing that here and the 50. I didn’t see if she was entered in the 800. I guess we will have to wait and see what she chooses

Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Reply to  wow
2 years ago

April was not a good month for Team USA in the women’s 200 meter freestyle:

Schmitt – 1:58.04
McLaughlin – 1:58.14
Cox – 1:58.14
Kozan – 1:58.50
Weitzeil – 1:58.69
Smith – 1:58.76
Nordin – 1:58.98

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the women’s 200 meter freestyle is 1:57.28 for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

http://www.swmeets.com/Realtime/Pro%20Series/2021/Mission%20Viejo/

Of course, Katie Ledecky is always the exception.

Taa
Reply to  Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
2 years ago

4 or 5 on that list will be sub 157 and 2 will be sub 156. April was most likely heavy training for all of them.

Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Reply to  Taa
2 years ago

I’m hoping for better times in May. A step in the right direction.

Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Reply to  Coleman Hodges
2 years ago

Katie Ledecky is primed and ready to go without a taper.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
2 years ago

Who cares. People get way too invested in going really fast in season.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
2 years ago

womp, womp

Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Reply to  Hswimmer
2 years ago

200 FR , 400 FR, 800 FR, 400 IM?

Too many open water swimmers (Anderson, Sullivan, Twichell) to compete with in addition to a host of others (McHugh, Nordin, Schmidt, et cetera).

Besides, Leah Smith has a better chance of a top six finish in the women’s 200 meter freestyle than a top two finish in the women’s 1500 meter freestyle.

Last edited 2 years ago by Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Schwim
Reply to  Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
2 years ago

Can we suspend this commenter for their constant bad takes? Points for consistency, I guess

Ghost
2 years ago

Coleman you should know what pace 15:59 is!!! LC mile paces are easy to figure out 1:04.0 is 16 mins! Yards 1650 is much harder to calculate!

PK Doesn't Like His Long Name
Reply to  Coleman Hodges
2 years ago

Coleman I’m a smidge worried if you swam your entire life and struggle with 60 divided by 15… 😀

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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