Atlanta Classic Day 1 Finals: Live Recap

2016 Atlanta Classic – Day 1 – Finals

• Friday, May 13th, 6:00PM (Eastern Time)
• Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

Katie Ledecky posted one of the world’s fastest times in the prelims of the 200 free, but how fast will she be in finals after also swimming a monster 400 IM and almost chasing down NCAA champion Ella Eastin?  Townley Haas swims the men’s 200 free, trying to hit a time more consistent with the 1:30.46 he went in the SCY version of the race.  Jack Conger vs Tom Shields vs Joseph Schooling in the men’s 100 fly.  Can Breeja Larson hit a FINA ‘A’ cut like Molly Hannis did this morning, and will Andrew Wilson break 1-minute in the 100 breast?

Women’s 200 Free – Finals

1. Katie Ledecky, Nation’s Capitol, 1:54.82
2. Simone Manuel, Stanford, 1:57.90
3. Shannon Vreeland, Athens Bulldogs, 1:58.88

Katie Ledecky lowered her prelims time by 3-one-hundredths tonight, finishing over 3 seconds ahead of Simone Manuel who took second in a 1:57.90, a time which will be very competitive in Omaha.  Rounding out the top three was Shannon Vreeland who took nearly a full second off of her prelims time.

Vreeland showed great pacing on the back half of her race.  Ledecky and Manuel were out fast, 55.76 and 56.61, respectively, whereas Vreeland was only a 58.20.  However, Vreeland came home in a 1:00.68; Ledecky’s final 100 was a brisk 59.06 and Manuel’s a 1:01.29.

Veteran Amanda Weir came in 8th with a 2:00.69.  Elizabeth Beisel moved from 20th to 11th in the B final with a 2:00.60, dropping 3.10 seconds from her prelims time.  Beisel actually tied for 20th this morning with Rachel Muller from Swim Atlanta.  A swim-off would have been required if Felicia Lee of Stanford who placed 13th in this morning’s heats had not scratched the finals of the 200 in order to focus on the 100 fly, where she is seeded 3rd.

Men’s 200 Free – Finals

1. Jay Litherland, Dynamo, 1:49.41
2. Gunnar Bentz, Athens Bulldogs, 1:50.11
3. Sebastien Rousseau, Gator Swim Club, 1:50.80

The top three finishers in the men’s 200 free tonight were all SEC.  Jay Litherland dropped a solid 1:49.41 to clench the victory tonight in front of a (mostly) home crowd.  UGA teammate Gunnar Bentz came in second, but still a sizable 0.70 behind Litherland.  Jay’s brother Kevin earned fifth behind Cal’s Ryan Murphy.

Townley Haas slid from first to tenth place tonight, while teammate Jack Conger slid from second to sixth.  In the B final Caeleb Dressel and Sean Grieshop emerged as the top-2 going 1:51.56 and 1:51.96, respectively.  In the C final Corey Main dropped 2.56 second for 21st place.

Women’s 100 Breast – Finals

1. Melanie Margalis, Saint Petersburg Aquatics, 1:07.48
2. Molly Hannis, Tennessee Aquatics, 1:07.86
3. Breeja Larson, New York Aquatic Club, 1:08.46

Melanie Margalis surged from third to first tonight, getting by top-seed Molly Hannis.  Though Hannis was out fast in a 31.71, she couldn’t bring it home as quickly as Margalis who had the only sub-36-second second 50, going a 35.55.

Mara Lucenti of Nashville Aquatic Club and Jenny Wilson swimming unattached tied for 11th in the B final with a time of 1:11.82.  The C final was won by 15-year-old Isabel Ivey of Gator Swim Club, who nearly qualified for Olympic Trials in the event and dropped 2.5 seconds from her prelims time.

Men’s 100 Breast – Finals

1. Andrew Wilson, Longhorn Aquatics, 1:02.06
2. Reece Whitley, Penn Charter Academy, 1:02.17
3. Chuck Katis, Cal, 1:02.53

Andrew Wilson added over half-a-second to his prelims time, but was still fast enough to hold off a charging Reece Whitley.  On the back-half of the race Whitley out-split the entire field with a 32.78.  Wilson had the second-fastest second 50 with a 33.11.

Brad Craig and Michael Duderstadt tied for 5th with a 1:03.72, which was faster than either of them swam in prelims.

Michael Summe of Kentucky Aquatics placed 11th with a 1:05.05, and Jared Clance of Swim Atlanta placed 21st with a 1:05.56.

Women’s 100 Fly – Finals

1. Felicia Lee, Stanford, 59.57
2. Hali Flickinger, Athens Bulldogs, 1:00.09
3. Lauren Case, Chattahoochee Gold, 1:00.22

Felicia Lee made her scratch in the 200 free worthwhile by winning the 100 fly tonight.  Lee took it out fast with a 27.67 and finished strong with a 31.90.  Hali Flickinger did out-split Lee on the second half, but it wasn’t enough to make up the deficit of the first 50 meters.

Nine of the ten women in the A final of the fly swam OT-qualifying times (though Beryl Gastaldello who placed 5th is French).  Additionally, the top-3 finishers of the B final also went under the OT-qualifying time of 1:01.19.

Men’s 100 Fly – Finals

1. Joseph Schooling, Unattached, 51.86
2. Tom Shields, Cal, 52.02
3. Jack Conger, Unattached, 53.33

Joseph Schooling‘s 100 fly this evening ranks him as the 15th-fastest in the world this year, despite being well-off his best time of 50.96 established last summer in Kazan.  Shields’ time of 52.02 was also good for the 17th-fastest time in the world this year (though he already sits at 6th with his time from Winter Nationals in December of 2015).  Shields and Schooling were in a league of their own, being the only two under 53 seconds tonight.

Caeleb Dressel took time off his morning swim, but still only placed sixth with a time of 53.75, tying with Gunnar Bentz, who already took 2nd in the 200 free tonight, where Dressel took 11th.  Though Dressel bested Conger at NCAA’s in the 100 yard fly and swam faster than Shields ever did in the yards version of the race, he still seems to be adjusting to swimming fly in long course.

Women’s 400 IM – Finals

1. Elizabeth Beisel, Bluefish, 4:33.55
2. Maya Dirado, Stanford, 4:36.98
3. Katie Ledecky, Nation’s Capitol, 4:37.93

Proving that her swims this morning were a mere rouse, Elizabeth Beisel surged to the victory in the 400 IM, registering the 4th-fastest time in the world this year.  Beisel took the race out fast in the fly and back, but was still trailing Maya Dirado at the 200-meter-mark.  Beisel made up the ground quickly in the breast and surged ahead of Dirado, where she pulled further away from Ledecky and Eastin.

While Beisel’s time catapults her to 4th in the world this year (though she was already sitting at 8th with her time from Canadian Olympic Trials about 5 weeks ago), Dirado’s is good for 13th-fastest and Ledecky’s 15th!  Despite Ledecky’s amazing time, 400 IM-ers can remain calm knowing that she (probably) will not pursue swimming it in international competition (this year), due to the IM’s proximity to the 400 free at Trials and in the Olympics.  However, more grueling schedules have been accomplished (cough, MP 2008).

Eastin, the top seed going into tonight’s final, placed 4th with a time of 4:40.77, a nearly-identical time to her morning swim.

Men’s 400 IM – Finals

1. Jay Litherland, Dynamo, 4:14.66
2. Josh Prenot, Cal, 4:14.81
3. Marton Barta, Swim Atlanta, 4:19.47

Jay Litherland pulled off a very difficult double tonight, winning both the 200 free and the 400 IM.  Prenot already had a top-25 world ranking in this race, but with his swim tonight he has moved up even higher to 18th-fastest.  Litherland, meanwhile, takes over the 15th spot on the top-25.  Jay’s brother, Kevin, also finished 9th in the A final.

Marton Barta had a huge time-drop, taking over 6 seconds off his morning swim.  As Barta is only 16, he may yet make a run at the Junior World Record in this race.  After Barta top-seed Sean Grieshop finished fourth with a 4:19.83.  After Grieshop the rest of the field was 7 or more seconds behind, though Mark Szaranek of Gator Swim Club dropped a 4:23.28 in the B final to win that heat by over 5 seconds.