Caroline Bentz Beats Regan Smith; Dolan Wins Men’s Crown in ASU 25 Free World Championship

The latest edition of the Arizona State 25 free World Championship saw Jack Dolan and Caroline Bentz come away with the ceremonial titles as part of one of the most-anticipated traditions of speed in the country annually.

The fall edition of the race was swum in yards (the spring edition is usually in short course meters) and featured a lot of new faces thanks to the post-Olympic turnover. Three of the four finalists from last year’s championships didn’t participate. Ryan Held, who has dominated these competitions, is now living in New York City, and the status of Olivia Smoliga and Simone Manuel is still unknown post-Paris.

Swimmers wore tech suits for the event.

On the men’s side, the final came down to the program’s big undergrad star Ilya Kharun and Jack Dolan, the man who pushed Held in most of those recent wins. Dolan was 2nd in both the spring and fall competitions, but on Friday he won in 8.71, beating out Kharun’s 8.87. That’s about three-tenths off what Dolan went last year (8.50) to finish 2nd,

Kharun beat Jonny Kulow 8.76-8.88 in one semifinal, while Dolan beat the team’s newest (and most-anticipated) post-grad Michael Andrew 8.70-9.03 in the other semi-final.

As a sidequest to this story: Michael Andrew‘s stroke is still recognizable as the one that took him to two Olympic Games, but maybe in initial returns looks a little more powerful (like he’s catching more water) and is a bit more balanced – his right arm has more of a hook in the wrist in the catch phase than it has in the past. This is the first race video we’ve seen from Andrew since moving to Tempe and training with Herbie Behm, so we’ll have to watch how this develops – both in freestyle and in his other strokes.

Men’s Race Videos from Poolside Perspective

#1 Ilya Kharun (near) vs. #8 Tolu Young (far) – QF 1

#3 Jonny Kulow (near) vs. #6 Mikel Scheuders (far) – QF 2

#2 Jack Dolan (near) vs. #7 Patrick Sammon (far) – QF 3

#4 Michael Andrew (near) vs. #5 Tommy Palmer (far) – QF 4

Ilya Kharun (near) vs. Jonny Kulow (far) – Semifinal 1

Michael Andrew (far) vs. Jack Dolan (near) – Semifinal 2

Jack Dolan (far) vs. Ilya Kharun (near) – Final

In the women’s race, there were two newcomers involved in the battle. 5th year undergrad transfer Caroline Bentz touched in 10.31, beating out Regan Smith, fresh off a World Cup run that included World Records in the 100 and 200 backstrokes. The margin was a mere .01 seconds, and the final was one of the few races where the start and breakout didn’t determine the outcome (Bentz came back after Smith had the better start).

The result for Smith is encouraging as she is not normally known as a freestyle sprinter. While she followed Bob Bowman and mostly trained with him up until the Olympic Games, her presence in Tempe for this event indicates that she might be considering returning to Tempe and Behm for the post-Games future after the abrupt departure of Bowman that reportedly caught swimmers off guard.

For Bentz, who transferred in this season from Virginia Tech, it’s ‘more of the same’ after she broke the school record in the 50 free (21.88) against NC State three weeks ago. That made her the first Arizona State woman to break 22 seconds in the event.

Another newcomer, Miriam Sheehan, made it to the semi-finals. She’s a transfer from NC State.

Women’s Race Videos from Poolside Perspective

#1 Regan Smith (near) vs. #8 Elli Straume (far) – QF 1

#3 Miriam Sheehan (near) vs. #6 Indigo Armon (far) – QF 2

#2 Caroline Bentz (near) vs. #7 Julia Ullman (far) – QF 3

#4 Erin Milligan (near) vs. #5 Mary Brinker (far) – QF 4

#1 Regan Smith (near) vs. #3 Miriam Sheehan (far) – SF 1

#2 Caroline Bentz (near) vs. #4 Erin Milligan (far) – SF 2

#1 Regan Smith (near) vs. #2 Caroline Bentz (far) – Final