2023 U.S. PRO CHAMPIONSHIPS
- July 26-29, 2023
- LCM (50m)
- William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, California, United States
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet
- Day 4 Finals Live Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Live Recap
On night four of the 2023 Pro Championships, Longhorn Aquaitcs’ Dakota Luther posted a time of 2:06.79 to win the women’s 200 fly by over a second. Her time beat out her old personal best time of 2:07.02 from U.S. Nationals last August, and was over a second faster than the 2:07.86 she swam to finish third at U.S. Nationals this June.
Had Luther replaced her Pro Championships swim at Nationals, she would have qualified for the 2023 World Championships team, ahead of actual Worlds team member Linsday Looney who went 2:07.25. She also would have finished fourth in the World Championships final, just 0.21 seconds behind Regan Smith‘s bronze medal-winning time of 2:06.58.
Compared to Nationals, Luther split her race much more consistently at the Pro Championships. She was out much faster at Nationals but faded hard, while at the Pro Championships, her back half was considerably faster. Notably, her final 50 was 1.15 seconds faster at the Pro Championships than at Nationals, and also 0.39 seconds faster than when she set her old personal best.
Splits Comparison:
| Dakota Luther, 2023 Pro Championships | Dakota Luther, 2023 U.S. Nationals | Dakota Luther, 2022 U.S. Nationals | |
| 50m | 28.71 | 29.00 | 28.92 |
| 100m | 32.37 (1:01.08) | 31.34 (1:00.44) | 32.23 (1:01.15) |
| 150m | 32.66 | 33.26 | 32.43 |
| 200m | 33.05 (1:05.71) | 34.16 (1:07.42) | 33.44 (1:05.87) |
| Total | 2:06.79 | 2:07.86 | 2:07.02 |
Previously at the Pro Championships, Luther finished fourth in the 100 fly with a time of 58.24. That time is a 0.15 second-drop from her personal best of 58.39, which was also set at U.S. Nationals last summer.
In my humble opinion, and I’m not a specialist at all, we can’t compare fairly performances in 2 very different meets. Big pressure at trials. Zero pressure in Irvine. No Regan Smith in Irvine. Just not the same kind of race.
And talking about Regan Smith, look at her fastest times of the season. Until today and before the worlds medley relay final her 100 back best time has been done at trials with no McKeown to bother her. And it’s much more significant about her 200 back and 200 fly. She swam 2.03.80 at trials when she was well ahead with no competition to worry her. She was “only” in 2.04.94 in the world final with McKeown next… Read more »
Fly her to Japan for the relay, surely she can go faster than Huske
Hali Flickinger 2:06.80 in prelims of Sun Devil Open, where Regan did her 2:03 in finals.
Random but she looks exactly like Leah Neale in this photo
She looks like her mom.
Way to go Dakota!