Hali Flickinger Swims Lifetime Best in 400 IM at Bulldog Grand Slam

2018 Bulldog Grand Slam

• July 6th-8th, 2018
• Garbielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
• Psych Sheet
• Meet Site
• Results on Meet Mobile “2018 Bulldog Grand Slam”

With a field that nearly rivals that of the Pro Swim Series meet happening in Columbus, the 2018 Bulldog Grand Slam kicked off on Friday morning on the campus of the University of Georgia.

The session was scheduled to be Missy Franklin’s first races on American soil in over two years, after making her formal competitive return in June at the Mare Nostrum series in Europe, but Franklin was a post-psychs scratch from prelims of the 200 free.

None-the-less, Georgia Bulldogs dominated the women’s 200 free – a strength event for the program throughout history. The top 4 swimmers in prelims are all current or former Bulldogs, led by Melanie Margalis in 1:59.28. Current Georgia undergrad Veronica Burchill took three-tenths off her best time to dip under 2 minutes for the first time and qualify 2nd in 1:59.78. Burchill, best known as a sprinter, has made huge mid-distance strides in 2018, which includes lifetime bests in this 200 in each of the last 3 meets.

Molly Hannis, who’s missing a matchup with Lilly King in Columbus, qualified 1st in the women’s 100 breaststroke in 1:06.94. That’s already her 6th time this season under 1:07 already with 3 weeks to go before U.S. Nationals.

Another swimmer on the comeback trail, Micah Sumrall (formerly Lawrence) qualified 2nd in 1:08.27.

Other Top Qualifiers:

• Georgia post-grad Hali Flickinger qualified 1st in the 100 fly in 58.48, which would’ve also been the top morning swim in Columbus. Burchill will hold a center lane again in this race after a 59.60 to qualify 2nd. Flickinger would later qualify 1st in the 400 IM in 4:39.04 (a full 10 seconds ahead of the field). That’s her lifetime best by two-tenths of a second: her first best time in that race since 2014. She’s now the 5th-fastest American in the event in 2018.
• Georgia rising junior Walker Higgins qualified 1st in the men’s 200 free with a new lifetime-best of 1:49.45. His previous fastest was a 1:50.30 from last year’s U.S. Open.
• U.S. National Teamer Nic Fink topped prelims of the men’s 100 breaststroke in 1:02.09
• Santiago Grassi from Auburn qualified 1st in the men’s 100 fly in 52.34, which like Flickinger’s swim would have been the top prelims number in Columbus. His personal best and Argetine Record stands at 52.09. Ryan Coetzee qualified 2nd in 53.25, with 200 flyers Pace Clark (53.69) and Gunnar Bentz (53.72) qualifying 3rd and 4th, respectively.
• Texas’ Sam Stewart qualified 1st in the men’s 400 IM in 4:27.49.