International Swimming League Match 2 in Naples: Day Two Live Recap

2019 International Swimming League: Group A, Match 2 – Naples

• Saturday, October 12th – Sunday, October 13th
• 7:00 pm – 9:00 PM, local time (UTC+2), (1:00 pm – 3:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time)
• Naples, Italy
• Piscina Felice Scandalone, Via Giochi del Mediterraneo
• Short Course Meters (SCM)
• Group A: Cali Condors, DC Trident, Energy Standard, Aqua Centurions
• Live stream, event schedule & viewer’s guide
• Day 1 complete results
• Day 2 complete results

SwimSwam’s Jared Anderson provides live color commentary on each race in italics, below:

Lane Assignments

• Cali Condors 237.5 points – Lanes 7/8
• Energy Standard 230 points – Lanes 5/6
• Aqua Centurions 174 points – Lanes 3/4
• DC Trident 162.5 points – Lanes 1/2

Women’s 100 free

1. Sarah Sjostrom – ENS – 51.66
2. Kayla Sanchez – ENS – 51.87
3. Siobhan Haughey – DCT – 51.93
4. Olivia Smoliga – CAC – 52.32
5. Federica Pellegrini – AQC – 52.53
6. Mallory Comerford – CAC – 53.30
7. Annika Bruhn – DCT – 53.60
8. Lidon Munoz – AQC – 53.83

Olivia Smoliga was first at the 25 wall but Sarah Sjostrom and and her Energy Standard teammate Kayla Sanchez moved ahead at the 50 wall. Sjostrom and Sanchez battled stroke for stroke down the final 25 meters and finished 1-2, adding 16 points to Energy Standard’s total. Sjostrom touched in 51.66, Sanchez went 51.87, and DC Trident’s Siobhan Haughey was 3rd with 51.93. Smoliga finished 4th with 52.32 just ahead of hometown favorite Federica Pellegrini of Aqua Centurions.

It’s a second-straight win for Sjostrom here, and a tone-setting swim for Energy Standard with the 1-2. Sanchez moved up two spots from where Penny Oleksiak finished last week. The Aqua Centurions swapped out both of their entrants from last week after a 7-8 finish, and it paid off with a 5th-place finish from Pellegrini.

UPDATED SCORE:

1. Energy Standard – 246
2. Cali Condors – 245.5
3. Aqua Centurions – 179
4. DC Trident – 170.5

Men’s 100 free

1. Caeleb Dressel – CAC – 45.77
2. Chad le Clos/Evgeny Rylov – ENS – 46.72
3. –
4. Breno Correia – AQC – 47.42
5. Santo Condorelli – AQC – 47.59
6. Bowe Becker – CAC – 47.69
7. Robert Howard – DCT – 48.05
8. Zach Apple – DCT – 48.28

Evgeny Rylov, a last-minute substitution, led at the 50 but Caeleb Dressel was incredible over the last 30 meters and he got his hand to the wall first for Cali Condors in 45.77. Chad Le Clos and Evgeny Rylov tied for 2nd with 46.72, propelling Energy Standard further ahead of Cali Condors.

Dressel was only 4th at the 50 turn, but surged back to pick up a key win for the Cali Condors. Dressel was a full second faster than last week’s winner, Chad le Clos Le Clos dropped two tenths and still lost by a second. Big-picture, though, Energy Standard is swimming very well on day 2 with a 2-3 finish there. They were 1-2 last week, however. DC Trident really struggled here with the 7th and 8th place finishers.

UPDATED SCORE:

1. Energy Standard – 259
2. Cali Condors – 257.5
3. Aqua Centurions – 188
4. DC Trident –

Women’s 100 breast

1. Lilly King – CAC – 1:04.21
2. Molly Hannis – CAC – 1:05.13
3. Bethany Galat – DCT – 1:05.21
4. Martina Carraro – AQC – 1:06.16
5. Leiston Pickett – DCT – 1:06.40
6. Georgia Bohl – AQC – 1:07.01
7. Kierra Smith – ENS – 1:07.21
8. Viktoria Gunes – ENS – 1:07.28

Lilly King (1:04.21) and Molly Hannis went 1-2 from lanes 8 and 7 to add another 16 points for Cali Condors. Bethany Galat was third for DC Trident ahead of Martina Carraro of Aqua Centurions. Energy Standard touched 7th and 8th.

Lilly King has been the breaststroke weapon so far. She crushed this race, and Molly Hannis finished second for the second-straight week. Energy Standard struggled hard here last week (6th, 7th), and was actually worse this time around in 7th and 8th, despite swapping out 8th place Georgia Bohl for Viktoria Gunes. Energy Standard just doesn’t have the sprint breaststrokers – most of their top breaststrokers are more 200 types.

Men’s 100 breast

1. Ilya Shymanovich – ENS – 56.35
2. Nicolo Martinenghi – AQC – 56.97
3. Fabio Scozzoli – AQC – 57.32
4. Nic Fink – CAC – 57.70
5. Kevin Cordes – DCT – 58.39
6. Andrew Wilson – CAC – 59.46
7. Cody Miller – DCT – 59.60
8. Sergey Shevtsov – ENS – 1:00.78*

*did not meet time standard

200 breast champion Ilya Shymanovich of Energy Standard was out first and maintained his lead throughout, holding off Aqua Centurions teammates Nicolo Martinenghi and Fabio Scozzoli who charged hard at the end. Energy Standard picked up only the 9 points from Shymanovich because Sergey Shevtsov missed the time standard and was penalized a point.

Shymanovich held on to beat a surging duo from the Aqua Centurions. We talked over the week about the Centurions needing to better press their breaststroke advantage, and a 2-3 here is much more in line with that. Energy Standard was 1-3 last week, but losing Anton Chupkov hurt them badly as their second entrant was 8th and will get zero points after missing the benchmark time. Both Cali entrants moved up one spot, and so did both DC Trident entrants. Adding Kevin Cordes to that mix was a nice boost for the Trident.

UPDATED SCORE:

1. Cali Condors – 281.5
2. Energy Standard – 271
3. Aqua Centurions – 209
4. DC Trident – 189.5

Women’s 400 free

1. Ariarne Titmus – CAC – 3:58.34
2. Melanie Margalis – CAC – 3:58.85
3. Sarah Kohler – AQC – 4:00.87
4. Leah Neale – DCT – 4:03.80
5. Charlotte Bonnet – ENS – 4:03.99
6. Emma Barksdale – DCT – 4:07.64
7. Mary-Sophie Harvey – ENS – 4:07.90
8. Hannah Miley – AQC – 4:09.61

Cali Condors dominated the women’s 400 free with a 1-2 finish from Ariarne Titmus (3:58.34) and Melanie Margalis (3:58.85). Titmus took it out early and was followed by Energy Standard’s Charlotte Bonnet and Aqua Centurions’ Sarah Kohler but by the 150 wall, Margalis had moved to second. Bonnet ended up fading to fifth while Kohler maintained her position at third.

Without last week’s winner, Ledecky, in the mix, the Condors were free to fly to a 1-2 finish. Titmus was actually faster last week trying to track down Ledecky, but Melanie Margalis was faster than Hali Flickinger was last week. The DC Trident held up reasonably well without Ledecky. Leah Neale was almost three seconds faster than last week and moved up from 5th to 4th. Meanwhile Emma Barksdale had a nice swim to finish 6th. Most teams seemed to avoid tricky doubles, too, although Energy Standard’s Charlotte Bonnet was a medley relay member last week and might pull that double in this session tonight.

Men’s 400 free

1. Zane Grothe – DCT – 3:41.03
2. Mykhaylo Romanchuk – ENS – 3:41.38
3. Poul Zellmann – AQC – 3:41.80
4. Anton Ipsen – CAC – 3:43.11
5. Velimir Stjvpanovic – DCT – 3:43.49
6. Kregor Zirk – ENS – 3:45.11
7. Mark Szaranek – CAC – 3:47.24
8. Travis Mahoney – AQC – 3:47.32

Poul Zellmann from Aqua Centurions held the lead through the first 250 meters but Mykhaylo Romanchuk took over the lead at the 300. Zane Grothe charged to the lead from out in lane 1 at the 375 and got the win for DC Trident with 3:41.03, edging Romanchuk by .35.

Only one change between the 8 entrants from last week, and that was to replace the absent Townley Haas from Cali. DC’s Grothe won again on a brutal back half. DC is a very distance-oriented team – that’s not serving them very well in the ISL format, specifically, but it is a strength to build on. Energy Standard held their positions from last week and Cali moved down a spot (3-7 last week but 4-7 this week). Still, Cali holds a 17.5-point lead heading into the women’s medley relay.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 304.5
2. Energy Standard – 287
3. Aqua Centurions – 223
4. DC Trident – 210

Women’s 4×100 medley

1. Cali Condors 1 – 3:47.46
2. DC Trident 1 – 3:50.60
3. Energy Standard 2 – 3:50.87
4. Cali Condors 2 – 3:51.00
5. Energy Standard 1 – 3:53.22
6. Aqua Centurions 1 – 3:54.01
7. Aqua Centurions 2 – 3:56.00
8. DC Trident 2 – 3:57.49

Cali Condors won the medley relay easily but didn’t get the 1-2 shutout they’d hoped for, as DC Trident and Energy Standard moved past the Condors’ second team to finish in 2nd and 3rd place. Condors went 1-4 for 28 points and Energy Standard took 3-5 for 20 points.

The Condors’ winning splits were Olivia Smoliga (56.56), Lilly King (1:03.74), Kelsi Dahlia (55.20), and Natalie Hinds (51.96). DC Trident used Lisa Bratton (57.79), Bethany Galat (1:04.08), Brianna Throssell (57.14), and Siobhan Haughey (51.59). Energy Standard had Emily Seebohm (57.09), Imogen Clark (1:05.80), Anastasia Shkurdai (56.58), and Femke Heemskerk (51.40).

Last week, Cali went 1-2, thanks in large part to their elite backstrokers and breaststrokers. This week, their backstrokers (Smoliga and Masse) actually tied down to the hundredth as the fastest leadoff legs in the field, and the two relays led handily by the end of the breaststroke. But they ultimately may have been better served by splitting their relays a little more, as the B team fell all the way to fourth late. Energy Standard went 3-5, and only lost 8 points to Cali in the event, compared to 16 points last week.

Men’s 200 IM

1. Mitch Larkin – CAC/Andreas Vazaios – DCT – 1:53.44
2. –
3. Philip Heintz – AQC – 1:54.05
4. John Shebat – CAC – 1:55.76
5. Jay Litherland – DCT – 1:57.07
6. Max Stupin – ENS – 1:57.09
7. Kliment Kolesnikov – ENS – 1:57.10
8. Laszlo Cseh – AQC – 1:57.35

Mitch Larkin and John Shebat of Cali Condors were the leaders after the butterfly leg, followed by Kliment Kolesnikov of Energy Standard and Laszlo Cseh of Aqua Centurions. After the backstroke leg, DC Trident’s Andreas Vazaios had moved past Cseh into 4th place, while the top 3 held their positions. Vazaios had the fastest breaststroke in the field by well over 1 second and he moved into first place at the breast-to-free wall. Larkin and Vazaios ended up tied for 1st with 1:53.44 after some terrific racing down the stretch. Last week, Larkin beat Vazaios by .12

A rare tie – last week, it came down to just a tenth between Larkin and Vazaios, and this week it was a dead tie. The Cali Condors used John Shebat instead of last week’s Mark Szaranek – he was about a half-second faster, but still finished 4th. Energy Standard struggled some here, taking 6th and 7th for the second straight week. Last week, they had Rylov, this week, they used their other Russian backstroker, Kliment Kolesnikov, and went faster but had the same finish overall. Rylov, though, should be better-rested for the upcoming mixed medley relay.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 345.5
2. Energy Standard – 312
3. Aqua Centurions – 240
4. DC Trident – 238.5

Women’s 200 IM

1. Melanie Margalis – CAC – 2:05.17
2. Kayla Sanchez – ENS – 2:07.71
3. Bethany Galat – DCT – 2:07.99
4. Fantine Lesaffre – ENS – 2:08.21
5. Megan Kingsley – CAC – 2:08.79
6. Emma Barksdale – DCT – 2:09.45
7. Hannah Miley – AQC – 2:11.18
8. Franziska Hentke – AQC – 2:13.57*

*did not meet time standard

Megan Kingsley was out first in the butterfly and held onto the lead through the backstroke. She was followed by Energy Standard’s Kayla Sanchez and Melanie Margalis of Cali Condors. The breaststroke leg was all Margalis, though, and she brought it home for another win for the Condors. Sanchez was 2nd and Bethany Galat of DC Trident took 3rd. Energy Standard picked up important points with a 2-4, as Fantine Lesaffre went 2:08.21 to push past Kingsley (2:08.79).

The DC Trident has been using Bethany Galat more exclusively in the IMs and breaststrokes, and it’s paying off. She’s third here after DC was 4-5 without her in this race last week. Margalis wins again, but Cali is hurting without last week’s runner-up Kelsey Wog. Megan Kingsley was two and a half seconds slower and fell to 5th. Energy Standard went 2-4, better than their 3-6 showing last week. Fantine Lesaffre (4th) has been an underrated addition here in Naples.

Men’s 50 fly

1. Caeleb Dressel – CAC – 22.34
2. Chad le Clos – ENS – 22.53
3. Florent Manaudou – ENS – 22.69
4. Matteo Rivolta – AQC – 23.02
5. Giles Smith – DCT – 23.22
6. Kristian Gkolomeev – AQC – 23.32
7. Zach Harting – DCT – 23.71
8. Justin Ress – CAC – 23.86

In one of the most anticipated events of the day, pitting last week’s winners Chad le Clos and Florent Manaudou against Caeleb Dressel, Dressel got the win for Cali Condors with 22.34, to move Energy Standard down to 2nd and 3rd. Le Clos edged his teammate Manaudou, 22.53 to 22.69.

Another key win for Dressel, as both Dressel and le Clos went faster than Manaudou’s winning time last week (22.66). Manaudou was a tick slower. Breaking up the Energy STandard 1-2 was big for Cali, but they also moved down in the back end, with Justin Ress taking 8th after he was 7th last week. The Aqua Centurions chose to use Kristian Gkolomveev here instead of last week’s 5th-placer Santo Condorelli and got the exact same time (23.32) but moved down.

Women’s 50 fly

1. Sarah Sjostrom – ENS – 24.98
2. Kelsi Dahlia – CAC – 25.31
3. Brianna Throssell – DCT – 25.60
4. Anastasia Shkurdai – ENS – 25.99
5. Elena di Liddo – AQC – 26.09
6. Natalie Hinds – CAC – 26.12
7. Silvia di Pietro – AQC – 26.13
8. Sarah Gibson – DCT – 26.32

Sarah Sjostrom won the 50 fly for the second week in a row, thanks to a blazing second half. Sjostrom edged Cali Condors’ Kelsi Dahlia, 24.98 to 25.31, while Brianna Throssell of DC Trident came in third with 25.60.

Sjostrom gets some revenge after losing the 100 fly on day 1. She was two tenths faster than last week. Dahlia moves up from third last week to a narrow second, besting Throssel of DC Trident. Outside of that, the finish order was almost identical to last week, only with Dahlia and Throssel switched, and DC’s 8th-placer swapped out.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 378.5
2. Energy Standard – 351
3. DC Trident – 260.5
4. Aqua Centurions – 256

Men’s 100 back

1. Evgeny Rylov – ENS – 50.25
2. Simone Sabbioni – AQC – 50.78
3. Mitch Larkin – CAC – 50.87
4. Radoslaw Kawecki – CAC – 51.31
5. Tristan Hollard – DCT – 51.53
6. Jeremy Stravius – DCT/Apostolos Christou – AQC – 51.60
7. –
8. Kregor Zirk – ENS – 53.17

Simone Sabbioni of Aqua Centurions was out of the gates first and turned just ahead of Evgeny Rylov at the 50 wall, but Rylov brought it home faster and got the win for Energy Standard, 50.25 to 50.78. Cali Condors went 3-4 with Mitch Larkin (50.87) and Radoslaw Kawecki (51.31).

After Kolenikov took over the IM for Rylov, Rylov rolled into the backstroke here and got the win where Kolesnikov did last week. But Energy Standard went 1-8 again, so their overall points are a little muted. Cali moved up a spot from last week’s 3-5 finish – they were 3-4 today. The fields have mostly been faster this week compared to last: only two guys broke 51 last week compared to 3 this week. And only five broke 52 last week when all but one entrant broke 52 this time around.

Women’s 100 back

1. Olivia Smoliga – CAC – 56.24
2. Kylie Masse – CAC – 56.61
3. Emily Seebohm – ENS – 57.20
4. Simona Kubova – DCT – 57.56
5. Margherita Panziera – AQC – 57.94
6. Georgia Davies – ENS – 58.01
7. Lisa Bratton – DCT – 58.05
8. Silvia Scalia – AQC – 58.75

Olivia Smoliga turned first at the 50 wall and held on for the win in 56.24. Cali Condors went 1-2 for 16 points as Kylie Masse touched second, just ahead of Energy Standard’s Emily Seebohm.

Another 1-2 for the Condors. That was the story last week too. Both women went faster as well. Energy Standard was 3-4 last week, but a 3-6 finish this time hurts their point total. It’s looking more and more like Cali will win this meet, unless a major shakeup happens in the skins. Energy Standard should still be great in the women’s skins, even if Dressel wins the men’s.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 405.5
2. Energy Standard – 370
3. Aqua Centurions – 274
4. DC Trident – 270.5

Mixed 4×100 free

1. Energy Standard 1 – 3:17.09
2. Cali Condors 1 – 3:19.02
3. Aqua Centurions 1 – 3:20.07
4. DC Trident 1 – 3:21.01
5. Energy Standard 2 – 3:21.59
6. Cali Condors 2 – 3:23.24
7. Aqua Centurions 2 – 3:23.25
8. DC Trident 2 – 3:24.82

Energy Standard rested their 50 free skins swimmers, Sarah Sjostrom, Femke Heemskerk, and Florent Manaudou, but still managed to win the mixed 400 free relay. Seven teams led with 2 men and finished with 2 women but Cali Condors held Caeleb Dressel back to anchor. Dressel caught everyone but Energy Standard, who won handily with 3:17.09. Condors touched second in 3:19.02, a full second ahead of third-place Aqua Centurions.

Energy Standard’s winning splits came from Sergey Shevtsov (47.23), Ivan Girev (46.58), Kayla Sanchez (51.68), and Penny Oleksiak (51.60). Cali Condors were made up of Kacper Majchrzak (47.49), Natalie Hinds (52.92), Mallory Comerford (52.96), and Dressel (45.65).

The Cali Condors made the unorthodox decision to use Caeleb Dressel as their anchor – that denied them a big early lead, but did allow him to chase down the field against all women anchors. Cali ended up second – that’s better than their 4th place finish last week, but they still lost to Energy Standard by a significant margin. Energy Standard is built for these free relays – they have more 100 free depth than any other team, and it’s not close. They were 1st and 5th. No B relays beat any other team’s A relay. That’s a change from last week, when the B team from Energy Standard beat the As of both Cali and DC.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 425.5
2. Energy Standard – 396
3. Aqua Centurions – 286.5
4. DC Trident – 286

Women’s 200 fly

1. Megan Kingsley – CAC – 2:05.45
2. Kelsi Dahlia – CAC – 2:05.80
3. Ilaria Bianchi – AQC – 2:06.96
4. Bethany Galat – DCT – 2:07.39
5. Franziska Hentke – AQC – 2:07.66
6. Brianna Throssell – DCT – 2:08.28
7. Mary-Sophie Harvey – ENS – 2:10.22
8. Fantine Lesaffre – ENS – 2:12.75*

*missed time standard

Brianna Throssell was out first at the 50 from lane 1, followed by Megan Kingsley of Cali Condors in lane 8. At the 100 wall it was Kingsley, with her teammate Kelsi Dahlia close behind. Bethany Galat of DC Trident was in 3rd. At the touch it was Cali Condors going 1-2 for another 16 points, with Kingsley and Dahlia clocking 2:05.45 and 2:05.80, respectively. Aqua Centurions’ Ilaria Bianchi slipped in front of Galat for third, 2:06.96 to 2:07.39. Energy Standard lost a point when 8th-place Fantine Lesaffre failed to make the time minimum.

A big event for the Cali Condors, who went 1-2 last week but lost winner Hali Flickinger for the Naples meet. Megan Kingsley held up very well, getting the win in Flickinger’s absence, and coming off the 200 IM in the last session. Also a good event for the Aqua Centurions: Bianchi moved up to 3rd after taking 7th last week and was five seconds better in Naples. Hentke was third last week and took 5th this week.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 441.5
2. Energy Standard – 398
3. Aqua Centurions – 296.5
4. DC Trident – 294

Men’s 200 fly

1. Chad le Clos – ENS – 1:50.60
2. Andreas Vazaios – DCT – 1:52.52
3. Laszlo Cseh – AQC – 1:54.18
4. Kregor Zirk – ENS – 1:54.79
5. Zach Harting – DCT – 1:55.88
6. Matteo Rivolta – AQC – 1:56.13
7. Jan Switkowski – CAC – 1:56.56
8. Mark Szaranek – CAC – 1:58.03

Despite this being his 3rd race of the day, Chad le Clos was out first at the 50 wall. He was still in front at the 100 and 150 but Andrea Vazaios was charging. Le Clos hung on for the win, earning 9 points for Energy Standard with his winning time of 1:50.60. Vazaios and Zach Harting went 2-5 for DC Trident, adding big points in their race for third place against Aqua Centurions. That team got 3rd and 6th from Laszlo Cseh and Matteo Rivolta, while Cali Condors finished 7th and 8th.

Le Clos wins again – he was two seconds faster than last week and won by two seconds. You have to imagine that sheds doubt on the idea that he could swim the skins race – why swim this one so hard with the all-important skins coming up quickly? Le Clos could have dogged it and still won if he were saving energy for the skins. An awful showing for Cali, though – they go 7-8. Szaranek was third last week and 1:55.7. He goes 1:58.0 this week and takes dead last.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Cali Condors – 444.5
2. Energy Standard – 412
3. Aqua Centurions – 305.5
4. DC Trident – 305

Women’s 50 free skins

Round 1 – Quarterfinal

1. Sarah Sjostrom – ENS – 24.00
2. Siobhan Haughey – DCT – 24.14
3. Femke Heemskerk – ENS – 24.22
4. Olivia Smoliga – CAC – 24.34
5. Madison Kennedy – DCT – 24.40
6. Kasia Wasick – CAC – 24.57
7. Lidon Munoz – AQC – 24.75
8. Federica Pellegrini – AQC – 24.88

Maybe some strategy coming into play this week – both Sjostrom and Heemskerk were much slower in this round than they were last week (23.89/23.97 for the duo). A disaster for Cali – they had two into the final four last week, but only have Smoliga this week. Wasick is sixth. Aqua Centurions continue to have no female sprint prowess. Despite subbing in captain Pellegrini, they still get 7th and 8th.

Round 2 – Semifinal

1. Sarah Sjostrom – ENS – 23.90
2. Femke Heemskerk – ENS – 24.50
3. Olivia Smoliga – CAC – 24.55
4. Siobhan Haughey – DCT – 24.83

Smoliga got off to a great start but Sjostrom finished well and got the win. Heemskerk knocked Smoliga out and gave Energy Standard the two slots for the final. Sjostrom was 23.90, going even faster than in the first round.

Perhaps aided by the lighter round 1 effort, both Energy Standard swimmers got into the final: Sjostrom was four tenths faster than last week’s round 2. Heemskerk was about a tenth faster. Smoliga was two tenths faster and nearly pipped Heemskerk for the second spot in the final round.

Round 3 – Final

1. Sarah Sjostrom – ENS – 25.03
2. Femke Heemskerk – ENS – 25.16

Heemskerk turned first and it looked like she might beat her teammate but Sjostrom put her head down and kicked into the wall for the win, 25.03 to 25.16. The 1-2 finish in the skins race put Energy Standard on top of the team points race for the first time since the 100 breaststroke.

We have yet to see a skins final that actually matters. Both swimmers were from Energy Standard for a third straight skins race. One early flaw we’re seeing in the ISL’s philosophy that times don’t matter: if that’s true, these skins finals are effectively televised cool downs.

UPDATED TEAM SCORES:

1. Energy Standard – 460
2. Cali Condors – 459.5
3. DC Trident – 319
4. Aqua Centurions – 308.5

Men’s 50 free skins

Round 1 – Quarterfinal

1. Caeleb Dressel – CAC – 21.05
2. Florent Manaudou – ENS – 21.25
3. Kristian Gkolomeev – AQC/Ben Proud – ENS – 21.51
4. –
5. Bowe Becker – CAC – 21.63
6. Santo Condorelli – AQC – 21.72
7. Jeremy Stravius – DCT – 21.75
8. Robert Howard – DCT – 21.76

Great starts for Cali Condors’ Caeleb Dressel and Energy Standard’s Florent Manaudou but Dressel got the win, 21.05 to 21.25. Manaudou and his teammate Ben Proud will move on for Energy Standard. Aqua Centurions advanced Kristian Gkolomeev.

Energy Standard led by half a point heading into this race. Proud besting Bowe Becker for 0.12 for the final spot in the final four is a major swing: right now, that would be a 14-point swing between Becker’s 4 points and Proud’s current projected 11.

Round 2 – Semifinal

1. Caeleb Dressel – CAC – 21.31
2. Florent Manaudou – ENS – 21.78
3. Ben Proud – ENS – 22.21
4. Kristian Gkolomeev – AQC – 22.70

As expected, it will be Dressel and Manaudou in the final. Dressel’s fitness level is unmatched; he was only .26 off his round 1 time while Manaudou was just over half a second slower. Manaudou, to his credit, has only been back in the pool for four months after taking two years off.

It appears that Energy Standard’s 2-3 finish here will ice the meet for them. Proud earns 12 and Manaudou is guaranteed 21. That’s 32, compared to a max of 31 Cali can win if Dressel wins the final.

Round 3 – Final

1. Caeleb Dressel – CAC – 21.33
2. Florent Manaudou – ENS –

Caeleb Dressel blasted off the start and won the final but almost a body length over Energy Standard’s Florent Manaudou.

Dressel was absolutely dominant through three rounds. His start was so much better than Manaudou, who looked beyond shot after two rounds. Dressel’s 21.33 is 1.6 seconds faster than Manaudou went in last week’s final.

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1. Energy Standard – 493
2. Cali Condors – 490.5
3. DC Trident – 322
4. Aqua Centurions – 321.5