2024 SPEEDO ATLANTA CLASSIC driven by Jim Ellis Cadillac
- Wednesday, May 15th – Saturday, May 18th 2024
- McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- How To Watch
- Day 1 Distance Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap
- Live Results on Meet Mobile: “2024 Speedo Atlanta Classic”
Thursday Finals Heat Sheet
Tonight’s first full finals session at the 2024 Atlanta Classic will feature four women’s and men’s event finals: the 100 free, 100 breast, 200 fly, and 400 IM. There are going to be four finals for each event in this order: 18&U bonus D-Final, bonus C-Final, consolation B-Final, and the championship A-final.
Thursday Finals Livestream
Only three A-finals spots were scratched after Thursday’s prelims session, with only one name returning in favor of another event. Mason Mathias of Auburn has opted for his stronger event, the 400 free, over the 200 fly tonight in Atlanta. After placing 6th in the 200 fly, Mathias preferred to instead contest his 10th seed in the 400 free. Both events are almost back-to-back, with four women’s 400 free finals heats scheduled in between the A-finals. Mathias swam 3:58.17, gaining 5.53s from his entry to scathe into the men’s 400 free A-final.
Also scratching out of the men’s 200 fly event with Mathias was Tennessee’s Joey Tepper. Following his 13th-place prelims finish in the long fly event, Tepper will take on the men’s 400 free B-final, now seeded 17th into tonight’s session.
That men’s 400 free A-final is as equally competitive on the men’s side as well, with Venezuela’s Alfonso Mestre narrowly leading Florida’s Kieran Smith for the top finals seed, 3:51.57 to 3:51.73. No other top-30 scratches were found in the competitive men’s 400 free event. In the men’s 200 fly, Austrian native Martin Espernberger of Tennessee narrowly leads Mason Laur of Florida for that A-final’s top seed, 1:56.77 to 1:57.46.
Out of the women’s 100 breast, led by Irish native Mona McSharry of Tennessee at 1:06.91, 20th seed Caroline Larsen bowed out of the B-final to make room for Mauritius native Tessa Ip Hen Cheung of Mizzou. Ip Hen Cheung swam 1:13.12 to put her own national mark of 1:12.80 from 2023 Indian Ocean Island Championships on notice.
Among the five women’s 200 fly scratches, #17 seed Mia Blazhevska Eminova is skipped out of the B-final, making room for SwimAtlanta 15-year-old Greta Myers. 34-year-old veteran Leah Gingrich dominantly leads the 200 fly A-final over 17-year-old Lilla Bognar. Making room for her 7th seed in the 200 fly was Tennessee’s Sara Stotler following her 100 free C-final scratch.
TAC Titans Olympian Ashley Twichell has also scratched out of a very competitive women’s 400 free A-final, led by Florida’s Gator Swim Club rep Katie Ledecky at 4:05.77. Twichell’s scratch came to the benefit of TAC Titans’ training mate and NC State transfer Brooke Travis, whose 4:16.72 prelims time is now bumped into the A-final.
On another note, both Georgia swimmers #5 seed Rachel Stege and #7 seed PASA’s Sloane Reinstein have dropped their 100 free C-finals in favor of this women’s 400 free championship final. Leading the elusive women’s 100 free A-final is US Olympian Catie DeLoof at 54.26, just ahead of fellow US Olympian Erika Connolly (Brown)’s 54.78.
Egypt’s Youssef Ramadan has scratched out of the men’s 100 free, where he placed 6th at 49.47. American Caeleb Dressel leads the men’s 100 free A-final tonight with his 48.69 prelims leader. In the same event, Virignia’s Jack Aikins will not contest the B-final after dropping from 6th seed to 20th in prelims at 50.70.
No top-30 scratches were found in the men’s 100 breast, where Louisville alum and former ACC champion Evgenii Somov leads the way with his newly-minted Russian national record time of 58.72, an automatic Olympic qualifying cut.
Day 2 Finals Top-30 Scratch Report — 2024 Atlanta Classic
- Women’s 100 Free: #22 Sloane Reinstein, #29 Sara Stotler, #31 Rachel Stege
- Men’s 100 Free: #6 Youssef Ramadan, #20 Jack Aikins
- Women’s 100 Breast: #20 Caroline Larsen
- Men’s 100 Breast: —
- Women’s 200 Fly: #17 Mia Blazhevska Eminova, #23 Kate Kerber, #30 Vesna Shelnutt, #33 Sophia Lickman, #34 Jayla Thompson
- Men’s 200 Fly: #6 Mason Mathias, #13 Joey Tepper
- Women’s 400 Free: #8 Ashley Twichell, #17 Sam O’Brien
- Men’s 400 Free: —
