Neidigh, Grothe Pick Up Mile Victories On Day 1 Of PSS – Santa Clara

2018 TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – SANTA CLARA

The opening session of the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series – Santa Clara featured only a few heats in the men’s and women’s 1500 freestyle. There was no wild, earth shattering swims like we saw at the last stop in Indy (where Katie Ledecky broke the 1500 world record), but both the men’s and women’s races were close, exciting battles.

In the women’s race, Ashley Neidigh dropped a PB of 16:17.43 to outlast Stanford’s Megan Byrnes, who was 2nd in 16:20.46. Just last month, Neidigh reset her lifetime best by over eleven seconds in Indianapolis down to 16:21.62, and chopped another four off tonight. Byrnes also went a best in Indy in 16:20.23, narrowly missing that time by a few tenths.

Byrnes’ Stanford teammate Leah Stevens claimed 3rd in 16:35.47, with top seed coming in Olivia Anderson (16:46.43) and Mabel Zavaros (16:51.54) 4th and 5th, both of Swim Ontario.

In the men’s race, Zane Grothe of Mission Viejo held off a hard charging Ricardo Vargas and True Sweetser for the win, clocking a time of 15:18.43. Grothe has been as fast as 15:05.31 this season, done at the Indy stop in May (where he also won). Vargas and Sweetser both made a big push at the end, ultimately taking 2nd and 3rd in times of 15:19.34 and 15:19.86 respectively.

Nick Norman, who swam a pair of PBs in this event at the recent Speedo Grand Challenge had his 2nd best swim ever for 4th in 15:22.98, and Johannes Calloni was 5th in 15:30.35. Clark Smith, swimming his first mile of the year, took 6th in 15:32.05.

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Kelsey
5 years ago

Tyr have signed Ledecky

Yabo
Reply to  Kelsey
5 years ago

Huh?

Pack
5 years ago

Not at the meet, but is there a current in that pool? or was last night extra windy or something? Check out the splits for the men’s 1500, it seems that almost every single swimmer was going noticeably faster on the second 50 of each 100. Not sure about women, as the live results link doesn’t show splits. Could be a stretch, but maybe this is worth looking into? Has anyone at the meet noticed anything?? I’d love to see if any stastical analysis may support my theory.

Swimmer
Reply to  Pack
5 years ago

Santa Clara definitely gets really windy at night. Wind tends to blow from the turn to the start side which would explain the faster 2nd 50 of each 100.

bobo gigi
5 years ago

Wow! Fortunately for the men KL was not in their race. She would have had a good chance of winning. 🙂

Scribble
5 years ago

You know Ledecky didn’t show because she is ducking Neidigh.

Reply to  Scribble
5 years ago

lol

Ummmm
Reply to  Scribble
5 years ago

Right

Tm71
Reply to  Scribble
5 years ago

Probably the men didn’t want her there because she might have gone faster than their winning time of 15:18

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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