Pancake Hot Take: 2019 US Open/Minnesota Invite Weekend Wrap-up

This is Pancake Hot Take, where we rate racing on a scale of 1-5 pancakes, and give you our highlights. On this episode, we are taking you through the entirety or racing from the 2019 US Open and the 2019 Minnesota Invite. 

If you missed this weekend in swimming, what are you doing?! There were exhilarating swims coming from the long and short pools, with the 2019 US Open happening in Atlanta while the 2019 Minnesota Invite took place in Minneapolis. I split my time, covering both meets for 2 days each, and am now here to give you our thoughts on the racing as a whole.

We saw excellent racing from both meets, with Olympic dark horses thundering their way into the spotlight of Olympic contenders in Atlanta, and some of the top NCAA programs in the country throw down times that could indicate back-to-back dog fights for the men’s and women’s team titles come March. Such an exciting weekend warrants an exciting score, and for that I give this weekend:

4 Pancakes

Since this is a wrap-up, I’m giving you my top 4 swims of the weekend, my top 4 surprises of the weekend, and as always, the syrup on top.

Swims of the Weekend:

4. Alvin Jiang, 100 fly (scy) split on 400 medley relay: 43.82

3. Erika Brown, 100 free (lcm): 53.42

2. Maggie MacNeil, 100 fly (scy): 49.26

1. Abbey Weitzeil, 50 free (scy): 20.90

Surprises of the Weekend:

4. Torri Huske, 100 fly (lcm): 57.48

3. Katie Ledecky Misses 200 free A-Final (But still snags US Open record in B-Final): 1:56.24

2. Phoebe Bacon, 100 back (lcm): 58.63

1. Texas Men, Everything (scy)

Syrup on Top:

2019 goes out with a bang, and previews what looks to be a very exciting 2020. Both NCAA meets look like they could be the closest we’ve seen in recent history for the team titles, and earning a spot on the US Olympic team is just getting harder by the day.

I can’t wait to see what fast swims come our way in the new year, but one thing is for certain: with all this sensational swimming, there will be many more pancake hot takes to come.

In This Story

14
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

14 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Fat Swammer
4 years ago

“2019 goes out with a bang, and previews what looks to be a very exciting 2020. Both NCAA meets look like they could be the closest we’ve seen in recent history for the team titles, and earning a spot on the US Olympic team is just getting harder by the day.”

That’s the entire story of the sport. Seriously- from modern Olympic history to now. It great!! That’s why we love it and celebrate the heroes. Young guns- take your chance — it’s fleeting!!

Michael Phelps Horse
4 years ago

Michigan beat Cal at Minnesota in team points

Tigerswim22
4 years ago

This was the best “Pancakes” edition in a long time. Totally captures the exciting weekend we just witnessed. I agree with Coleman’s assessment of the Texas men and the way they got the job done in Minnesota. Really hard to pick a best Texas swim ‘cause they had so many outstanding performances. Hats off to Eddie and his staff.
The U.S. Open was fun to watch and was a good tune-up for the Olympic Trials. I would have ranked Allison Schmitt’s win in the 200 freestyle ahead of Ledecky’s record-setting performance in the consolation finals. Ya gotta do the job in prelims, no matter who you are. Woulda been fun to see the two of them racing stroke for… Read more »

Nate
4 years ago

Phoebe Bacon is actually 17

Yup
4 years ago

Try filming that somewhere that isn’t so loud….

swimfan
4 years ago

What about UVAs swims at US Open? Kate Douglas???

Samuel Huntington
Reply to  swimfan
4 years ago

Which one of Uva’s swims at US open was noteworthy? I don’t think any were all that exciting

John
Reply to  swimfan
4 years ago

They didn’t really do anything spectacular there.

Heyitsme
Reply to  John
4 years ago

Paige Madden did

Ragnar
4 years ago

I’d have to say Auburn’s win in the Iron bowl really did it for me for the whole year!

Heyitsme
Reply to  Ragnar
4 years ago

War Eagle!

Swammer
4 years ago

Zach Apples 100 free was pretty big too.

Nate
Reply to  Swammer
4 years ago

We’ve kind of known for the past 6 months or so that Zapple was capable of this

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

Read More »