Regan Smith Delivers New 200 Freestyle PB in Prelims of Counsilman Classic

2019 COUNSILMAN CLASSIC

• June 12th-15th, 2019
• Indianapolis, Indiana (IUPUI)
• LCM (50m) pool
• Live Webcast
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2019 Counsilman Classic”

17-year-old Regan Smith leads the way in the women’s 200 freestyle with a new best time of 2:00.15, improving upon her lifetime best from January and the Knoxville stop of the Pro Swim Series by 2-tenths. Smith leads 100 freestyle runner-up Gabby DeLoof by a narrow 7/100ths going into tonight’s finals, and 400 freestyle champ Kaersten Meitz by 3-tenths. Together, Smith (2:00.15), DeLoof (2:00.22), and Meitz (2:00.45) were the only women in the heats to break 2:02.

Of the three, DeLoof has the fastest best time with a 1:56.55 from last summer’s U.S. Nationals, but has only been under 2:00 twice in 2019, recording a 1:59.77 in January and a 1:59.79 in May. Meitz, meanwhile, swam within half-a-second of her best time this morning, and judging by her huge drop from prelims to finals in the 400 yesterday, could stand to record a new lifetime best tonight.

15-year-old Mckenna Stone equaled her best time in the heats of the 50 freestyle, taking the top seed going into tonight’s final with a 26.21. Michigan’s Daria Pyshnenko touched 2nd in 26.33, well off her best time of 25.60, meaning she might be in for a big improvement upon her morning swim in tonight’s finals.

Mariah Denigan posted the fastest time in the 400 IM with a 4:48.96, while men’s 200 breast champion Charlie Swanson posted the top time on the men’s side in 4:26.67, just ahead of Michigan teammate and 200 breast runner-up Tommy Cope, who touched in 4:26.95. As to be expected, Swanson and Cope posted the fastest breaststroke splits in the field, with Swanson splitting a 1:13.85 and Cope a 1:12.46.

Felix Auboeck leads the men’s 200 free with a season-best time of 1:50.19, ahead of Louisville’s Andrej Barna who clocked a 1:50.54. The Indiana trio of Blake Pieroni (1:51.13), Zane Grothe (1:51.33), and Zach Apple (1:51.92) sit 4th, 5th, and 6th, respectively, going into tonight’s final. As Pieroni has already been 1:47.25 this year, and Grothe 1:47.90, we should expect to see some major time drops in the finals tonight.

Apple and Barna also rank 1st and 3rd, respectively, after the prelims of the 50 free, where they recorded times of 22.63 and 23.12, respectively. For Apple, the 22.63 comes as a season-best.

With Smith sitting out of the women’s 200 backstroke this weekend, 16-year-old Sophia Tuinman leads the way into tonight’s finals with a 2:15.16. That swim comes as the 4th-fastest performance of Tuinman’s career, and is only 1.15 seconds from her personal best from the 2018 NCSA Summer Championship. Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich leads the men’s 200 backstroke with a 2:00.68.

This morning’s prelims session can be viewed here: