Despite the disappointment of the last-minute absence of one Mr. Michael Phelps, the first day of the Minneapolis Grand Prix was a heck of a meet, and featured some incredible swims in nearly every single race.
Ricky Berens was the big winner on the night: taking event victories in both the 200 free and 100 fly to earn an early 10 points towards the big $20,000 prize to be handed out next summer. His time of 1:34.01 in the 200 free, which was just two tenths of a second ahead of Ous Mellouli, shows that he is rounding into great form for short course Nationals and Worlds that are coming up in the next few months.
Mellouli came back and got a great win in the 400 IM in 3:40.86, to get a win by a huge 8 seconds.
The newly-American Mike Alexandrov, who competed for Bulgaria in Beijing and Athens, put up a great time ahead of his first World Championship-type meet in Dubai. He won the 100 breaststroke in 52.13 which, converted to short-course meters, would place in the top 5 in the world. Though he tends to be a little better in short course than long course, if he continues to improve at this clip, he could be the answer to America’s recent breaststroke woes.
Alexandrov’s big time in the 100 breaststroke wasn’t the only big story of that race. Ryan Lochte, the newly crowned “best swimmer in the world,” tried this event that he doesn’t normally focus on. After a series of leg injuries in 2010, however, Lochte emerged with a new, and much more efficient, breaststroke kick that seemed to show big improvements in his IM’s at the Pan Pac Championships. On this day, Lochte swam a 54.41, showing that he is continuing to see that breaststroke leg as a major key in his push for setting new IM world standards in the post polyurethane era.
Though post grads, like Christine Magnuson who won the 100 fly in 51.95, and pre grads, like Missy Franklin who won the women’s 200 free in 1:43.7 and 400 IM in 4:08.06, dominated much of the action, the collegiate swimmers still got a few good shots in. This was especially true of the host Minnesota Golden Gophers, who put up three game-changing NCAA times on Friday.
This started with Jilian Tyler, who is a Canadian National and a Gopher senior. Her 58.22 in finals is the only NCAA swim so far this season under a minute, and is just over a tenth off of Annie Chandler’s NCAA winning time from last year. What’s more, her time is the fourth fastest SCY time in history, polyurethane or not. Tyler put her foot to the throttle in this race and declared that she is the favorite on the first turn of the season to win that 100 breaststroke National Title. And though she might have rested for this meet, she is not swimming at short course worlds, so no worries of this being a taper-inflated time.
Minnesota has to be feeling good after this meet, as Haley Spencer, another Gopher, took second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.35, making her the second fastest in that race this season.
Both of the Minnesota 400 free relays put up great times to win as well. The men’s squad, who weren’t on anybody’s radar coming into this season, swam a 2:57.66. This bettered their own NCAA-best time, and proved that their 2:57.8 against UNC wasn’t a fluke. The Minnesota women’s team put up a very good time in the 400 free relay of 3:21.09. This is a top-5 time in the country this season.
Check back for more action on day 2, including Ryan Lochte in the 100 back. Full, live results available through gophersports.com.
