Shun Wang Drops 1:40 200 IM, Hansson 22.1 50 FR On Day 1 Of USC Invite

2018 Trojan Swimming Invite

• October 5-6th, 2018
• Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Hosted By USC
• Short Course Yards
• Results (can also be found on MeetMobile: “2018 Trojan Swimming Invite”

Participating Teams

• University of Southern California
• University of Nevada Las Vegas
• UC San Diego
• California State University, Bakersfield
• Team Elite
• Team Rebel Aquatics
• Trojan Swim Club

The USC Trojans are hosting the Trojan Invite this weekend at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The 1st session of the meet took place on Friday, featuring the 100 medley relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 100 free relay.

In the individual events, Chinese Olympic Medalist Shun Wang (Team Elite) stole the show with a stunning 1:40.74 200 IM. He split fast all the way through the race, going 21.93, 24.92, 29.38, and 24.51 respectively. Wang boasts a best time of 1:56.70 in the LCM 200 IM, which he set in 2017. 2nd place in the men’s 200 IM was Zibei Yan (Team Elite), who went 1:47.42. USC’s Tatum Wade won the women’s 200 IM with a 1:57.89, only 1.6 seconds off her personal best of 1:56.29.

Victor Johansson, a USC freshman who hails from Sweden, blasted an impressive 4:17.06 to win the men’s 500 free, leading fellow USC freshmen Alexei Sancov and Owen Kao, who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in times of 4:21.91 and 4:22.70. USC has shown off what may be this season’s powerhouse 500 free squad, which happens to also be made up entirely of freshmen. On the women’s side, Haley Anderson (Trojan Swim Club) handled things, touching the wall in 4:41.80 to claim victory by a wide margin.

Dylan Carter (Trojan Swim Club) took the men’s 50 free with a speedy 19.41, touching out Team Elite’s Michael Chadwick (19.56). USC-star Louise Hansson took the women’s 50 free in 22.10, marking a very quick early October time.

Press Release – USC:

The Trojans’ kicked off the 2018-19 season with the first session of the 2018 Trojan Invite on Friday (Oct. 5) with USC’s pair of Swedish Trojans, Louise Hansson and Victor Johansson, providing two of the highlights at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

The freshman Johansson, USC’s latest in a long line of strong Swedish swimmers, blazed to a win in the 500y free in 4:17.06 while fellow freshmen Alexei Sancov (4:21.91) and Owen Kao (4:22.70) followed him into the wall, all with NCAA B cuts.

Hansson captured the women’s 50y free in 22.10 with sophomore Marta Ciesla third (22.42), both in NCAA B cuts. Sophomore Caitlyn Tycz took fourth with a PR 23.08.

Swimming in her old stomping grounds, Trojan NCAA champ and Olympic medalist Haley Anderson won the women’s 500y free in 4:41.80. Senior Elizabeth Stinson, a Pac-12 champ in the race as a freshman, was second in 4:48.41 (just off the B standard) with senior Maddie Wright third (4:50.12).

Junior Tatum Wade powered to a win in the 200y IM (1:57.89) with senior Riley Scott (1:58.97) second, both with NCAA B cuts. Sophomore Maggie Aroesty was third (1:59.95) while redshirt junior Kirsten Vose, in her first race after missing most of last season injured, was fifth (2:03.70).

Senior Walker Bell topped the collegiate swimmers in the men’s 200y IM with a 1:48.84 while sophomore Mark Jurek was USC’s next top finisher in 1:52.81.

Senior co-captain Kyle Grissom led the collegiate field in the men’s 50y free with a 19.89, bested by former teammate Dylan Carter’s 19.41. New Trojan sophomore Nikola Miljenic posted a 20.09 with breaststroker Carsten Vissering powering to a 20.23.

USC opened the meet with a pair of 100y medley relay wins. Hansson, Scott, junior Catherine Sanchez and senior Victoria Toris won in 45.50 while seniors Patrick Mulcare, Vissering, Alex Valente and Miljenic took first in 39.10.

USC’s Ciesla, Wade, Sanchez and Lily Dubroff won the women’s 100y free relay in 40.95. The Trojan men’s quartet of Grissom, Thomas Reed, Joao Ama and Mario Koenigsperger closed Friday’s racing with a first in 36.74.

Press Release – UC San Diego:

LOS ANGELES – The UC San Diego men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened their season with the first session of the Trojan Invite this afternoon. The Tritons took on Division I competitors Cal State Bakersfield, UNLV and USC, and also raced alongside members of Team Elite and Trojan Swim Club, at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Head Coach David Marsh praised the team’s performance.

“It was an excellent first meet for the team,” Marsh said about the team’s start. “The men’s middle distance free and the women’s sprint free seem to be two areas we have improved on a great deal. We decided to start the year in our Technical racing suits and our athletes’ response to racing USC, UNLV and Bakersfield was excellent.”

Many of the Tritons’ best performances of the day came from their newcomers. Freshman Tina Reuter turned in a record-breaking performance for UC San Diego’s top-ranking individual finish. Keeping pace with her USC foes, Reuter notched a time of 2:03.40 in the 200 IM to earn a fourth-place finish in her first collegiate individual race. Reuter bested all six Bakersfield opponents, as well as four from USC, to earn a spot in the Triton record books. Her mark, a B cut, was good for second place in program history, trailing only Alex Henley’s time of 2:01.41 in 2012.

Another record-breaking time came from classmate Spencer Daily, who raced in the 50 free. Daily finished with a time of 20.54 in his first individual race at the college level, putting him in a tie for ninth in program history with John Flowers, who posted an identical time in 1994. The Danville native’s B cut was good for ninth place out of 39 swimmers.

Redshirt freshman Graham Hauss and senior Garrett Tse each came up with the top individual finishes on the men’s side, nabbing fifth place in their races. Hauss, in his first race as a Triton, posted a time of 4:31.10 in the 500 free. He was followed closely by fellow newcomers Ivan Kurakin, who finished sixth with a time of 4:31.47, and Hayden Johnson, who finished seventh with a time of 4:34.49.

Tse’s fifth-place finish came in the 200 IM. Competing against 27 other swimmers, the South Pasadena native clocked a time of 1:51.65 in the race. Tse trailed only two swimmers from Team Elite, one from USC and one from Trojan Swim Club.

Some of the top individual performers of the day combined forces on the relay side as well. The Tritons’ top-ranking relay finish came from Kurakin, Edgar Chin, Tse and Daily in the 100 medley relay. The Tritons picked up a second-place finish with a time of 40.93 in the race.

The women snagged two fourth-place finishes in each of their relays. First, Reuter, Grace Murphy, Lindsay Clark and Ciara Franke teamed up for a time of 47.81 in the meet’s first race, the 100 medley relay. The women’s other fourth-place finish came late in the afternoon, as Franke, Cody Hargadon, Charlotte Meier and Reuter swam to a time of 43.48.

UC San Diego returns to action for their final two sessions tomorrow, with the first session beginning at 8:30 a.m. Live results are available on the app MeetMobile, which requires a $1.99 monthly fee.