2018 U.S. National Championships
- Wednesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
- William Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
- Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
- Meet website
- Meet information
- Event Order
- Full selection procedures
- Psych Sheet
- SwimSwam Previews Index
- TV Schedule
- Pick ‘Em Contest
- Omega Results
- Live Stream
- Thursday Finals Heat Sheet
Day Two of the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships will consist of the finals of the men’s and women’s 200 free, 200 breast, 200 back, and 50 fly.
Women’s 200 free
With four Pan Pacs relay spots on the line, the women’s 200 free will be a battle. Michigan’s Gabby DeLoof led the morning’s qualifiers with 1:56.76, but she was followed closely by Leah Smith (Arizona) in 1:56.78, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) in 1:56.83, Melanie Margalis (Georgia) in 1:56.84, Allison Schmitt (Arizona State) with 1:57.12, and Simone Manuel (Stanford) with 1:57.20. Deloof dropped 1.6 seconds in prelims to come within .03 of earning a spot on the all-time top performers list. 14-year-old Claire Tuggle (Clovis Swim Club) improved her seed time by 6/10 and moved to 2nd on the all-time list for 13-14 girls; she will race in the B final and will take aim at Sippy Woodhead’s 1978 NAG of 1:58.53 which she only missed by .06 in prelims.
Men’s 200 free
Andrew Seliskar of Cal ripped a 1:45.77 in prelims to take 2.6 seconds off his previous lifetime best; he led the qualifiers for tonight’s final by half a second. Indiana’s Blake Pieroni (1:46.26), the national champion in the 100 free, Conor Dwyer (1:46.34), and Jack LeVant of North Texas Nadadores (1:46.39) will all challenge Seliskar for a spot on the Pan Pacs roster. Townley Haas, Jay Litherland, Jack Conger, and Trey Freeman qualified with 1:47s and have a shot at making the top four, as well. LeVant swam the 2nd-fastest 200 free in history for 17-18 boys; he is .40 off Michael Phelps’ NAG record of 1:45.99.
Women’s 200 breast
Micah Sumrall was the top qualifier in the women’s 200 breast, slipping past Indiana’s Lilly King in the penultimate heat to touch first overall in 2:23.27. Indiana/Mission Viejo’s Annie Lazor (2:25.01) and Texas A&M’s Bethany Galat (2:25.23) qualified just ahead of King (2:25.33). Sumrall, King, and Galat have all swum 2:21s in their careers so tonight’s final could be a tight race. 16-year-old Ella Nelson (Nashville Aquatic Club) and 17-year-old Zoe Bartel (Fort Collins Area Swim Team) could both move up on the all-time top-10 lists for their respective age groups, in addition to vying for spots on international squads.
Men’s 200 breast
Cal’s Josh Prenot clocked the 5th-fastest American performance in the 200 breast in heats, going 2:07.69 to lead the qualifiers for tonight’s A final. Will Licon of Texas (2:08.92) will be on his right in lane 5 tonight; as the reigning American record-holder in short-course yards, he will be one to watch. Olympian Kevin Cordes and Nic Fink of Georgia, were the only other sub-2:10s this morning, qualifying in 2:09.58 and 2:09.61, respectively. Olympian Cody Miller snuck in at 8th with 2:10.59, after having scratched this event at 2017 nationals.
Women’s 200 back
16-year-old Regan Smith of Riptide lowered her PB by .16 to earn her spot in the middle of the pool for tonight’s final. Her 2:07.03 is the 3rd-fastest ever swum by a 15-16 girl; she is inching her way toward Missy Franklin’s NAG of 2:05.10 and Elizabeth Beisel’s 2:06.39, the only two performances faster than hers. Aquajets’ Isabelle Stadden, also 16, went the 5th-fastest time in prelims (2:08.48); she’ll have another opportunity to move up the 15-16 ladder tonight. Defending national champion and SCY American Record holder Kathleen Baker of Cal (2:08.14) shouldn’t be counted out; she looked smooth this morning and has already been 2:07.0 this season.
Men’s 200 back
The last several heats of men’s 200 back looked like synchronized swimming, with the top finishers matching stroke for stroke and coming to the wall separated by mere tenths. Olympic champion Ryan Murphy of Cal put up the top time of the morning (1:56.39); he was followed by Cal teammate and Olympic silver medalist Jacob Pebley (1:56.88). Also qualifying under 1:57 was NCAA champion Austin Katz of Texas (1:56.97). Florida’s Clark Beach (1:57.06) and Missouri’s Nick Alexander (1:57.18) both dropped well over 1.5 seconds in prelims to qualify fourth and fifth. 16-year-old Carson Foster of Mason Manta Rays, 3rd on the all-time list for 15-16 boys with 1:57.70, is just .67 shy of Aaron Peirsol’s NAG of 1:57.03.
Women’s 50 fly
In addition to a national title, the winner of the 50 fly will earn the first spot on the 2019 World Championships team. Kelsi Dahlia (Louisville) led the way this morning with 25.97, just .49 off her American record. Team Elite San Diego’s Kendyl Stewart qualified second in 26.16; her best time is 25.93. Her teammate Sarah Gibson qualified fourth with 26.73, just behind North Carolina’s Hellen Moffitt (26.71).
Men’s 50 fly
The final night of the race couldn’t have been scripted better had it come straight from a Hollywood studio: American record-holder Caeleb Dressel of Bolles and World Junior record-holder Michael Andrew from Race Pace Club, both seeking a spot on the Worlds team, swam equal 23.33s in prelims. Challenging the leaders will be NCAA standout Chatham Dobbs of Arizona (23.73), Texas’ John Shebat (23.86), Phoenix Swim Club’s Giles Smith (23.88), Jack Saunderson, Matt Josa, and Tate Jackson.
How bout that Jack Saunderson from Towson!! Big man from a little school doing big things!
I think he was their first NCAA invite. Glad he came in *after* Jake Shrum took over.
two tv’s side by side. that’s the move. one with the usa swimming live stream and one with the olympic channel stream.
Murphy and Pebley bringing the consistent Cal 1-2 punch in the 200 back. I wonder if this will change when Pebley leaves Berkeley.
Here is a reddit link to various streams of sports channels: https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveTvLinks/comments/89krhr/sports/
The 4th “Olympic Channel” link on the list was working well a few minutes ago: http://pantalla.tv/olympis.php
Which channel has To Catch a Redditor
Let’s see if Levant can make a run at that iconic Phelps nag
Hard to believe the winners of the 50 fly tonight would be nearly a body length behind Sjostrom and Govorov.
Seems like a pretty slow meet so far
Lol!!
On women side many top 5 world times. But I don’t have a count only flickinger I checked and ledecky there is no need for.
The mid- Olympic Year, with no World Champs often seems a bit slow. Some top names rest, others experiment….maybe not a huge surprise then.
before it starts can I just say how crappy USA swimming is to not live stream the entire finals unless you have some whacko cable package…I pay $250 a month for cable and still do not get the right channel..UGH! USA swimming if they want to understand their base and core supports need to get in the 21st century!
Unfortunately, I think it’s the result of getting into bed with big TV that doesn’t really care about the sport, but is interested in trying to sell subscriptions for a new package.
What if USA Swimming sold “Pay per View” live stream tickets. So you don’t have to have specific package, but could purchase viewing for a single day/night or the whole week.
They should do a yearly subscription and I have no issue paying for that to stream any and all USA meets that have the capability! USMS live streams their national meets for free. USA swimming needs to understand that you build support and viewership in the off years(non Olympic) combined with the fact many young families do not have cable and stream everything…. my grandkids know how to stream
These guys at USA swimming are not the brightest… in my humble opinion
If they would show both A and B finals in one stream, I would absolutely do pay per view. As it stands I’m paying over $140/month for Direct TV which gets me access to A finals here, but not on my actual TV channels so I have to stream on my laptop. Then if I want to watch B finals, I have to figure out a way to stream usaswimming (couldn’t find it on my phone this morning).
I’m fine with paying for content, but they have to actually deliver. This meet is not being handled well. Whoever at USA swimming is in charge of TV/streaming contracts needs to do a better job.
I’m paying $340/month for cable and still don’t get the right channel.
What on earth are you paying 340 a month for. Are they wiring it directly into your head? It’d be better to subscribe to like 3 services like YouTube TV/Hulu Live/Fubu TV then to do that.
Seriously that’s pretty much my car payment..