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Lotte Friis and Connor Jaeger emerged victorious in the distance freestyle events during day one of the Arena Pro Swim Series Charlotte.
Women’s 1500 free
Lotte Friis, still representing the North Baltimore Aquatic Club but not yet decided in terms of a potential move to Tempe, Ariz., to follow Bob Bowman to Arizona State, picked up the top time of the night.
Friis clocked a time of 16:00.82 to lead the event, the second fastest time in the world this year. Only Katie Ledecky has been faster with a sizzling 15:42.23 from the Arena Pro Swim Series Mesa.
Heat 1 and the event proved to be a NBAC 1-2-3 as well with Becca Mann posting a 16:05.42 to move to third in the world rankings. New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle previously had been second in the world with a time of 16:06.72.
Sierra Schmidt of NBAC clocked a 16:23.75 to finish third and move to 13th in the world rankings with the swim.
Event 1 Women 1500 LC Meter Freestyle
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Name Age Team Seed Finals
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1 *Lotte Friis 26 North Baltimore 15:38.88 16:00.82
2 Becca Mann 17 North Baltimore 16:08.86 16:05.42
3 Sierra Schmidt 17 North Baltimore 16:24.09 16:23.75
4 Lindsay Vrooman 23 Badger Swim Club 16:22.71 16:27.97
5 Megan Byrnes 16 Nation's Capital 16:44.43 16:44.73
6 Maddy Tegner 19 Tennessee Aquati 17:10.47 16:48.57
7 *Valerie Gruest 16 Guatemala 16:51.80 16:50.50
8 Morgan Dickson 20 Tennessee Aquati 16:54.85 16:55.07
9 Ashley Neidigh 19 Auburn Universit 17:00.59 16:58.79
10 Emmaline Peterson 15 Hickory Foundati 17:12.54 16:59.01
11 Casey Francis 20 Unattached 17:09.49 17:10.48
12 Taylor Pike 15 Razorback Aquati 16:52.37 17:15.60
13 Jessica Wolf 20 Club Wolverine 17:00.73 17:22.32
14 Maddie Runge 16 North Baltimore 16:58.15 17:33.66
15 Lauren Oglesby 18 Gardner-Webb Uni 16:52.29 17:58.36
Men’s 800 free
Connor Jaeger of Club Wolverine turned in what was the top time of the night with an 8:00.32 in heat 1 of the 800 free. It was his first swim in four months.
That time is well off the top times in the world currently anchored by a 10th-ranked 7:53.38 from Ferry Weertman. But, Jaeger should be ready to round into form later this summer.
Kevin Litherland took second overall in 8:04.87 with Ryan Feeley earning third in 8:05.25.
Event 2 Men 800 LC Meter Freestyle
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Name Age Team Seed Finals
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1 Connor Jaeger 24 Club Wolverine 7:44.26 8:00.23
2 Kevin Litherland 19 Dynamo Swim Club 8:01.17 8:04.87
3 Ryan Feeley 23 Badger Swim Club 8:00.92 8:05.25
4 Townley Haas 18 NOVA of Virginia 8:00.99 8:08.79
5 Zane Grothe 23 Una BAD 8:32.00 8:12.69
6 Cameron Stitt 20 Club Wolverine 8:08.81 8:13.80
7 Carlos Omana 22 Metro Aquatic Cl 9:08.26Y 8:14.03
8 Michael Weiss 23 Wisconsin Aquati 10:15.00Y 8:15.31
9 PJ Ransford 18 Club Wolverine 8:04.46 8:16.23
10 Jay Litherland 19 Dynamo Swim Club 9:12.65Y 8:16.38
11 Chip Peterson 27 North Carolina A 8:10.85 8:18.06
12 *Alex Gomez 30 Gator Swim Club 8:07.14 8:20.56
13 Grant Schenk 19 Auburn Universit 8:06.03 8:27.68
14 Billy Cadigan 17 North Baltimore 8:22.90 8:28.01
15 Tal Davis 16 Team Greenville 8:23.91 8:33.28
16 Collier Cobb 17 Marlins of Ralei 9:13.71Y 8:33.38
17 Justin Ress 17 Marlins of Ralei 9:06.68Y 8:33.95
18 Jack Collins 17 Badger Swim Club 8:24.01 8:34.78
19 Eric Culver 24 Badger Swim Club 16:01.41 8:34.95
20 Colter Carman 16 Marlins of Ralei 9:10.43Y 8:35.92
21 Josh Beals 20 North Carolina A 8:30.35 8:39.20
22 Connor Brown 18 Long Island Aqua 9:09.35Y 8:39.46
23 Grayson Smith 21 Indiana Universi 8:20.33 8:39.55
24 Jake Schultz 19 Univ Louisville 8:27.14 8:45.94
25 Nathan Murray 17 SwimMAC Carolina 8:27.77 8:46.09
26 Jake Gibbons 18 Bolles School Sh 8:28.37 8:48.83
SCHEDULED EVENTS
- Women’s 1500 free
- Men’s 800 free