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After smashing the World Record in the 1500 on the opening night of the TYR Pro Swim Series at Indianapolis in May, Katie Ledecky will not be competing in tonight’s event. She will, however, be racing in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 Freestyles later on in the meet at this weekend’s TYR Pro Swim Series Santa Clara.
In her absence, Swim Ontario’s Olivia Anderson (16:18.66) holds the top seed in the women’s 1500 followed closely by Stanford’s Megan Byrnes (16:20.23). Teammate Leah Stevens (16:34.05) holds the fourth seed while Ashley Neidigh (16:32.76) comes in third. The group will lead fourteen total entrants in the race.
On the men’s side, True Sweetser will look to maintain Stanford’s Thursday-night Pro Swim Series dominance as the only swimmer coming in under 15 minutes. Longhorn’s Clark Smith (15:08.59) and Chris Wieser (15:09.70) round out the top three of twenty-four swimmers in this event.
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Schedule of Events:
- Women’s 1500 Freestyle
- Men’s 1500 Freestyle
Women’s 1500 Freestyle
Ashley Neidigh continued her successful 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series campaign by claiming her second 1500 freestyle title. After winning this event in Mesa in April with a 16:38.24 and posting a 16:21.62 for fifth at May’s Indianapolis stop, Neidigh went on to post the thirteenth-fastest time in the world this year with a 16:17.43.
Neidigh and Stanford’s Megan Byrnes took off right from the start, as less than two tenths of a second separated the women at the halfway point. Byrnes fell just slightly off her pace and now seventeenth-ranked swim from Indianapolis of 16:20.23. She earned runner-up honors this time around with a 16:20.46.
Leah Stevens and Olivia Anderson had their own battle forming at the 750 mark, with Anderson having the slight advantage 8:20.38- 8:20.80. But Stevens was consistently over half a second faster on the back-half fifty splits, giving her the edge in the end. Stevens’ 16:35.47 earned her third-place honors while Anderson’s 16:46.43 gave her the fourth-place finish.
18-year old Mabel Zavaros of Swim Ontario earned a fifth-place finish out the second heat with a best time of 16:51.54. She was followed by Chenoa Devine (16:19.19), Ayumi Macias Alba (17:02.98 and Juli Arzave (17:17.44) to round out the top eight finishers.
Event 1 Women 1500 LC Meter Freestyle
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Name Age Team Seed Finals
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1 Neidigh, Ashley 23 Una MVN 16:32.76 16:17.43
2 Byrnes, Megan 19 Stanford Swimmin 16:20.23 16:20.46
3 Stevens, Leah 21 Stanford Swimmin 16:34.05 16:35.47
4 Anderson, Olivia 19 Swim Ontario 16:18.66 16:46.43
5 Zavaros, Mabel 18 Swim Ontario 17:00.26 16:51.54
6 Devine, Chenoa 19 California Aquat 16:37.31 16:59.19
7 Macias Alba, Ayumi 21 Mexico 16:51.14 17:02.98
8 Arzave, Juli 16 South Bay Aquati 16:55.43 17:17.44
9 Joyce, Syd 18 Bluefish Swim Cl 16:44.29Y 17:27.91
10 Heckman, Miranda 17 Pleasanton Seaha 16:57.01 17:31.82
11 George, Heidi 42 Great Wolf Swim 17:17.59 17:33.80
12 Hawkins, Daniella 17 Pleasanton Seaha 16:53.34 17:42.05
13 Menso, Maggie 18 Palatine Park Di 16:39.12Y 18:07.42
Men’s 1500 Freestyle
Zane Grothe claimed yet another freestyle event win in the men’s race with a time of 15:18.43. The swim was enough for the win in Santa Clara but was off his 15:05.31 from Indianapolis. After getting off to an early lead with Cal’s Nick Norman (15:22.98), Mexico and Michigan’s Ricardo Vargas Jacobo (15:19.34) started chasing down the leaders in the back half.
Vargas Jacobo was able to pass Norman with about 250 meters to go, just as Stanford’s True Sweetser was also making his move. Sweetser dominated the field in the final 200 ending with a 1:58.75, the only swimmer under two minutes on the final four laps. Sweetser just ran out of room to earn the second-place spot as he finished in 15:19.86.
Johannes Carloni (15:30.35) and Clark Smith (15:32.05) placed fifth and sixth while Georgia’s Kevin Miller earned a top-eight finish out of the second heat. Kevin Litherland took eighth-place in 15:48.35.
Event 2 Men 1500 LC Meter Freestyle
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Name Age Team Seed Finals
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1 Grothe, Zane 26 Mission Viejo Na 15:11.72 15:18.43
2 Vargas Jacobo, Ricard 20 Mexico 15:11.53 15:19.34
3 Sweetser, True 20 Unattached Stanf 14:59.73 15:19.86
4 Norman, Nick 21 California Aquat 15:16.81 15:22.98
5 Calloni, Johannes 18 Unattached Stanf 15:16.62 15:30.35
6 Smith, Clark 23 Longhorn Aquatic 15:08.59 15:32.05
7 Miller, Kevin 20 Athens Bulldog S 15:31.09 15:40.04
8 Litherland, Kevin 22 Dynamo Swim Club 15:10.93 15:48.35
9 Collins, Jack 20 Badger Swim Club 15:31.86 15:50.85
10 Wieser, Chris 22 Una DART 15:09.70 15:57.71
11 David, Calvin 16 Pleasanton Seaha 15:49.27 16:05.19
12 Tsukikawa, Yugo 16 Badger Swim Club 16:13.98 16:09.60
13 Plattel, Lleyton 15 Pleasanton Seaha 15:29.71 16:10.86
14 Barao, Will 17 Bluefish Swim Cl 15:41.55 16:15.49
15 Simpson, Blake 16 Santa Maria Swim 16:09.17 16:26.46
16 Mertz, David 17 Neptune Swimming 16:13.44 16:33.72
17 Marsalek, Wyatt 17 Santa Maria Swim 16:07.75 16:37.47
18 McGee, Gavin 18 Santa Clara Swim 8:33.14 16:52.49
