SHENANDOAH, Texas, June 22. KATIE Ledecky put an exclamation point on a thrilling meet this afternoon with a world record in the women’s 800m free during the final day of racing at The Woodlands Senior Invite.
Ledecky, who lowered her own world record in the 1500 free on Thursday, broke her second world record of the meet with an 8:11.00 in the 800m free. She cut almost three seconds off her own standard of 8:13.86 from last summer’s FINA World Championships, and was pretty much racing the clock as teammate Isabella Rongione finished almost 30 seconds behind in 8:39.13.
The women’s 200 breast kicked off the final session of the meet, as Rose Bowl’s Kirsten Vose denied Loveland’s Morgan Friesen the breaststroke trifecta with a 2:37.79. Friesen, who won the 50 and 100 breast earlier, touched second in 2:38.84, while Kendall Crawford of the Denver Hilltoppers touched third in 2:41.87. Silas Dejean of Crawfish Aquatics swept the men’s breaststroke events at the meet with a 2:22.30 in the 200. Nick Hatanaka of Loveland touched second in 2:23.81, while Stephen Pastoriza of NCAP came in third with a 2:29.37.
Lucie Nordmann of The Woodlands earned her third victory of the meet after stopping the clock at 28.65 in the women’s 50 fly. Nordmann won the 50 back and 50 free earlier in the meet. Meaghan Wisenbaker finished second in 28.94, while Erin Trahan of Crawfish Aquatics rounded out the top three in 29.12. Steve Yemm of PX3 claimed the men’s sprint fly title by a slim margin over The Woodlands’ Trip Cooper, 24.80 to 24.91. Sascha Subarsky of Rose Bowl earned another podium finish with a 25.07 for third.
A pair of Denver Hilltoppers topped the podium in the women’s 200 back, as Bridgette McNally (2:17.10) and Haley Rowley (2:19.28) had the two fastest times in finals. Jennifer Reese of The Woodlands touched third in 2:20.51. Carter Griffin made it a Hilltopper sweep in the event, claiming the men’s title by almost seven seconds in 2:00.88. It marked his fourth individual title of the meet, as he also won the 50 back, 200 free and 100 back. Loveland’s Ryan Ball swam a 2:07.69 for second, while Marlins of Raleigh’s Tosh Kawaguchi came in third at 2:09.56.
Ledecky returned from her world record-breaking performance in the 800 free for a sprint victory, this time in the 100 free. Ledecky cruised to a 56.02, well ahead of Rose Bowl’s Heather MacDougall (58.13) and Loveland’s Eryn Eddy (58.16). That was just off her season and personal best of 55.22 from the Mesa Grand Prix. James Jones of NCAP captured the men’s 100 free win in 51.84. Tripp Cooper of The Woodlands picked up another top three finish with a 52.22 for second, while Crawfish Aquatics’ Colin Bone touched third in 53.11.
After finishing second to Katie Ledecky in a couple of events, NCAP’s Isabella Rongione finally got a win in the final individual event of the meet, the 200 fly. Rongione finished in 2:17.49 to top teammate Allison Goldblatt (2:19.82) and The Woodlands’ Dorothy Halmy (2:20.30). Colin Bone of Crawfish Aquatics bounced back from the 100 free final to win the 200 fly in 2:08.23, just over half a second in front of Rose Bowl’s Javier Lopez (2:08.77). Mason Hutchinson, also of Crawfish, finished a close second in 2:08.93.
Rose Bowl Aquatics claimed the final women’s event of the meet as Heather MacDougall, Katherine Wagner, Tiare Coker and Kirsten Vose combined efforts to post a 3:55.74 in the 400 free relay. The Woodlands touched second in 3:56.71, ahead of Nation’s Capital (3:56.81). Rose Bowl swept the relays as Corey John, Sascha Subarsky, Javier Lopez and Michael Forbes had the best time in the men’s relay at 3:33.82. Nation’s Capital came in second at 3:33.98, while Marlins of Raleigh touched third in 3:39.29.
Full results are available on the Meet Mobile app.