Everything you need to follow along live with day one prelims of the 2017 U.S. Open Swimming Championships in East Meadow, New York. Hit refresh for all the latest coverage.
Events:
- Women’s 200 Fly
- Men’s 200 Fly
- Women’s 100 Free
- Men’s 100 Free
Women’s 200 Butterfly:
Cassidy Bayer of Nation’s Capital Swim Club claimed the first place seed headed into finals, with a 2:09.21. Bayer’s time was the only mark under 2:10 of the morning, and she swam only 1.24 seconds off of her entry time.
Athens Bulldog Swim Club’s Haley Flickinger, fresh off of World Championships, posted a conservative 2:10.05 to earn the second seed.
Behind Flickinger, Ruby Martin, the fourth finisher at 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, posted a 2:11.72. The Iowa Flyers Swim Club product’s time was good for the third top spot in finals.
The fourth seed went to Francesca Stoppa, representing Princeton Piranahas Swim Team, in 2:11.77. Stoppa and Martin look likely to have a tight race in the finals.
Swimming unattached in 2:12.63, Vanessa Krause garnered the fifth seed in finals, despite being about three seconds off of her entry time. She may make a vertical leap in the results at finals.
Hannah Saiz of Schroeder YMCA could face a similar ranking improvement, as her 2:12.67 was good for the sixth seed but well off of her seed time.
In the battle for the final spots in the finals, Lauren Case of Longhorn Aquatics and Sharli Brady of the University of Missouri ultimately won. Case enters the finals in seventh place with a time of 2:13.03, while Brady squeaked into the eighth-seed position with a 2:13.23.
1 Bayer, Cassidy 17 Nation's Capital 2:07.97 2:09.21 q837
r:+0.71 28.81 1:01.42 (32.61)
1:34.90 (33.48) 2:09.21 (34.31)
2 Flickinger, Hal 23 Athens Bulldog S 2:06.67 2:10.05 q821
r:+0.78 29.54 1:02.23 (32.69)
1:35.93 (33.70) 2:10.05 (34.12)
3 Martin, Ruby 17 Iowa Flyers Swim 2:09.96 2:11.72 q790
r:+0.74 29.74 1:02.72 (32.98)
1:36.94 (34.22) 2:11.72 (34.78)
4 *Stoppa, France 20 Princeton Piranh 2:12.56 2:11.77 q789
r:+0.67 29.99 1:02.57 (32.58)
1:37.71 (35.14) 2:11.77 (34.06)
5 Krause, Vanessa 19 Unattached Mich/ 2:09.54 2:12.63 q774
r:+0.67 30.00 1:03.94 (33.94)
1:38.45 (34.51) 2:12.63 (34.18)
6 Saiz, Hannah 26 Schroeder YMCA S 2:09.61 2:12.67 q773
r:+0.86 30.29 1:03.92 (33.63)
1:37.52 (33.60) 2:12.67 (35.15)
7 Case, Lauren 19 Longhorn Aquatic 2:10.36 2:13.03 q767
r:+0.73 29.75 1:03.61 (33.86)
1:38.25 (34.64) 2:13.03 (34.78)
8 Brady, Sharli 21 U. of Missouri 2:14.30 2:13.23 q764
r:+0.79 30.27 1:03.87 (33.60)
1:37.59 (33.72) 2:13.23 (35.64)
Men’s 200 Butterfly:
Gunnar Bentz of Athens Bull Dog Swim Club earned the top seed for the finals in 1:59.20. His time is over three seconds off his entry time, so Bentz will look to drop significant time in the evening. Bentz tops a jam-packed heat of six times under two minutes.
Just behind Bentz, swimming unattached, is Miles Smachio, who posted a 1:59.39. The two men are similarly matched with pacing.
In the third seed, Marlins of Raleigh’s Zach Brown swam a solid morning time of 1:59.46, just a half second off of his entry time. Brown will look to crack into the top two seeds.
Sam Pomajevich of Nation’s Capital Swim Club will be the fourth seed in the evening, thanks to a steady swim in 1:59.77 in the prelims.
In the fifth seed, Cardinal Aquatics’ Zach Harting finished in 1:59.79, only two hundredths behind Pomajevich. The two are likely to have a close race in the evening, amid an otherwise tight field.
Just after Harting, Mike Thomas of California Aquatics took the sixth seed for the A-Final, in 1:59.83.
The only two swimmers over two minutes, Mick Litherland of Dynamo Swimming (2:00.16) and Australian Bowen Gough (2:00.20), are also close to one another going into the finals.
1 Bentz, Gunnar 21 Athens Bulldog S 1:55.51 1:59.20 q818
r:+0.79 27.01 57.27 (30.26)
1:27.79 (30.52) 1:59.20 (31.41)
2 Smachlo, Miles 19 Unattached Mich/ 1:57.64 1:59.39 q814
r:+0.71 27.19 57.42 (30.23)
1:28.61 (31.19) 1:59.39 (30.78)
3 Brown, Zach 17 Marlins of Ralei 1:59.00 1:59.46 q813
r:+0.71 27.51 58.26 (30.75)
1:28.83 (30.57) 1:59.46 (30.63)
4 Pomajevich, Sam 18 Nation's Capital 1:57.62 1:59.77 q807
r:+0.71 26.59 57.42 (30.83)
1:28.92 (31.50) 1:59.77 (30.85)
5 Harting, Zach 19 Cardinal Aquatic 1:56.65 1:59.79 q806
r:+0.70 27.37 57.78 (30.41)
1:28.48 (30.70) 1:59.79 (31.31)
6 Thomas, Mike 19 California Aquat 1:57.98 1:59.83 q805
r:+0.73 27.05 57.49 (30.44)
1:28.43 (30.94) 1:59.83 (31.40)
7 Litherland, Mic 21 Dynamo Swim Club 1:57.04 2:00.16 q799
r:+0.69 27.27 57.94 (30.67)
1:28.84 (30.90) 2:00.16 (31.32)
8 *Gough, Bowen 19 W Australia IS 2:00.02 2:00.20 q798
r:+0.75 27.22 58.10 (30.88)
1:29.22 (31.12) 2:00.20 (30.98)
Women’s 100 Freestyle:
The first place seed went to Marie Wattel, representing France, in 55.15. Wattel’s time is just two-hundredths slower than her fourth-place seed time of 55.13, and she headlines a field completely filled with 55-second 100 freestyles.
Courtney Caldwell of Wolfpack Elite took the next top seed in 55.43, but she will look to improve in the evening and match her seed time of 54.80.
Similarly, Margo Geer of Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics posted a 55.50 to earn the third seed in finals, but her entry time indicates her capable of a 54.66.
Swimming unattached, Amanda Kendall earned the fourth seed in the A-Final with a 55.69. Kendall’s second fifty was a speedy 28.42, the fastest in the field, so she may make a move in the evening.
Claire Rasmus of Aggie Swim Club (55.91) finished just one hundredth ahead of teammate Kristin Malone (55.92), and both look likely to remain close in the evening swim.
The seventh seed for the final went to Rebecca Millard of Longhorn Aquatics in 55.94.
Finally, Claire Adams of Carmel Swim Club rounds out the top heat of the final with a 55.97, just three hundredths behind Millard and sixth hundredths off of the fifth-place seed.
1 *Wattel, Marie 20 France 55.13 55.15 q841
r:+0.71 26.34 55.15 (28.81)
2 Caldwell, Court 20 WOLFPACK ELITE/N 54.80 55.43 q828
r:+0.72 26.59 55.43 (28.84)
3 Geer, Margo 25 Tucson Ford Deal 54.66 55.50 q825
r:+0.69 26.87 55.50 (28.63)
4 Kendall, Amanda 26 Unattached IST 55.34 55.69 q817
r:+0.76 27.27 55.69 (28.42)
5 Rasmus, Claire 20 Aggie Swim Club 55.10 55.91 q807
r:+0.70 27.48 55.91 (28.43)
6 Malone, Kristin 21 Aggie Swim Club 55.72 55.92 q807
r:+0.73 26.99 55.92 (28.93)
7 Millard, Rebecc 22 Longhorn Aquatic 55.05 55.94 q806
r:+0.74 26.86 55.94 (29.08)
8 Adams, Claire 19 Carmel Swim Club 55.64 55.97 q805
r:+0.74 27.00 55.97 (28.97)
Men’s 100 Freestyle:
The top seed of the men’s 100 freestyle went to Tate Jackson of Longhorn Aquatics, who posted a 48.99–the only 48 of the morning–early in the circle heats.
The second top finisher, in a time of 49.19, was the University of Alabama’s Robert Howard, whose back half split of 25.40 predicts him as a force to be reckoned with in the evening.
BJ Hornikel, swimming unattached, and Maxime Rooney of the Pleasanton Seahawks, tied for the third seed in the event, both posting the time of 49.33 in the final heat. Hornikel took out his swim fast (23.39), while Ronney chose to finish quickly (25.75).
The next top seed belonged to Jeff Newkirk, representing Quest Swimming, in 49.77.
Just behind Newkirk, Brett Ringgold of the North Texas Nadadores also went sub-fifty–49.88–for the sixth seed in the final.
Andrew Loy of Ohio State University laid claim to the seventh seed, in 50.35. His splits were nearly identically to those of eighth seed LongYuan Gutierrez, who posted a 50.38.
1 Jackson, Tate 20 Longhorn Aquatic 49.60 48.99 q877
r:+0.69 23.42 48.99 (25.57)
2 Howard, Robert 21 Univ Alabama Swi 49.97 49.19 q867
r:+0.73 23.79 49.19 (25.40)
3 Hornikel, BJ 25 Unattached 49.62 49.33 q859
r:+0.69 23.39 49.33 (25.94)
3 Rooney, Maxime 19 Pleasanton Seaha 49.00 49.33 q859
r:+0.70 23.58 49.33 (25.75)
5 Newkirk, Jeff 20 Quest Swimming/U 50.92 49.77 q837
r:+0.67 23.94 49.77 (25.83)
6 Ringgold, Brett 22 North Texas Nada 50.48 49.88 q831
r:+0.73 23.76 49.88 (26.12)
7 Loy, Andrew 19 Ohio State Unive 50.19 50.35 q808
r:+0.70 24.15 50.35 (26.20)
8 *Gutierrez, Lon 22 California Aquat 50.52 50.38 q807
r:+0.63 24.14 50.38 (26.24)
