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One night after setting a world record in the 1500 free, superstar Katie Ledecky returned to the pool at the IUPUI Natatorium and scared another global mark in the 400 free, eventually settling for the second-fastest time in history. That swim was the highlight of night two at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis.
Several of Ledecky’s fellow U.S. Olympians also picked up wins, including Kelsi Dahlia, Gunnar Bentz, Melanie Margalis, Simone Manuel and Nathan Adrian. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Daniel Roy posted a scorcher of his own with a National Age Group record in the men’s 200 breast.
Read below for an event-by-event recap of the session.
Women’s 100 Fly
Kelsi Dahlia led from start to finish in the women’s 100 fly at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Indianapolis. She won the first event of the evening in 57.38, the No. 6 time in the world for 2018 and more than a second ahead of the runner-up, which happened to be Dahlia’s Louisville teammate Mallory Comerford.
Comerford placed second in the event in 58.51, and Team Elite’s Hellen Moffitt took third in 58.94. Just behind was HPC-Ontario’s Rebecca Smith in 59.01, and Stanford’s Katie Drabot took fifth in 59.30. Tying for sixth in 59.33 were Mission Viejo’s Amanda Kendall and Athens Bulldog’s Veronica Burchill, and Indiana’s Christie Jensen took eighth in 1:00.46.
Men’s 100 Fly
Indiana’s Vini Lanza had a lead at the halfway point, and Cal’s Tom Shields looked like he was taking control of the race over the second half, but Dynamo’s Gunnar Bentz charged home and took the win, touching out Shields by five hundredths to win the men’s 100 fly in Indianapolis.
Bentz, better known for his IM, 200 free and 200 fly abilities, came in at 53.03, to Shields’ 53.08 and Lanza’s 53.12. Athens Bulldog’s Camden Murphy, a training partner of Bentz at Georgia, took fourth in 53.30.
Carmel’s Drew Kibler took fifth in 53.62, followed by Louisville’s Nicolas Albiero (53.92), Athens Bulldog’s Pace Clark and Louisville’s Zach Harting (54.68).
Women’s 400 Free
In a sight that has become so familiar over the years, Katie Ledecky took a dominating lead in the women’s 400 free final in Indianapolis, with Leah Smith pulling clearly into second. The only question: Would Ledecky challenge her own world record?
Briefly, the answer was yes — Ledecky was barely under WR pace after 50 meters — but she ended up falling just off the pace. Still, she recorded a time of 3:57.94, the second-fastest performance in history behind her world record of 3:56.46 set on her way to gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Previously, Ledecky’s second-fastest mark had been a 3:58.34 from last year’s World Championships.
Ledecky broke her own U.S. Open record of 3:58.44 set in the same Indianapolis pool at last year’s Nationals. Ledecky now owns the top ten times in history in the event. Ironically, this swim was the first time she had ever recorded a 3:57, having skipped from 3:58 to 3:56 two years ago in Rio.
Smith took second in 4:06.67, moving her to No. 9 in the world rankings, and Katie Drabot, a teammate of Ledecky’s at Stanford, finished third in 4:08.29. Just missing the top three was Athens Bulldog’s Hali Flickinger, who touched fourth in 4:08.61.
The rest of the final consisted of Sandpipers’ Erica Sullivan (4:12.01), Club Wolverine teammates Rose Bi (4:13.54) and Sierra Schmidt (4:14.47) and Mission Viejo’s Ashley Neidigh (4:14.75).
Men’s 400 Free
Zane Grothe took the lead on the fifth of eight laps in the men’s 400 free final, but he had to put on the afterburners to hold off training partner Marwan El Kamash and earn his second win of the meet. Grothe, who previously won the 1500 free, finished in 3:48.79, and El Kamash took second in 3:48.92.
Club Wolverine’s Felix Aubock took third in 3:50.53 after leading for much of the race. Aubock finished almost three seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher, teammate Ricardo Vargas (3:53.24).
The others competing in the final included Sandpipers’ Logan Houck (3:54.68), Louisville’s Marcelo Acosta (3:56.00), Dynamo’s Kevin Litherland (3:85.05) and Wolfpack Elite’s Gil Kiesler (3:58.62).
Women’s 200 Breast
Indiana’s Lilly King held the lead at the halfway point in the women’s 200 breast final, and Condors’ Emily Escobedo was in front with 50 meters to go, but Athens Bulldog’s Melanie Margalis had the superior final 50 to take the win.
Margalis’ final time was 2:24.62, nine hundredths ahead of Escobedo (2:24.71). King ended up third in 2:24.95, just three tenths behind the winner. Texas A&M’s Bethany Galat, the World Champs silver medalist in the event, was never in contention, and she ended up fourth in 2:28.16.
Annie Lazor finished fifth in 2:28.70, followed by Stanford’s Allie Szekely (2:30.46), Cardinal’s Emily Weiss (2:31.00) and Kentucky’s Bailey Bonnett (2:32.08).
Men’s 200 Breast
Athens Bulldog’s Chase Kalisz looked to be in position to claim yet another TYR Pro Swim Series win, but King’s Daniel Roy crushed a 33.54 split on the final 50 to take the win in 2:09.73. That demolished his own National Age Group record of 2:10.77 set last year at the World Junior Championships. Roy became the first 18-and-under American man to ever break 2:10.
Kalisz also broke 2:10 for the first time, finishing second in 2:09.90. Athens Bulldog’s Nic Fink swam a strong time of 2:11.33 to take third.
Tiger Elite’s Kevin Cordes was fourth in 2:13.19, one hundredth ahead of Sandpipers’ Cody Miller (2:13.20). Marit Amaltdinov (2:14.42), Penn Charter’s Reece Whitley (2:14.85) and Club Wolverine’s Charlie Swanson (2:17.66) were also in the final.
Women’s 100 Free
Taylor Ruck, fresh off a dominant performance at the Commonwealth Games that included a bronze medal in the 100 free, took down the World and Olympic champion in the women’s 100 free in Indy.
Ruck led wire-to-wire and touched in 53.42, while Stanford’s Simone Manuel came in second at 53.84. Manuel’s swim was her first long course 100 free since she won the 2017 World title in Budapest.
Mission Viejo’s Margo Geer finished third in 54.40, just ahead of Lousville’s Mallory Comerford (54.51). Stanford’s Katie Ledecky, not long after swimming the second-fastest 400 free in history, was fifth in 54.56.
Also in the final were HPC-Ontario’s Kayla Sanchez (54.62) and Rebecca Smith (55.27) and Cardinal’s Kelsi Dahlia (55.28). Three-time Olympian Allison Schmitt won the B-final in 55.13.
Men’s 100 Free
For the fourth time in four TYR Pro Swim Series meets this year, Cal’s Nathan Adrian finished first in the 100 free. He took a fourth-tenth lead at the 50-meter mark and held on to win in a quick time of 48.69. Adrian’s season-best — and the top time by an American this year — is his 48.58 from the Atlanta stop in March.
Indiana’s Blake Pieroni, swimming in his first long course meet of the year, took second in 49.13, just ahead of Wolfpack Elite’s Justin Ress (49.18). Another of the NC State-trained sprinters, Ryan Held, grabbed fourth in 49.54.
The only other man to break 50 was Zach Apple, who last week transferred from Auburn to Indiana. Apple finished in 49.91, ahead of Israel’s Aaron Greenberg (50.27), Indiana’s Ali Khalafalla (50.35) and Club Wolverine’s Gus Borges (51.70).
Mixed 4×50 Medley Relay
In the final event of the night, Team Krayzelburg posted a big win in the mixed 4×50 medley relay. Matt Grevers, Nic Fink, Kelsi Dahlia and Olivia Smoliga comprised that squad. Team Coughlin took second in 1:45.47, with Lilly King splitting an impressive 29.55 on the breaststroke leg.
Also competing were Team Lezak (1:45.49) and a bonus Team Barbini (1:49.11). Team Sandeno was disqualified.
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