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Day 3 of prelims was filled with close finishes, a family rivalry, fast times, and a heartfelt goodbye.
Tonight’s finals begin with the women’s 400 IM. This event should be one to watch as the top eight swimmers each shine in their own top strokes, possibly switching the lead at every wall.
Following the women’s 400 IM will be the Foster brothers dueling it out in lanes 3 and 5.
Up next is the women’s 100 fly, where Dana Vollmer, who placed 32nd this morning in the last swim of her competitive career, will be cheering the finalists on as an alumni of the swimming world.
The men’s 100 fly follows directly after, with three of the top eight seeds placing in the top ten fastest times of 2019.
Finishing up the night will be the women’s 4×200 free relay.
SWIMMING WORLD’S MEET PAGE FOR 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships
Women’s 400 IM
Men’s 400 IM
Women’s 100 Fly
Men’s 100 Fly
Women’s 4×200 Free Relay
Women’s 400 IM
A year out from the United States Olympic Trials, Emma Weyant has established herself as a top contender for a berth to Tokyo in the 400 individual medley. Heading into her senior year of high school, Weyant pulled away from Stanford’s Brooke Forde down the last lap to claim her first national title. Weyant was timed in 4:35.47, good for fifth in the world rankings, and ahead of the 4:36.07 effort produced by Forde.
Weyant is not a stranger to big-meet atmospheres as she was the gold medalist in the 400 IM at last summer’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Fiji. Committed to the University of Virginia, Weyant now has a national title to her credit and will carry some major momentum into the Olympic campaign. Weyant was just .08 ahead of Forde at the final turn but managed to come home a half-second quicker.
Ally McHugh, who along with Forde represented the United States at the recent World Championships, finished in third place in 4:38.65, with Great Britain’s Hannah Miley, a veteran of international competition, taking fourth in 4:39.00. Madisyn Cox was the fifth athlete to crack the 4:40 barrier, touching in 4:39.26. Miley holds Great Britain’s national record with a time of 4:31.33.
Madisyn Cox moves up a spot from prelims to take fifth with a time of 4:39.26.
Coming into the wall back-to-back were Emma Barksdale and Kelly Fertel, with only .04 between them. Barksdale went a 4:41.49, while Fertel followed with a time of 4:41.53. Kate Moore dropped nearly two seconds to get eighth with a time of 4:42.23.
Men’s 400 IM
The 1500 freestyle title pocketed earlier in the week, Bobby Finke turned to his distance base to track down Carson Foster for the gold medal in the 400 individual medley, Finke touching in 4:13.15 and Foster going 4:13.39. En route to his second national title, Finke covered the final lap in 28.19, more than a second faster than Foster, whose time was good for a world junior record. The former WJR stood at 4:14.00, set by Sean Grieshop in 2016.
Jake Foster put together an impressive breaststroke leg and finished behind his younger brother in third with a time of 4:15.03. While the older Foster will head to the University of Texas this fall, his sibling will join the Longhorns the following year.
Coming in only .14 of a second after the older Foster was Kieran Smith with a time of 4:15.17. In fifth was Grieshop with a time of 4:15.50, followed by Brodie Williams with a time of 4:16.63. Grant Sanders went 4:18.28 for seventh, followed by Mark Szaranek in eighth with a time of 4:18.90.
Women’s 100 Fly
Sixth at the turn, Kelsi Dahlia dialed up a strong finish and reeled in her foes over the last length to capture the national title in the 100 butterfly. Dahlia posted a time of 57.35, quick enough to beat Amanda Kendall (57.51). Dahlia covered the last lap in 30.29 to erase Kendall’s advantage. Aly Tetzloff, who was ahead at the turn, picked up the bronze medal in 57.70.
Dahlia wasn’t entirely pleased with her performance at the recent World Championships. Although she had several strong relay performances, including a gold-medal effort as part of the world-record setting 400 medley relay, Dahlia was sixth in the 100 butterfly. Despite her time not matching what she went at Worlds, Dahlia came up with a solid time given the circumstances of a rough turnaround from Worlds to Nationals.
Coming in fourth was Torri Huske, who scored a National Age Group record for the 15-16 category with a time of 57.80. That time erased the 1981 standard of the legendary Mary T. Meagher. Claire Curzan placed fifth with a time of 57.87, followed closely behind by Lillie Nordmann with a time of 57.96. In seventh was Katie Drabot with a time of 58.43, followed by Natalie Hinds in eighth (58.78).
Earlier in the day, the 100 fly featured the final race for 2012 Olympic champion Dana Vollmer, who announced her retirement earlier in the week. Check out this article on Vollmer’s final race.
Men’s 100 Fly
The first two days of Nationals produced a pair of superb performances from Maxime Rooney, as he popped a personal-best performance of 47.61 in the 100 freestyle and 1:46.78 in the 200 freestyle. Neither of those efforts, though, delivered a national title. That scenario changed on Friday night when Rooney came out on top in the 100 butterfly.
After becoming the fourth-fastest American in the history of the 100 fly during prelims, Rooney got to the wall ahead of the field in the finals with a time of 51.09. Although the swim was off the 50.68 he managed in the morning, it was enough to hold off Jack Conger (51.70) and Jack Saunderson (51.78). Rooney is clearly benefiting from his transfer from the University of Florida to the University of Texas and will head into the Olympic year as a Tokyo hopeful in several events.
The winner of the 100 freestyle on the opening night of action, Ryan Held was the fourth-place finisher in the 100 fly in 52.15, placing just ahead of the 52.19 of John Shebat. Danny Kovac was next in 52.22.
Giles Smith came in seventh with a time of 52.25, and in eighth was Luca Urlando with a time of 52.31.
Women’s 4×200 Free Relay
Wisconsin Aquatics, which took third in the women’s 4×100 free relay, claimed the title with swimmers Megan Doty, Lillie Hosack, Ally McHugh and Beata Nelson combining for a time of 8:01.41.
In second place was Alto Swim Club with swimmers Morgan Tankersley, Erin Voss, Lauren Pitzer and Amalie Fackenthal with a time of 8:01.71. Taking third was the Gator Swim Club with swimmers Nikki Miller, Isabella Garofalo, Savanna Faulconer and Kelly Fertel with a time of 8:08.99.
