2019 US Open
Day Three Finals
The 2019 US Open continued on Friday night in Atlanta with the finals of the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back. Meet records fell from Melanie Margalis in the 400 IM, Torri Huske in the 100 fly, Phoebe Bacon in the 100 back, and Katie Ledecky and Townley Haas in the 200 free. Haas’ swim was special considering he took down a meet record from 2000 Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband set in 2005 when Haas was in the third grade.
US Open Details:
Women’s 400 IM
Meet Record: 4:38.38, Katie Hoff, 2006
Melanie Margalis started off the night with a well-paced race in the 400 IM on Friday night at the US Open in Atlanta as she turned eighth at the halfway point and used a great breaststroke leg to draw even with the lead pack and pull away on the freestyle. Margalis touched first with a 4:37.34, winning ahead of 2018 national champion Ally McHugh (4:38.09) and 2019 national champion Emma Weyant (4:39.64).
Margalis also got under the meet record of 4:38.38 by Katie Hoff from 2006.
The early leaders were Weyant and 4-time NCAA champion Ella Eastin, who swam a much better race out in lane 1 than her 200 IM last night. Eastin wound up fourth with a 4:40.12 as she could not hang on to the pace on the freestyle with the likes of Margalis and McHugh, two very good freestylers. Margalis has been on fire this fall since the World Championships, setting SCM American records in both the 200 and 400 IM at the ISL this fall. She also swam a personal best in the 200 IM LCM last night in winning with a 2:08.8. She continued that hot streak with a 4:37 tonight, pulling along McHugh to a good 4:38 swim which was faster than what she swam at the World Championships when she was sixth in her Worlds debut.
This was a particularly stacked field with four members of this summer’s World Championships team in attendance with Margalis, McHugh, Eastin and Brooke Forde making the final.
Results:
- 4:37.34, Melanie Margalis, USA, MR
- 4:38.09, Ally McHugh, USA
- 4:39.64, Emma Weyant, USA
- 4:40.12, Ella Eastin, USA
- 4:40.93, Emma Barksdale, USA
- 4:40.94, Brooke Forde, USA
- 4:43.85, Kathrin Demler, GER
- 4:45.76, Makayla Sargent, USA
Men’s 400 IM
Meet Record: 4:11.11, Sebastien Rousseau, 2013
Chase Kalisz was able to keep the Georgia winning streak going tonight in Atlanta as he won the 400 IM final in similar fashion to Melanie Margalis in the previous event, using a strong breaststroke to distance himself from the field. Kalisz touched first at 4:13.07 to win the final ahead of rising star in Texas commit Carson Foster (4:14.76), who was not far off his personal best of 4:13.39 from this summer’s nationals. This was the third fastest time for Foster as he is looking to become the first high school male swimmer to make the US Olympic team since 2000.
World Championships silver medalist Jay Litherland (4:18.58) used a surging finish to get third as he was well off the pace from Kalisz and Foster. Litherland was a 4:09 in July and has made each of the last four major US teams in the 400 IM.
German native Jacob Heidtmann (4:19.56) out-touched 2012 Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte (4:19.72) as the 35-year-old was with Kalisz, Foster and Litherland at the 200 before falling off pace on freestyle. It was similar to his fall-off at the 2016 Olympic Trials when Litherland ran him down. Lochte has showed no signs of fear to the 400 IM as he chases a fifth Olympic berth at June’s Olympic Trials.
2019 US National champion Bobby Finke (4:20.84) finished in sixth place.
Results:
- 4:13.07, Chase Kalisz, USA
- 4:14.76, Carson Foster, USA
- 4:18.58, Jay Litherland, USA
- 4:19.56, Jacob Heidtmann, GER
- 4:19.72, Ryan Lochte, USA
- 4:20.84, Bobby Finke, USA
- 4:21.68, Daniel Sos, HUN
- 4:22.06, Grant Sanders, USA
Women’s 100 Fly
Meet Record: 57.53, Marie Wattel, 2017
16-year-old Torri Huske delivered perhaps the biggest upset of the meet of the 2019 US Open in Atlanta as the high school junior won the 100 butterfly final from lane 1 with a 57.48, lowering her own 15-16 National Age Group record of 57.71 from the World Juniors earlier this year. Huske took down Kelsi Dahlia, who has been the top 100 butterflyer in the United States since 2015 as the Louisville pro was second at 57.96.
Huske was also able to get under the meet record of 57.53 set by Marie Wattel in 2017.
There has not been a lot of surprises thus far at the 2019 US Open with a lot of the favorites taking care of business in the pool in Atlanta. Dahlia was the big favorite in the women’s 100 fly final alongside Egyptian Farida Osman, who won this event at the 2017 NCAAs and has been successful internationally in the 50 fly. But the 16-year-old Virginia native had other ideas as she took the race out hard in lane 1, similar to how Simone Manuel won the 100 free at Worlds this summer. And Huske was able to hang on to win over Dahlia while Amanda Kendall slipped into third at 58.25 while Virginia freshman Kate Douglass (58.48) was fourth and Osman was fifth (58.59).
The United States had been desperately searching for a second 100 butterflyer behind Dahlia because they have not had a second A-finalist in that event since 2013 World Championships. Huske may have just answered the call as she will turn 17 tomorrow and will continue with her junior year of high school.
Huske was named the Swimming World High School Swimmer of the Year this year when she was the only high school girl to break an individual national high school record this year. She also broke Mary T. Meagher’s 15-16 NAG record this summer at the US Nationals, erasing Mary T.’s legendary 57.96 from 1981 that had stood as the world record until 1999. Huske was a quiet contender to make the 2020 Olympic Team and she may not be a secret anymore as she pushes towards her first Trials in six months.
Results:
- 57.48, Torri Huske, USA, MR
- 57.96, Kelsi Dahlia, USA
- 58.25, Amanda Kendall, USA
- 58.48, Kate Douglass, USA
- 58.59, Farida Osman, EGY
- 58.97, Lillie Nordmann, USA
- 59.50, Aly Tetzloff, USA
- 59.54, Dakota Luther, USA
Men’s 100 Fly
Meet Record: 51.65, Tom Shields, 2013
Guatemalan national record holder Luis Martinez won the men’s 100 fly field with a 52.00 as he took down Jack Conger (52.26). Martinez was second at the Pan American Games this summer in this event and is a former swimmer at Auburn.
200 butterfly specialists Justin Wright (52.51) and Luca Urlando (52.59) placed fourth and fifth as Wright had a really good swim considering he has not been considered to have any 100 speed. He should have a really good 200 fly tomorrow and the same applies for Urlando, who is just in his senior year of high school and is committed to the University of Georgia.
Results:
- 52.00, Luis Martinez, GUA
- 52.26, Jack Conger, USA
- 52.42, Iago Amaral, BRA
- 52.51, Justin Wright, USA
- 52.59, Luca Urlando, USA
- 52.73, Cody Bybee, USA
- 52.83, Dylan Carter, TTO
- 52.84, Adilbek Mussin, KAZ
Women’s 200 Free
Meet Record: 1:57.41, Simone Manuel, 2019
Katie Ledecky won the B Final with a new meet record of 1:56.24 as she did not make the A-Final after difficulties with the 400 IM – 200 free double this morning.
Allison Schmitt took care of business in the 200 free final in Ledecky’s absence as she swam a 1:56.47 in winning the final with a very impressive time. That was nearly two seconds quicker than her time from the semi finals of the World Championships as she is seemingly swimming with so much confidence in the lead-up to the 2020 Trials where she has a chance to make her fourth Olympic team. Schmitt was the Olympic champion in 2012 in the 200 free and still holds the American record and textile world record. Her 1:56 puts her 13th in the world for the 2019 calendar year and third in the United States.
Hong Kong native Siobhan Haughey finished in runner-up spot with a 1:57.14 ahead of 50 free champ Simone Manuel (1:57.21). Haughey was fourth at the World Championships this year and Manuel has the second fastest time of any American for this year.
Tennessee senior Erika Brown had a good swim in placing fourth at 1:57.68 as that put her on the map to make her first Olympic team for next year. Virginia junior Paige Madden finished fifth at 1:58.09 ahead of Virginia alum Leah Smith (1:59.27).
Results:
- 1:56.47, Allison Schmitt, USA
- 1:57.14, Siobhan Haughey, HKG
- 1:57.21, Simone Manuel, USA
- 1:57.68, Erika Brown, USA
- 1:58.09, Paige Madden, USA
- 1:59.27, Leah Smith, USA
- 1:59.35, Madisyn Cox, USA
- 2:00.71, Gabby DeLoof, USA
Men’s 200 Free
Meet Record: 1:46.28, Pieter van den Hoogenband, 2005
Another legendary US Open meet record fell in Atlanta as Townley Haas took down Pieter van den Hoogenband’s 1:46.28 200 free meet record from 2005. Haas swam a 1:45.92 in winning the event as he tracked down Dean Farris, who was out quickly at 50.6 on the first 100. Van den Hoogenband was the 2000 Olympic champion in the 200 free and is widely regarded as one of the best European swimmers of all-time. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2013.
This was a very good swim for Haas, who swam quicker tonight than he did at the World Championships when he missed the final with a 1:46.3 in the semis. He won ahead of Zach Apple (1:46.76), who had a very good final 50 in getting second ahead of Brazilian native Fernando Scheffer (1:47.31) and SCY American record holder Dean Farris (1:47.38).
Superstar Caeleb Dressel (1:47.58) placed fifth as he has scratched out of his better events the 50 free and 100 fly to focus on off events like the 200 IM and 200 free. It is yet to be determined if he will go for a relay spot in this event at the Olympic Trials.
Results:
- 1:45.92, Townley Haas, USA, MR
- 1:46.76, Zach Apple, USA
- 1:47.31, Fernando Scheffer, BRA
- 1:47.38, Dean Farris, USA
- 1:47.58, Caeleb Dressel, USA
- 1:47.71, Zhang Ziyang, CHN
- 1:49.02, Jorge Iga, MEX
- 1:50.88, Khader Baqlah, JOR
Women’s 100 Breast
Meet Record: 1:04.45, Jessica Hardy, 2009
Lilly King continued to be unbeatable in the 100 breast as she swam a 1:05.65 on Friday night at the 2019 US Open in Atlanta, winning handily over training partner Annie Lazor (1:06.63). King has been the top swimmer in the world each of the last four years, having first broke out as a potential Olympic buster in the 2015 Winter Nationals this time of year four years ago. King continued with that dominance as she was just six tenths off her gold medal winning time from the 2019 Worlds.
Lazor has broken out this year as a malleable second option behind King as the once retired swimmer is searching for her first Olympics in six months.
2016 Olympian Molly Hannis (1:07.24) finished in third ahead of Emily Escobedo (1:07.46) and 2017 Worlds team member Bethany Galat (1:07.59).
Results:
- 1:05.65, Lilly King, USA
- 1:06.63, Annie Lazor, USA
- 1:07.24, Molly Hannis, USA
- 1:07.46, Emily Escobedo, USA
- 1:07.59, Bethany Galat, USA
- 1:07.59, Rachel Bernhardt, USA
- 1:07.75, Micah Sumrall, USA
- 1:08.47, Breeja Larson, USA
Men’s 100 Breast
Meet Record: 59.28, Andrew Wilson, 2019
Andrew Wilson couldn’t quite match his US Open meet record from this morning as he was upended by 2016 Olympic 200 breast champion Dmitriy Balandin. The Kazakh training out of Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles swam a 59.36 to take down Wilson (59.54) and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in this event Cody Miller (59.92).
Balandin is looking in good shape ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games as he had threatened to retire last year but has seemingly had a change of heart and is swimming as good as he ever has with a 59.3 tonight, being just two tenths off his time from World Championships when he was seventh. Wilson was a spot ahead of Balandin in Gwangju this summer and is also looking in good shape to try and make his first Olympic team in 2020. Wilson has returned to Atlanta where he swam four years at Division III Emory, becoming one of the best Division III swimmers in history.
Nic Fink (1:00.05) and Kevin Cordes (1:00.21) placed fourth and fifth as Cordes was up with the leaders for 75 meters before falling off on the last 25. Cordes hasn’t been the same swimmer since he broke the American record in this event in 2017.
Results:
- 59.36, Dmitriy Balandin, KAZ
- 59.54, Andrew Wilson, USA
- 59.92, Cody Miller, USA
- 1:00.05, Nic Fink, USA
- 1:00.21, Kevin Cordes, USA
- 1:00.31, Joao Gomes, BRA
- 1:00.82, Alex Evdokimov, USA
- 1:00.85, Carlos Claverie, VEN
Women’s 100 Back
Meet Record: 58.96, Regan Smith, 2019
With so much attention (and rightfully so) on 17-year-old Regan Smith at the US Open in Atlanta and World Championships bronze medalist Olivia Smoliga, we almost forgot completely about her 17-year-old rival Phoebe Bacon in the 100 back final. Bacon took everyone by surprise in beating the world record holder Smith with a 58.63 to Smith’s 58.68. That swim puts Bacon fifth in the world for the 2019 calendar year.
Bacon won the Pan American Games this summer in the 100 back this summer and has committed to swim at the University of Wisconsin for next fall.
Bacon comes from the same club as Katie Ledecky, albeit a different site, as both come from the Nation’s Capital Swim Club in Washington DC.
Smith was heavy favorite coming into this meet after she broke the world record in this event at the World Championships, completely wiping away Kathleen Baker’s standard with a 57.5 leading off the 4×100 medley relay in Gwangju. She seemed to be invincible but this was her first meet since the Nationals in August so we did not know what kind of shape she was in.
Phoebe Bacon had a quiet 2019 when she won Pan American Games in this event and was a 59.0 in leading off the medley relay to put her in the top ten in the world for the 2019 calendar year. She lowered her best time by four tenths tonight in Atlanta as she put her name in the running in the already super deep women’s 100 back field in the United States. Add in former world record holder Kathleen Baker to this mix and it will be a race of epic proportions next summer.
Smoliga finished in third with a 59.60 as she is coming off one of her most successful years with a bronze in this event at the World Championships. She finished tonight ahead of 2019 National champ Amy Bilquist (59.96) and Ali DeLoof (1:00.34). There were two other high school seniors in the final with Isabelle Stadden (1:00.46) placing sixth and Alex Walsh (1:00.56) placing seventh.
Results:
- 58.63, Phoebe Bacon, USA, MR
- 58.68, Regan Smith, USA
- 59.60, Olivia Smoliga, USA
- 59.96, Amy Bilquist, USA
- 1:00.34, Ali DeLoof, USA
- 1:00.46, Isabelle Stadden, USA
- 1:00.56, Alex Walsh, USA
- 1:00.70, Lisa Bratton, USA
Men’s 100 Back
Meet Record: 52.51, Nick Thoman, 2009
Canadian Markus Thormeyer won the 100 back final with a 53.94 ahead of Christopher Reid (54.27) and 2016 Olympian Jacob Pebley (54.39).
Results:
- 53.94, Markus Thormeyer, CAN
- 54.27, Christopher Reid, RSA
- 54.39, Jacob Pebley, USA
- 54.74, Hunter Armstrong, USA
- 54.76, Griffin Alaniz, USA
- 54.85, Mark Nikolaev, RUS
- 55.00, Cole Pratt, CAN
- 55.15, Cam Tysoe, AUS
