Michael Andrew continued his impressive showing at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis on Friday morning with a 51.31 in the heats of the 100 butterfly. Andrew is now the fastest American this year with 30 days until Omaha and is also ranked fifth in the world this year. No American tickets have been punched yet for the Tokyo Olympics but Andrew looks like a very serious threat in a number of events, especially after nearly breaking the American record in the 100 breast last night.
Andrew is a full second ahead of Arizona State’s Evan Carlson (52.31) and Louisville’s Zach Harting (52.40) as they sit tenth and 11th in the national rankings this year. Michigan’s Miles Smachlo should also factor into the race tonight as he is fourth at 52.45 ahead of Kyle Robrock (52.58) and Youssef Ramadan (52.64).
2021 World Rankings Men’s 100 Fly
- 50.47, Kristof Milak, HUN
- 51.00, Takeshi Kawamoto, JPN
- 51.03, Naoki Mizunuma, JPN
- 51.17, Andrei Minakov, RUS
- 51.31, Michael Andrew, USA
- 51.40, Mikhail Vekovishchev, RUS
- 51.44, James Guy, GBR
- 51.44, Jakub Majerski, POL
- 51.47, Katsuhiro Matsumoto, JPN
- 51.52, Hubert Kos, HUN
In the women’s 100 fly, Regan Smith swam a 57.68 to lead the qualifiers in what should be a very exciting race, not only tonight but in four weeks. Looking ahead just tonight, Smith is leading 2017 Worlds bronze medalist Kelsi Dahlia (58.08) and NCAA runner-up Kate Douglass (58.13). Smith is still ranked sixth in the nation as she improved on her season best of 57.8 from earlier this year while Dahlia also dropped 0.02 off her season best. Douglass has been as quick as a 57.4 from the fall so she should not be taken lightly.
Last night’s 100 free champ Linnea Mack (58.92) is seeded fourth ahead of Wisconsin grad Beata Nelson (58.95).
NCAA champ Phoebe Bacon is on top of the heats field in the 200 backstroke with a 2:08.34 ahead of world record holder Regan Smith (2:08.74) as both improved on their season bests with Bacon sitting fourth nationally and Smith fifth. They are ahead of Alex Walsh (2:12.03) as all three of them were star recruits in the class of 2020 and looking to make some noise on the 2020 Olympic team out of high school. Bacon and Walsh each won NCAA titles as freshmen in 2021 for Wisconsin and Virginia respectively while Smith took an Olympic redshirt before she joins the Stanford team this coming fall.
Another NCAA champ Paige Madden topped the leaderboard in the 200 free heats with a 1:57.83 as her season best of 1:57.6 still puts her third in the nation this season. Madden was the only woman in the NCAA to win three titles at the Division I meet as she won the 200, 500 and 1650. She is seeded ahead of three swimmers that train in the state of Arizona including former Virginia Cavalier Leah Smith (1:58.17) and current Arizona State swimmers Allison Schmitt (1:58.52), Emma Nordin (1:58.86) and Erica Laning (1:59.85).
Will Grant of Harvard is the top seed in the men’s 200 back at 1:59.70 ahead of Thomas Watkins (1:59.86) as Grant is fifth in the nation with a season best of 1:59.5. Watkins, who represents New Zealand, was under the FINA B cut of 2:01.03 but over the A standard of 1:57.50.
Jorge Iga, who represents Mexico, is the top seed at 1:48.01 in the 200 free, under the B standard of 1:50.23 and over the A standard of 1:47.02 as he is looking for a spot in Tokyo. He is top seed in the 200 free ahead of Michigan’s Patrick Callan (1:48.93) and Blake Pieroni (1:48.94), while Arizona State’s Grant House is just behind in fourth at 1:49.06. Callan has the third fastest time in this event among Americans this year with a 1:47.3 from the fall.
Hali Flickinger and Leah Smith cruised to the top two seeds in the 400 IM with Flickinger leading the way at 4:42.61 ahead of Smith (4:42.93) and Indiana commit Mariah Denigan (4:44.83). 2018 national champ Ally McHugh (4:45.33) is seeded fourth ahead of Michigan’s Kathryn Ackerman (4:46.18) and South Carolina’s Emma Barksdale (4:46.41) as a sub-4:40 should be what it takes to win.
Michigan’s Charlie Swanson is the top seed in the men’s 400 IM at 4:21.95 ahead of Arizona State’s Jarod Arroyo (4:22.18) and Texas A&M’s Hector Ruvalcaba (4:23.05).
