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Women’s 100 Fly (Kelsi Dahlia)
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.
