The fourth day of finals at the 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships showed some fantastic racing across the board. Matt Grevers made his fourth World Championship team on Friday night in Indianapolis as he won the 100 back final ahead of Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy.
Kevin Cordes broke the American Record in the 100 breast with a 58.74 to break Cody Miller’s record from Rio last year. There were lots of other fast swims across the pool tonight as Katie Ledecky, Zane Grothe, Lilly King and Kathleen Baker posted quick times to win their events and climb near the top of the world rankings list.
Tonight’s Events:
- Women’s 400 Freestyle
- Men’s 400 Freestyle
- Women’s 100 Breaststroke
- Men’s 100 Breaststroke
- Women’s 100 Backstroke
- Men’s 100 Backstroke
Women’s 400 Free
Katie Ledecky broke four minutes for the tenth time in her career on Friday night at the 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships. Ledecky won the race comfortably with a 3:58.44 to break her US Open Record she had at 3:58.86 that was set at the 2014 Nationals. That swim was a world record at the time. Ledecky now has the opportunity to defend the World title she has won the last two World Championships in 2013 and 2015.
Ledecky will be joined in Budapest once again by Leah Smith who finished second at 4:03.77. That is the fourth individual event Smith has qualified for for World Championships this summer, while it is Ledecky’s third. Sierra Schmidt of Club Wolverine was third at 4:07.92.
Purdue’s Kaersten Meitz (4:08.38), Wisconsin’s Cierra Runge (4:08.43), NC State’s Hannah Moore (4:09.55), Stanford’s Katie Drabot (4:11.54) and Auburn’s Ashley Neidigh (4:15.29) also competed in the A-final.
Men’s 400 Free
For years, Zane Grothe could never get it done. Grothe had been in numerous appearances in A-finals at NCAA’s and Nationals over the year and could never quite get over the hump to make a major team. When he moved to Badger Swim Club a couple years ago, he looked like he was on the cusp of making that next step. Grothe was a few spots away from making the Olympic team last year, but did not give up. On Friday night, he won the national title out of lane 1 thanks to a stellar back half in the final of the 400 free.
Grothe won with a 3:44.43 to run away from the Texas duo of Clark Smith (3:45.91) and Townley Haas (3:46.41). Grothe makes his first individual appearance at a major meet with that win. He made the 4×200 free relay on Wednesday night. Smith also picks up his first individual swim after getting on the relay Wednesday night.
Grant Shoults (3:48.73), Mitch D’Arrigo (3:50.61), Kevin Litherland (3:51.84), Trey Freeman (3:51.99) and Andrew Abruzzo (3:53.37) also competed in the A-final.
Women’s 100 Breast
Lilly King completed the hat trick of breaststroke titles at the 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships with a 1:04.95 to light up the natatorium in downtown Indianapolis. King moves to second in the world rankings behind Russia’s Yulia Efimova (1:04.82) setting up a grudge match in Budapest at the World Championships after the two went head to head in the pool in Rio last summer. King will be joined by 26-year-old Katie Meili in Budapest. Meili finished second at 1:05.51 and moves to third in the world rankings for 2017. Meili makes her first World Championships team with that swim.
Bethany Galat (1:06.72), Molly Hannis (1:07.11), Breeja Larson (1:07.61), Andrea Cottrell (1:07.77), Miranda Tucker (1:07.88) and Zoe Bartel (1:08.00) also competed in the A-final.
King also broke the meet record she broke at last summer’s Olympic Trials at 1:05.20. King is definitely in a good position to try and take down the world record held by Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania set at the 2013 World Championships.
Men’s 100 Breast
Kevin Cordes completed the breaststroke hat trick on Friday night at the 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming Nationals and saved his best race for last. Cordes broke the American Record in the 100 breast with a 58.74. He broke Cody Miller’s American record that he set last summer at 58.87. Miller did not lose everything in that race as he picked up the second spot at 59.11 to clinch his second straight Worlds appearance. Cordes also broke the US Open and meet record of 58.86 (Adam Peaty) and 58.94 (himself) in the race.
Cordes and Miller beat a pretty talented field. Nic Fink (59.40), Andrew Wilson (59.65), Jacob Montague (1:00.39), Will Licon (1:00.67), Josh Prenot (1:00.79) and Michael Andrew (1:01.19) also swam in the A-final.
Cordes is now second in the world rankings behind Great Britain’s Peaty (57.79) and will be looking to win his first individual medal internationally in the 100 distance.
Women’s 100 Back
Kathleen Baker continues to be on a roll in 2017 as she unleashed a huge swim in the 100 back final Friday night in Indianapolis. Baker won the national title in the 100 back with a 58.57 to break the US Open and meet record held by Missy Franklin at 58.67. Baker just missed Franklin’s American Record of 58.33 in the race. Baker will be joined in Budapest by Olympic teammate Olivia Smoliga of Georgia. Smoliga was second in the final at 59.17 and clinches her first World Championship berth.
Smoliga slipped off the start in the prelims of the 50 back and failed to make the final. She came back with vengeance in the 100 final to place second and get on the World Championship team. 50 champ Hannah Stevens of Missouri was third at 59.74.
Ali DeLoof (59.77), Regan Smith (59.85), Caroline Baldwin (1:00.37), Bridgette Alexander (1:00.64) and Claire Adams (1:00.76) also competed in the A-final.
Baker’s time puts her second in the world rankings behind Canada’s Kylie Masse (58.21). Baker won the silver medal in Rio last summer and will be looking to upgrade that medal position in three weeks in Budapest.
Men’s 100 Back
32-year-old Matt Grevers made his way back on to the national team after he missed qualifying in Rio last summer by the slimmest of margins. There were rumors he retired. There were rumors he would come back. He and his wife Annie had a baby. A lot had changed in Grevers’ life over the last 12 months when he finished third in Omaha in the 100 back. But one thing has not changed, Grevers is back on a World Championship team. His fourth one. He made his debut in 2009 in Rome and has made every team since, with the exception of 2011. The 2012 Olympic Champion won the 100 back final on Friday at the 2017 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships with a 52.71.
Grevers beat out the world record holder and defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy who finished second at 53.02. Murphy picks up another event for Budapest as he won the 200 on Wednesday night. Murphy held off strong swims from NC State’s Justin Ress (53.38) and Cal teammate Jacob Pebley (53.81).
Taylor Dale (54.53), Bob Glover (54.64), Sean Lehane (54.73) and Daniel Carr (54.86) also swam in the A-final.
Grevers sits behind China’s Xu Jiayu in the world rankings as the Chinese man got agonizingly close to Murphy’s WR at the Chinese Nationals in April of this year.
