After a busy week of racing from Olympians and National Teamers at the Duel in the Pool and others across the country, this past week still featured lots of racing and more than a few records fall. Read below to see the top headlines and performers from this week!
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The Week That Was #5 – Katie Meili Posts Fast Swims at 2015 Pro-Am Classic
Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel/USA Today Sports Images
Meili walked away with four wins and two best times from the weekend, taking the 100 breaststroke (58.20), 200 IM (1:54.15), 200 breaststroke (2:08.88), and 50 breaststroke (26.95) across the four day meet. That 100 breaststroke time is Meili’s fastest ever, besting her 58.44 from the 2013 Ivy League Championships, while the 200 breaststroke is just off of her lifetime best 2:08.00 from the 2013 NCAA Championships. The 200 IM just clipped her best of 1:54.20 from the 2014 Winter Nationals last December. Other highlights from the Pro-Am Classic include Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace winning a 50 freestyle shootout in 21.58, Eugene Godsoe winning the 100 backstroke (45.46), and Brendan McHugh sweeping the breaststroke events (51.62, 1:52.46).
The Week That Was #4 – Fast Swimming Down Under at the Queensland State Championships
Photo Courtesy: Fabio Ferrari – LaPresse
Fresh off of record-breaking performances at the Australian Short Course Championships just a few weeks ago, some of Australia’s superstars were back at it with some fast long course swims at the Queensland State Championships. Australian backstroke queen Emily Seebohm continued her dominance this year with an All-Corners record in the 100-meter backstroke, posting a 58.70 to close her spectacular 2015.
Mitch Larkin, who has been just as dominant in the backstroke events as Seebohm this year, was just off Aaron Piersol’s 100 backstroke All-Corners record with his 53.04. Piersol’s record stands at a 52.98 from the 2007 FINA World Championships that took place in Melbourne. Notably, sprint superstars Cate Campbell and Cameron McEvoy both took home fast wins in the 100 freestyle, touching in 52.84 and 48.01 respectively.
The Week That Was #3 – Olympic Medalist Katie Hoff Announces Official Retirement
Photo Courtesy: Azaria Basile
Early last week two-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist Katie Hoff announced her retirement through a social media post to her fans. Citing a continued struggle with health issues that have hampered her ability to train and compete at a high level as recently as this summer, Hoff explained her career has come to an end at the age of 24. Hoff spent her formative years with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics at just 15 years old. Also competing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she earned three medals, Hoff experienced highs and lows, medaling at the 2011 World Championships but missing the 2012 Olympic Team after succumbing to an illness at Trials. She took an extended time off to enroll at the University of Miami in 2013 before returning to the pool later that year. Her career included numerous World Championship medals, Olympic medals as well as several American, U.S. Open, and World Records.
The Week That Was #2 – Cody Miller, Breeja Larson Sweep Breaststrokes at 2015 Oklahoma Elite Pro-Am Meet
Photo Courtesy: Robert Stanton/USA Today Sports Images
This week featured the three-day Oklahoma Elite Pro-Am meet where national teamers Breeja Larson, Cody Miller, and Josh Schneider all posted some fast short-course yards swims. Miller won the 100 breaststroke over teen phenom Michael Andrew in 50.82 and became just the third man under 1:50 in the 200 breaststroke, posting a 1:49.74. Both of those times beat Miller’s previous lifetime bests (51.14, 1:51.03) by a fair amount and set Miller up well as we move into 2016 and ever closer to Olympics Trials. Olympian Breeja Larson also posted strong breaststroke wins, taking the 100 and 200 breaststrokes (58.74, 2:07.47). Also impressive was Josh Schneider, who took the 50 freestyle in 19.04. Competing in a shootout style 50 freestyle finale, Schneider won the race over Olympian Jimmy Feigen (19.25) in the final.
The Week That Was #1 – Michael Andrew Takes NAGS To New Heights
Photo Courtesy: Singapore Swimming Federation
Fresh off of a week where Michael Andrew broke the 15-16 National Age Group short course records in the 200 IM, 100 breaststroke, and 100 butterfly at the Junior National – West meet in Austin, Texas, Andrew continued his record-breaking ways at the Oklahoma Elite Pro-Am Meet. First, Andrew lowered the 100 breaststroke record for the third time in less than two weeks, touching in 51.75. With that swim Andrew became the youngest person ever to break the :52 second mark in the 100 breaststroke and became the 11th fastest performer of all-time. He followed that up with an incredible 19.24 in the 50 freestyle. With that swim Andrew broke Ryan Hoffer’s 15-16 NAG record of 19.38 and secured his 14th current short course yard National Age Group record. That swim puts him third all-time for U.S. junior (18 & under) athletes behind Hoffer and Caeleb Dressel, who are currently setting themselves up as athletes to watch in the sprint events this summer.
For complete coverage of the 2015 Oklahoma Elite Pro-Am meet head over to our Event Landing Page.