U.S. Nationals: Josh Matheny Breaks 1:00 in Men’s 100 Breast; Kaitlyn Dobler Crushes Women’s Field
Indiana’s Josh Matheny posted a breakthrough performance in the men’s 100 breaststroke prelims as he joined the sub-1:00 club. Matheny’s previous best was 1:00.06, but he knocked off almost four tenths as he got to the wall in 59.68 in heat 10, setting off some loud cheering from Indiana’s team section. Matheny finished two-thirds of a second ahead of Caspar Corbeau, who represents the Netherlands and trains at the University of Texas. Corbeau swam a time of 1:00.36 in prelims, but he has been as fast as 59.78.
Minnesota’s Max McHugh, the NCAA champion in the 100-yard breast, placed third in 1:00.81, and the remaining eight qualifiers for the final finished just behind him: Long Island’s Jason Louser (1:00.83), Virginia Tech’s AJ Pouch (1:00.85), Wildcat’s Kevin Houseman (1:00.91), Auburn’s Reid Mikuta (1:00.92) and Japan’s Yuya Hinomoto (1:01.04).
American-record holder Michael Andrew made his first appearance of the meet at U.S. Nationals, but he ended up swimming 3.5 seconds off his best time with a mark of 1:01.61. That left Andrew in a 16th-place tie with Athens Bulldog’s Matt Fallon, who won the 200 breast in a swift time of 2:07.91 earlier in the meet. That set up a potential swim-off between the two with a spot in the consolation final on the line.
In April, Kaitlyn Dobler narrowly missed making her first World Championships team as she ended up seven hundredths behind runnerup Annie Lazor in the women’s 100 breast at the U.S. International Team Trials. But with Lazor, world-record holder Lilly King and Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby all absent from U.S. Nationals, Dobler looks like the class of the field. The rising junior at the University of Southern California easily topped prelims in 1:07.71, a second-and-a-half off her best time of 1:06.19 from April.
Dobler led the field by almost nine tenths ahead of Ohio State’s Hannah Bach (1:05.58), and four other swimmers went sub-1:09 in the morning: Australia’s Talara-Jade Dixon (1:08.68), Aquajets’ Olivia Anderson (1:08.79), Denver Hilltoppers’ Emma Weber (1:08.82) and Indiana’s Mackenzie Looze (1:08.92). Athens Bulldogs’ Zoie Hartman (1:09.06) and Trojan’s Isabelle Odgers (1:09.20) also made the cut for the A-final.
