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Men’s 200 I.M. (Ryan Lochte)
Nothing’s better than a belated birthday gift such as a national championship title. Ryan Lochte, the now 35-year-old, 12-time Olympic medalist, took home gold in the men’s 200 I.M. Lochte’s backstroke split of a speedy 29.47 was instrumental in him for getting ahead. In 1:57.76, Locthe was almost a second faster than his prelims swim this morning and, more significantly, was back on the cusp of being an international contender once more. Lochte is now 12th in the world and fourth in the US with that swim.
Earning a silver medal in the event was the national champion in the men’s 100 back, Shaine Casas. The Aggie Swim Club member’s butterfly leg of the race was one of the faster splits with a 25.19. Overall, Casas hit the wall at 1:58.83.
Jake Foster swam a time of 1:59.15 and finished in third. The bronze medalist made huge strides of improvement as he finished 19th in the event at last years nationals.
Fourth place went to John Shebat. The New York Athletic Club swimmer was seeded second going into finals, however he still shaved time off of his prelims swim and went a personal best.
Hitting the touch-pad at 2:00.14 was not one, but two swimmers. Tying for fifth place was Ridgefield Aquatic Club swimmer Kieran Smith, and Saint Petersburg Aquatics swimmer Grant Sanders. Smith was ahead for the front half of the race, while Sanders caught up on the back half. Both of them were neck and neck at the flags as they hit the wall at the exact same time.
Seventh place went to University of Michigan swimmer, Tommy Cope. Cope maintained his seventh place seed and swam a personal best with a time of 2:00.40.
The final swimmer to come into the wall and wrap up the A final was Longhorn Aquatics swimmer, Matthew Willenbring, posting a time of 2:00.83.
SWIMMING WORLD’S MEET PAGE FOR 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships
Congratulations ?
Well done, Ryan and congrats to CTs Kieran Smith!!!!
Happy for him!
Congratulations Ryan
Go USA Go
Because he’s been out of the spotlight the past few years, a lot of people have forgotten how good Ryan Lochte really is. When you look back at all the events, strokes, distances that he’s competed and won in, it becomes apparent that the only reason he’s not considered the best of all time, is the fact that he happened to live and swim in the era of Michael Phelps. Great champions are not just defined by how much they won but also by the other greats that they lost to!