U.S. Open Prelims: Caeleb Dressel Goes 22.35 in 50 Free Return for B Final
Caeleb Dressel’s first swim at the U.S. Open in Greensboro Thursday morning was the men’s 50 free, resulting in a time of 22.35 for 13th place.
The swim lands Dressel in the B final. He was well off the pace set by Quintin McCarty, the only swimmer under 22 seconds at 21.94.
Results from the first morning session:
Fresh off her win in the 800 free, Katie Ledecky set the pace in the women’s 400 freestyle with a time of 4:04.06. That garners her the top seed ahead of Summer McIntosh, the Canadian second in 4:06.82.
Leah Smith and Paige Madden followed, both breaking 4:10. Fifth was Siobhan Haughey, with American teens Erin Gemmell and Cavan Gormsen making the final eight.
The men’s 400 free had some of the fire taken out of it with scratches by Ahmed Hafnaoui and Marwan ElKamash. Bobby Finke also won’t be in the A final, having finished 10th in prelims in 3:53.42.
That leaves a race between Americans up top. Kieran Smith won prelims in 3:50.69. Second was Drew Kibler in 3:51.09, while Luca Urlando branched out to drop a 3:51.45. That’s within a half second of the best time he set at this summer’s TYR Pro Championships. Carson Foster (fifth in 3:51.82), 800 free champ Charlie Clark (seventh in 3:52.27) and runner-up David Johnston (eighth in 3:52.47) are also in the A final.
Kate Douglass led a star-studded 200 individual medley with a time of 2:10.03. She’s 1.24 seconds clear of Regan Smith, with Torri Huske and Alex Walsh tied for third in 2:11.42. A pair of internationals in Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey comprise the leading pack of contenders under 2:12.
Trenton Julian and Hubert Kos were separated by a scant tenth of a second in the men’s 200 IM, Julian taking the top seed in 1:59.09 over the Hungarian. Third was Chase Kalisz in 1:59.62, and Israel international Ron Polonsky also cracked two minutes.
A loaded A final will also include Daniel Diehl, Baylor Nelson, Grant House and Dominik Mark Torok. That means Shaine Casas, who went 2:01.47, will have to settle for the B final.
Ever dependable, Abbey Weitzeil won the final heat of 10 to set the top time of 24.53 in the women’s 50 free. That was just .01 ahead of Kate Douglass, with Gretchen Walsh lurking in 24.59. Torri Huske and Siobhan Haughey were also under 25 seconds and are likely to scratch their other final swims to focus on this one.
Simone Manuel tied for seventh in 25.11 with Claire Curzan to secure the last two finals spots, relegating Olivia Smoliga to the B final.
The men’s 50 free will have its share of Olympians, though not Caeleb Dressel. Quintin McCarty was .09 ahead of Brooks Curry. American turned Canadian turned Italian Santo Condorelli was third in 22.06, .01 up on Josh Liendo. Ryan Held (fifth in 22.14) and Michael Andrew (eighth in 22.18) will represent the U.S. in the A final alongside Mikel Schreuders of Aruba and Meiron Cheruti of Israel.
Joining Dressel in the B final are Americans Chris Guiliano and Matt King. Hunter Armstrong and Justin Ress are among the C finalists.
Forgot to mention Olympian Alberto Mestre, who qualified for the B final in the 50