Day 4 Finals Live Recap

PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

The final session of the Knoxville Pro Series begins tonight, with the 1500 free, 200 IM, 200 back, 50 breast and 100 free finals.

Kicking off the night is the 1,500 free, with Florida Gator training partners Katie Ledecky and Bobby Finke leading the way. While Ledecky is a favorite to win her event, Finke could see a challenge from Ahmed Hafnaoui, who beat her in the 400 and 800 free.

The women’s 200 back is another race to watch, with Olympic silver medalist Kylie Masse up against rising star Katie Grimes, as well as Tennessee swimmer Josephine Fuller (who was just 0.01 seconds away from Masse’s time in the pregame). Also be on the lookout for the men’s 100 free, where Andrej Barna will try to fend off swimmers like Drew Kibler and Gui Caribe

LIVESTREAM

WOMEN’S 1500 Freestyle — FINALS

Top 3:

Katie Ledecky (GSC-FL) — 15:37.99 Katie Grimes (SAND-CA) — 16:15.02 Claire Weinstein (SAND-CA) — 16:25.24

Not surprisingly, Katie Ledecky won the 1,500 free by 38 seconds, posting a time of 15:37.99 — the 14th fastest swim of all time, close to the 15:37.34 she swam to win the medal Olympics in 2020. The time is also faster than she was in the entire 2022 season. She was pretty consistent with her splits, holding the 31st before closing in 30.71.

Behind Ledecky were Sandpiper teammates Katie Grimes and Claire Weinstein, who finished ten seconds apart for second and third place with times of 16:15.02 and 16:25.24, respectively.

MEN’S 1500 1500 FREE — FINALS World Record: 14:31.02 — Sun Yang, CHN (2011) World Junior Record: 14:46.09 — Franko Grgic, CRO (2019) American Record: 14:36.70 — USA Open, Bobby Finke Record : 14:45.54 — Peter Vanderkaay, USA (2008) Pro Swim Series Record : 14:53.12 — Jordan Willimovsky, USA (2016)

Top 3:

Bobby Finke (SPA-FL) — 15:06.53 Ahmed Hafnaoui (Tunisia) — 15:07.07 Michael Brinegar (Ohio State) — 15:28.17

Bobby Finke avenged his loss to Ahmed Hafnaoui in the 800 lira by beating him in the final lap of the 1500 lira in typical Bobby Finke style. After being virtually side by side throughout the race, Hafnaoui pulled slightly ahead at the 1400m mark. However, Finke split Hafnoui 27.04 to 27.99 in the final 50 to take the win.

Finke and Hafnaoui were never more than half a second apart throughout the race.

Third was Michael Brinegar, who was nearly 20 seconds behind and posted a time of 15:28.17.

WOMEN’S 200 IM World Record — FINAL: 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2015) Junior World Record: 2:08.70 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2022) American Record: 2:06.15 – Ariana Kukors US Open: 2 ) 2:07.84 – Alex Walsh (2022) Pro Swim Series Record: 2:08.66 – Katinka Hosszu (2015)

Top 3:

Leah Smith (TXLA) — 2:13.78 Bella Sims (sand) — 2:14.32 Tessa Cieplucha (TNAQ) — 2:15.12

Bella Sims opened things up with a 28.49 fly leg and 33.07 back leg to go by nearly two seconds in the 100, but Leah Smith pulled away in front with a 42.37 breast leg (compared to her 42.37 Sims) to take the lead.

Smith’s 30.93 free leg was enough to maintain her lead, but Sims was closing in on her with a 30.39. Smith ended up touching the wall first with a time of 2:13.78, while Sims posted a 2:14.32.

A distant third was Tessa Cieplucha, who went 2;15.12. She had a strong 38.96 split in the breaststroke, second fastest in the field behind Alexis Yager’s 38.63.

IM 200 MEN’S – FINALS World Record: 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte, USA (2011) Junior World Record: 1:56.99 – Hubert Kos, HUN (2021) American Record: 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte (2011 US Open) 1 :54.56 – Ryan Lochte (2009) Pro Swim Series Record: 1:56.32 – Michael Phelps (2012)

Top 3:

Finlay Knox (CAN) — 1:59.27 Kieran Smith (RACT) — 1:59.85 Trenton Julian (MVN) — 2:00.08

Finlay Knox jumped out to an early lead, posting the fastest fly time (25.22) and return time (30.48) in the field, and led from start to finish in this race. However, Trenton Julian caught him at the end of the back split leg and split 30.87, staying close to Knox for most of the race.

That said, Julian was pipped by Kieran Smith in the breaststroke as he split 34.84 compared to Julian’s 35.50 and Knox’s 35.11 to join Knox as the only two sub-two minute swimmers in the field.

Just missing the podium was Daniel Sos, the leader of the preliminaries, as he was fourth with a time of 2:00.30.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK – FINALS World Record: 2:03.35 – Regan Smith, USA (2019) Junior World Record: 2:03.35 – Regan Smith, USA (2019) American Record: 2:03.35 – Regan Smith Open (2019) US Open 2:05.08 – Phoebe Bacon (2022) Pro Swim Series Record: 2:05.94 – Regan Smith (2020)

Top 3:

Kylie Masse (CAN) — 2:08.97 Josephine Fuller (TENN) — 2:11.59 Katie Grimes (Sand) — 2:11.96

Unlike the preliminaries, where she only held the lead by 0.01 of a second, Kylie Masse was dominant in the final. She won by nearly three seconds with a time of 2:08.97, being the only swimmer in the sub-2:10 field.

Masse, who fell slightly in the 200, was less than a second slower than the 2:08.00 she clocked to finish fifth at the 2022 World Championships.

In second place was Josephine Fuller, who dropped 0.08 seconds from her preliminary time. She was followed by Katie Grimes, who took a grueling double, placing third in the 200 back in the same session where she swam the 1,500 free.

MEN’S 200 BACK — FINAL World Record: 1:51.92 – Aaron Peirsol, USA (2009) Junior World Record: 1:55.14 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2017) American Record: 1:51.92 – US Open Record: 2009 1:53.08 – Aaron Peirsol (2009) Pro Swim Series Record: 1:55.04 – Xu Jiayu (2017)

Top 3:

Daniel Diehl (CUY) — 1:58.45 Chase Kalisz (DIE) — 2:00.50 Kieran Smith (RACT) — 2:01.96

Like Kylie Masse in the women’s race, Daniel Diehl dominated the men’s 200 back, posting the only sub-two minute time in the entire field. It was just over two seconds slower than his best time of 1:56.41, which was set a month ago at the 2022 US Open.

Chase Kalisz took a clean second, while Kieran Smith was third. Smith had just accomplished a grueling double, tackling the 200 IM and 200 back events.

WOMEN’S 50 BREAST — FINALS World Record: 29.30 – Benedetta Pilato, ITA (2021) Junior World Record: 29.30 – Benedetta Pilato, ITA (2021) American Record: 29.40 – Lilly King (2017) Open (2017 – 2017) ) ) Pro Swim Series Record: 29.62 – Lilly King (2018)

Top 3:

Mona McSharry (TENN) – 30.56 Miranda Tucker (TFA) – 31.29 Sophie Angus (CAN) – 31.72

Mona McSharry made it a breast sweep at this Pro Series meet, winning the 100, 200 and now the 50 breast. Her time of 30.56 was a personal best for her, improving on the 30.87 she swam in 2018.

Second was Miranda Tucker, who was just 0.02 seconds off her best time of 31.27 in 2019. Behind her for third was Sophie Angus, who swam 31.72 for third.

MEN’S 50 BREAST — FINALS World Record: 25.95 – Adam Peaty, GBR (2017) Junior World Record: 26.97 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017) US Record: 26.45 – Nic Fink (2022) Andrew2226 US Open (2022) Record US Open. ) Pro Swim Series Record: 26.97 – Felipe Lima (2019)

Top 3:

Michael Houlie (TENN) – 27.47 Tommy Cope (CW) – 27.84 Miguel De Lara Ojeda (ANV) – 27.93

Michael Houlie made it a sweep of Tennessee in the 50 breast, winning the men’s race in 27.47. He finished four tenths ahead of Tommy Cope, who was just 0.03 seconds off his personal best of 27.81. That PB was from when he opened the 100 breast at the 2022 USA World Championships trials meet.

In third place was Mexican swimmer Miguel De Lara Ojeda, who was less than a tenth behind Cope for third.

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE — FINALS

Top 3:

Erika Brown (TNAQ) — 54.15 Olivia Smoliga (SUN) — 54.61 Simone Manuel (SUN) — 54.81

After bias leader Abbey Weitzeil scraped the race, runner-up Erika Brown won, splitting 25.84/28.31 en route to a final time of 54.15.

Behind Brown were ASU training partners Olivia Smoliga and Simone Manuel, who went 54.61 and 54.81 times, respectively. Smoliga was 0.22 seconds ahead of Manuel in the 50, but Manuel was 0.02 seconds faster than Smoliga on the backstretch. Today, Smoliga swam her first 100 free since the US trials, and Manuel swam for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics.

Notably, Regan Smith won the ‘B’ final in 55.53.

MEN’S 100 FREE — FINALS World Record: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROU (2022) Junior World Record: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROU (2022) American Record: 46.96 – Caeleb Dressel (2019) Record US Open Ca4719 – 2019: )/Ryan Held (2019) Pro Swim Series Record: 48.00 – Nathan Adrian (2016)

Top 3:

Andrej Barna (CARD) – 49.00 Gui Caribe (TENN) – 49.15 Javier Acevedo (CAN) – 49.56

Andrej Barna dropped 0.03 seconds from his preliminary time to win in 49.00. He was second to Gui Caribe in the 50, opening in 23.56 compared to Caribe’s 23.46, but he split Caribe 25.44 to 25.69 in the back.

Barna and Caribe finished just 0.15 seconds apart, and Canadian swimmer Javier Acevedo was third in 49.56.