Fort Lauderdale Open, Day 2 Prelims: Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass Pull Morning Doubles
The first morning session at the Fort Lauderdale Open had not only a bunch of big names in the water, but many working double time in a sprint-heavy early program. Among them, Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass both set themselves up to make finals in two events.
The morning action:
Women’s 100 freestyle
Gretchen Walsh led the way in the 100 free in a very Virginia top half of the final. Walsh went 53.64, the top seed by .05 seconds over Anna Moesch. Kate Douglass was third in 54.04.
Simone Manuel finished fourth in 54.41, .02 up on Texas teammate Erin Gemmell, with fellow Longhorn Nikolett Padar sixth. Rylee Erisman and Erika Pelaez round up the sub-55 times for the top eight.
Lily King of NC State was ninth, ahead of Claire Curzan.
Men’s 100 freestyle
Chris Guiliano led the way in the men’s 100 free with a time of 48.48. Second was a tie between Ohio State’s Tomas Navikonis and Patrick Sammon in 48.90. Dylan Carter was fourth, ahead of Josh Liendo (49.51) and Luke Hobson (49.66). Jerry Fox and Ruslan Gaziev round out the top eight.
Shaine Casas was ninth in 49.85, with Caeleb Dressel 10th in 49.90. Ilya Kharun finished 13th in 50.41.
Women’s 100 breaststroke
Mona McSharry claimed the top seed in finals, the Irishwoman going 1:07.36 to win by .01 over NC State’s Eneli Jefimova. Kate Douglass was third in 1:07.96, with Emma Weber following in 1:08.00.
There was quite a gap back to Sophia Umstead of Virginia, who nonetheless set a best time in 1:09.68. Alex Walsh was sixth, with 48-year-old Gabby Rose in seventh.
Men’s 100 breaststroke
A thinner men’s breaststroke field led to Jack Kelly of NYAC leading the way in 1:00.98. He was the first choice by .05 seconds over Ian Call. There was more than a second back to Hubert Kos, dipping his toe into breaststroke with a 1:02.47. Fourth place went to Pavel Romanov, the 32-year-old Russian going 1:02.59.
Women’s 50 backstroke
Isabelle Stadden led the way with a time of 27.34. She bested Katharine Berkoff, who had a 100 free on her legs earlier in the session, with a 27.78. NC State’s Erika Pelaez was third in 28.49. Gretchen Walsh gave it a go and was fourth in 28.54, with Claire Curzan fifth.
Bermuda international Emma Harvey and American Phoebe Bacon rounded up the top seven, Bacon going 29.01.
Men’s 50 backstroke
Finn Harland set the quickest time in prelims of the 50 back, his 25.15 edging Hubert Kos by .03 seconds in 25.18. It was about a tenth back to Shaine Casas in 25.27 for third.
Estonian international Ralf Tribuntsov finished fourth in 25.61, edging Jack Aikins by .05 and Daniel Zaitsev by .06.
Women’s 200 butterfly
Regan Smith, in her only event of the morning, went 2:06.77 to easily set the pace. Tess Howley was a distant second in 2:09.71. Lindsay Looney was third in 2:11.22, then Alex Walsh in 2:12.81.
In her first of two swims on the morning, Katie Grimes went 2:15.76 to finish 11th.
Men’s 200 butterfly
Leon Marchand led the way with a time of 1:56.80 that was a half-second clear of the field. Carson Foster was second in 1:57.36, then Mitchell Schott followed in 1:59.08. Arthur Balva was the only other swimmer to break two minutes at 1:59.43, then a gap back to fifth-placed Grant Sanders in 2:02.66.
Women’s 400 freestyle
Men’s 400 freestyle
