USA Swimming Pro Swim Series Austin, Day 4 Prelims: Rylee Erisman Leads Loaded 100 Free
The first USA Swimming Pro Swim Series stop in Austin has given top swimmers a chance to mix it up in some different events. The final of women’s 100 freestyle Saturday night is one such intriguing combination.
Rylee Erisman led the way in prelims with a time of 53.63, but the final will include both Summer McIntosh and Claire Weinstein in addition to the usual sprinters who’ve been excelling this week in Austin.
The final morning session in Austin:
Women’s 100 freestyle
Rylee Erisman is in pole position after the morning, but she’s going to have company behind her. The only swimmer to break 54 seconds, Erisman went 53.63 to grab a middle lane.
Second was Beryl Gastaldello, the 50 free runner-up, in 54.05. She edged 50 free champ Simone Manuel by .22 seconds. Fourth was Anna Peplowski.
Summer McIntosh was fifth in 55.33. McIntosh has already branched out with a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly this week, and she eschewed the 200 fly in which she is the holder of the top textile time in history later in this session.
Claire Weinstein, the winner of the 200 free, was sixth in 55.34. Chloe Stepanek and Teagan O’Dell round out the A final.
Men’s 100 freestyle
Fresh off his 50 fly U.S. Open record, Maxime Grousset finished second in the 100 free to coast into the final in a time of 48.48. He trailed only the 48.19 of Chris Guiliano. Five swimmers broke 49 seconds: Brooks Curry (48.61), Patrick Sammon (48.75) and Jack Alexy (48.81).
Shaine Casas, Matt King and Luke Hobson round out the A final. That leaves Caeleb Dressel’s 49.27 in ninth place in the B final with Ryan Erisman and Kieran Smith.
Women’s 200 breaststroke
A threadbare field yielded only 13 entrants. Grace Palmer led the way with a time of 2:31.80. Grace Hunt was second in 2:33.95, Audrey Deras and Cyrielle Duhamel followed with 2:34s and Emma Weyant was fifth in 2:35.72.
Men’s 200 breaststroke
The scheduling faced Leon Marchand with a choice on the fourth day of the meet, and he opted for the 200 breast, finishing second in prelims with an easy 2:15.89. He is the second seed in finals to Denis Petrashov, the Kyrgyzstani Olympian leading in 2:14.47.
Luc Dionne finished third in 2:16.14, two tenths up on Luke Barr. Jack Kelly rounded out the A final at 2:20.38.
Women’s 200 butterfly
Regan Smith’s time of 2:09.94 led 13 swimmers with ease, in a race that again did not include Summer McIntosh. Lindsay Looney was the clear second place finisher in 2:12.35. It was nearly two seconds back to Emily Wolf’s 2:14.12 in third, then another three-plus seconds to Averie Hager in fourth. Teens Brinkleigh Hansen and Teagan O’Dell made the A final.
Men’s 200 butterfly
Whatever the lack of depth, at least there will be a race at the front. Carson Foster led the way in 1:59.95, edging Gabriel Jett by four tenths. Ryan Erisman finished third in 2:01.99, again four tenths up on Jack Dahlgren. Grant Sanders and Bobby Finke were fifth and sixth, respectively, to lend some heft to the A final at night.
