TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont: Shaine Casas Achieves Strong Double; Summer McIntosh Blasts 2:04.00 200 Fly
The first full finals session of this year’s TYR Pro Swim Series saw many of the top U.S.-based swimmers racing long course for the first time since the Paris Olympics, and the resulting times were surprisingly swift for this early stage in the long course season. Simone Manuel set the tone as she blasted a mark of 53.23 to win the 100 freestyle, and Shaine Casas immediately followed with an elite times in winning both the 100 free and 50 backstroke.
Later in the session, Kate Douglass swam away from world-record holder Lilly King in the 100 breaststroke, but the top swim of the evening came from Summer McIntosh in the women’s 200 butterfly. In an Olympic final rematch, McIntosh pulled away from Regan Smith to swim the eighth-fastest performance in history.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Simone Manuel spent the last Olympic cycle working her way back after a battle with Overtraining Syndrome. She did not attempt to qualify for either the 2022 or 2023 World Championships and did not return close to top form until the 2024 season. She ended up qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the 50 free and on relays, and she departed with a pair of relay silver medals.
But following her third Olympics, Manuel is already racing well and close to her best in-season times. In the opening event of Thursday’s finals in Westmont, Manuel jumped out clear of the field in the 100 free final, flipping more than six tenths ahead of the field at 25.50, and she had the second-quickest homecoming split at 27.73.
Manuel finished in 53.23, which is two hundredths faster than the 53.25 she swam to finish fourth in the Olympic Trials final last year. Second place went to teenager Rylee Erisman, the Junior Pan Pacs gold medalist in the event. Erisman touched in 53.83, narrowly behind her best time of 53.75. Meg Harris, the Australian who won Olympic silver in the 50 free, touched out Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey for third, 54.31 to 54.34.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Less than three months after capturing a short course world title in the 200 IM amid a five-medal performance in Budapest, Shaine Casas led a trio of 48-second swims in the 100 free. Casas jumped on the race early to flip in 22.84, and he held strong down the stretch as Grant House bore down.
The Longhorn Aquatics-trained Casas finished in 48.31, just ahead of House’s result of 48.50. Just behind House was his Sun Devil training partner Mikel Schreuders, who came in at 48.65.
Hunter Armstrong, who helped the U.S. men win gold in the 400 free relay in Paris before anchoring the 400 medley relay to silver, ended up 13th in the event at 50.64.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
For the better part of the past decade, Lilly King has been almost undefeated in domestic competitions in the 100 breaststroke, but Kate Douglass was the superior swimmer in the Westmont final. Douglass has become the world’s top 200 breaststroker, securing Olympic gold in American-record time in Paris, and she has made inroads over 100 meters in recent seasons.
Out in 31.20 and back in 35.31, Douglass had the best splits on both ends of the event, and she came into the wall in 1:06.51, just two tenths behind her best time. King ended up second in 1:07.13, with Anita Bottazzo, a native of Italy now training at the University of Florida, ending up third in 1:07.32. Just behind was the 2022 World Championships silver medalist in the event, Texas-trained German swimmer Anna Elendt (1:07.60).
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
Coming off a disappointing summer in which he missed making the U.S. Olympic team, Michael Andrew is trying to re-establish himself in the 100 breast, an event where he holds the American record and ranks No. 4 all-time at 58.14. In Westmont, Andrew led the way through prelims, and he overcame a blazing start from Michael Houlie to claim the win here.
Andrew touched in 1:00.85, four tenths ahead of AJ Pouch’s 1:01.24. Pouch was the third-place finisher in the 200 breast at Olympic Trials. Garrett Clasen placed third in 1:01.58 while Houlie faded to fifth (1:02.47).
Women’s 50 Backstroke
An all-star field assembled in the 50 back, with five swimmers who have stood on international podiums taking part in this event. Each member of the group finished within one-third of a second, but the winner was Kylie Masse, with the Canadian going out ahead and never yielding.
Masse touched in 27.42 to finish two tenths ahead of the field. Masse, 28, has won five Olympic medals, and she was the world champion in the 50 back in 2022.
Katharine Berkoff came in second in 27.63, just like she did against Masse in the global final three years ago. She was followed closely by Ingrid Wilm (27.67), Regan Smith (27.68) and Rhyan White (27.75). Smith won the short course world title in the event in December, but she was unable to keep pace here on the front-end of a double, with the 200 fly final to come.
Men’s 50 Backstroke
Barely a half-hour after triumphing in the 100 free, Shaine Casas exploded off the blocks in the 50 back final and never looked back. Casas built a lead of a bodylength as he sprinted down the pool and finished in 24.23. He was just a quarter-second behind his best time of 24.00, a mark which ranks him No. 4 all-time.
Michael Andrew, also a winner Thursday evening as he topped the 100 breast, earned another top-three finish with his time of 25.10, and third went to Tommy Janton in 25.25.
Women’s 200 Butterfly
The top-two finishers from the Paris Olympics raced in Westmont, but Regan Smith never seriously challenged Summer McIntosh in this race. Instead, the Canadian teenager showed why she has become the world’s dominant swimmer in the race over the past three-and-a-half years. McIntosh has already won a pair of world titles in addition to her Olympic gold in the event.
Here, McIntosh was up by almost a second after 50 meters and more than two seconds at the halfway point. Smith surged off each wall, but she fell off in the closing meters as McIntosh surged to the wall in 2:04.00. That time was the eighth-fastest time in history, the second-best of McIntosh’s career and less than a second off her gold-medal-winning time of 2:03.03, which was the second-fastest mark ever recorded. Indeed, McIntosh hitting that mark so early in the season could position herself for a run at Liu Zige’s outlandish world record of 2:01.81.
Smith came in second at 2:06.87, and even though she was two seconds back of her best time, she still swam finisher than Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers and Denmark’s Helena Rosendahl Bach swam to tie for fourth in the Olympic final (2:07.17). Third here went to Rachel Klinker in 2:10.73.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
No one in the men’s 200 fly field was any match for Trenton Julian. The former Cal swimmer now based at Mission Viejo has represented the U.S. in this event on numerous occasions, and he built a lead of more than a second by the halfway mark. Jack Dahlgren closed the gap down the stretch, but he never got close to the 26-year-old Julian.
Julian clocked a mark of 1:56.02, with Dahlgren taking second in 1:57.35 and Patrick Branon rounding out the top-three finishers and sub-2:00 swims with his time of 1:59.07.
Women’s 400 Freestyle
Men’s 400 Freestyle
