SWIMMING: Lazor lights up King, moves to no. 2 all-time U.S. in Tyr Pro Swim Bloomington

World Short-Course 200 m Breaststroke Champion Annie Lazor

The story of the second and third days of the Tyr Pro Swim Series in Bloomington, Indiana has been Indiana star Lilly King, who set world-leading marks in the 50 and 100 m Breaststroke events. But on day four, she got Lazored.

The gold medalist in the 2018 FINA World Short-Course Championships in the 200 m Breast, Annie Lazor pulled away from a good field and finished in a lifetime best of 2:20.77, far ahead of Emily Escobedo (2:24.51) and King (2:24.60). The time was more than special: best in the world for 2019 and makes her the no. 9 performer ever. Among American swimmers, she’s now no. 2, with the no. 6 performance ever: only American Record holder Rebecca Soni has ever swum faster (five times). Even Lazor was stunned when she saw the time on the scoreboard!

There were some other impressive swims on Sunday, including Regan Smith’s sweep of the Backstroke event with a win in the 100 Back in 58.82, fourth-fastest in the world for 2019. Simone Manuel’s win in the 50 m Free – in 24.41 – ranked sixth in the world this season.

All told, there were four world-leading marks during the meet, including all three Breaststroke events:

Women/800 m Free: 8:10.70, Katie Ledecky (USA)
Women/50 m Breast: 30.03, Lilly King (USA)
Women/100 m Breast: 1:05.68, Lilly King (USA)
Women/200 m Breast: 2:20.77, Annie Lazor (USA)

Ledecky’s 800 m Free swim was impressive; not only the world-leading time for 2019, but the no. 7 performance of all time. She now has the top 21 swims in the event all-time.

Nine swimmers won two or more events, including Smith’s Backstroke sweep:

● 3: Zane Grothe: 200-400-800 m Freestyle
● 3: Michael Andrew: 50 m Back, 50 m Breast, 50 m Fly
● 3: Jay Litherland: 200 m Fly, 200-400 m Medley
● 2: Cody Miller: 100-200 m Breast

● 3: Katie Ledecky: 200-400-800 m Freestyle
● 3: Regan Smith: 500-100-200 m Back
● 2: Lilly King: 50-100 m Breast
● 2: Sarah Gibson: 50-100 m Fly
● 2: Simone Manuel: 50-100 m Freestyle

Nathan Adrian once again heard cheers from the crowd as he get into the blocks for the 50 m Free. Only sixth-fastest in the heats, he was close to the lead with about 10 m to go, but finished third (22.22), tiring slightly at the end, just as in the 100 m Free. But it’s a good start for him to try to regain form in time for the World Championships in Korea.

The Bloomington meet wasn’t the only action in the U.S. for elite swimmers. At the 2019 Atlanta Classic at Georgia Tech (results here), a carload of American stars were in lower-key action. The top mark came from Hali Flickinger of the U.S. in the women’s 200 m Fly, winning in 2:06.98, the no. 2 mark in the world for 2019. Caeleb Dressel posted the no. 4 time in the world this year in the 100 m Free at 47.86. That was his fourth win of the meet; he also took the 100 m Breast (1:01.22), 100 Fly (51.41), and 200 Fly (1:56.29).

Summaries from Bloomington:

USA Swimming/Tyr Pro Swim Series
Bloomington, Indiana (USA) ~ 16-19 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Ali Khallafalla (EGY), 22.05; 2. Robert Howard, 22.19; 3. Nathan Adrian, 22.22.

100 m Free: 1. Zach Apple, 48.76; 2. Blake Pieroni, 48.86; 3. Robert Howard, 49.09.

200 m Free: 1. Blake Pieroni, 1:47.25; 2. Zane Grothe, 1:47.90; 3. Apple, 1:49.49.

400 m Free: 1. Grothe, 3:48.27; 2. Felix Auboeck (AUT), 3:52.69; 3. Johannes Calloni (ITA), 3:54.21.

800 m Free: 1. Grothe, 7:53.40; 2. Auboeck (AUT), 8:04.69; 3. Mikey Calvillo, 8:08.56.

1,500 m Free: 1. Grothe, 15:17.12; 2. Marcelo Acosta (ESA), 15:28.66; 3. Ricardo Vargas (MEX), 15:30.04.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Michael Andrew 24.91; 2. Grigory Tarasevich (RUS), 25.10; 3. Gabriel Fantoni (BRA), 25.34.

100 m Back: 1. Tarasevich (RUS), 54.28; 2. Nikos Sofianidis (GRE), 55.12; 3. Fantoni (BRA), 55.25.

200 m Back: 1. Calloni (ITA) 1:59.01; 2. Jacob Steele, 2:01.29; 3. Zachary Poti, 2:02.12.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Andrew, 27.21; 2. Nic Fink, 27.55; 3. Ian Finnerty, 27.71.

100 m Breast: 1. Cody Miller, 59.24; 2. Andrew, 59.52; 3. Anton McKee (ISL) 1:00.62.

200 m Breast: 1. Miller, 2:08.98; 2. Will Licon, 2:10.97; 3. Daniel Roy, 2:12.00.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Andrew, 23.40; 2. Luis Martinez (GUA), 23.48; 3. Vini Lanza (BRA), 24.20.

100 m Fly: 1. Martinez (GUA), 51.81; 2. Lanza (BRA), 52.72; 3. Fantoni (BRA), 53.71.

200 m Fly: 1. Jay Litherland, 1:57.99; 2. Corey Gambardella, 1:58.49; 3. Carson Foster, 1:59.32.

200 m Medley: 1. Litherland, 2:00.64; 2. Will Licon, 2:02.03; 3. Lanza (BRA), 2:02.75.

400 m Medley: 1. Litherland, 4:14.42; 2. Charlie Swanson, 4:22.64; 3. Daniel Sos (HUN), 4:22.89.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Simone Manuel, 24.41; 2. Julie Meynen, 25.13; 3. Margo Geer, 25.24.

100 m Free: 1. Manuel, 53.65; 2. Mallory Comerford, 54.11; 3. Geer, 54.18.

200 m Free: 1. Katie Ledecky, 1:55.80; 2. Manuel, 1:57.24; 3. Madisyn Cox, 1:58.52.

400 m Free: 1. Ledecky, 3:59.95; 2. Cox, 4:10.21; 3. Brooke Forde, 4:11.91.

800 m Free: 1. Ledecky, 8:10.70; 2. Sierra Schmidt, 8:36.71; 3. Ally McHugh, 8:37.34.

1,500 m Free: 1. Hannah Moore, 16:11.42; 2. Kristel Kobrich (CHI), 16:23.19; 3. Becca Mann, 16:25.49.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Regan Smith, 28.08; 2. Kylee Alons 28.21; 3. Elisa Haan, 28.37.

100 m Back: 1. Smith 58.82; 2. Isabelle Stadden, 1:00.26; 3. Lisa Bratton, 1:00.88.

200 m Back: 1. Smith, 2:06.47; 2, Stadden, 2:09.10; 3. Asia Seidt, 2:09.99.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Lilly King, 30.03; 2. Annie Lazor, 31.01; 3. Olivia Calegan, 31.31.

100 m Breast: 1. King, 1:05.68; 2. Lazor, 1:06.03; 3. tie, Emily Esbobedo, Cox and Bethany Galat, 1:07.59.

200 m Breast: 1. Lazor, 2:20.77; 2. Escobedo, 2:24.51; 3. King, 2:24.60.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Sarah Gibson, 26.52; 2. Katie Drabot, 26.66; 3. Aly Tetzloff, 26.97.

100 m Fly: 1. Gibson, 58.41; 2. R. Smith, 58.52; 3. Lillie Nordmann, 59.31.

200 m Fly: 1. Drabot, 2:08.57; 2,. R. Smith, 2:08.58; 3. Ella Eastin, 2:09.92.

200 m Medley: 1. Cox, 2:11.10; 2. Seidt, 2:15.03; 3. Allie Szekely, 2:16.23.

400 m Medley: 1. Eastin, 4:37.18; 2. Cox, 4:41.14; 3. Makayla Sargent, 4:41.33.