To the surprise of absolutely no one, American superstar Katie Ledecky dominated the season opener of the Tyr Pro Swim Series, winning four events at the Jones Aquatics Center at the University of Tennessee.
Ledecky won the 200 m Freestyle on Thursday night in an excellent 1:55.78, a mark bettered by only four other swimmers in the world during 2018. She also won the 400 m Medley in 4:38.16, a time that will likely rank in the top 15 in the world in 2019, even though she may not swim it again this season.
She won the 400 m and 1,500 m Freestyles by enormous margins, posting a seven-second win over Hali Flickinger in the 400 in 4:02.71, which only two other swimmers bettered last season. She defeated Ashley Twichell – another world-class swimmer – in the 1,500 by a ridiculous 27 seconds, 15:45.59 to 16:13.03. How good was that? No one other than Ledecky swam that fast in 2018 and only four others besides Ledecky have ever swum that fast.
Among the mere mortals who shined in Knoxville:
● Sprint star Michael Andrew, who won the 50 m Free and 50 m Back, defeating Ryan Murphy, and third in the 50 m Breast;
● Denmark’s Anton Ipsen, a 2016 Olympian, who won the men’s 400-800-1,500 m Freestyles;
● Murphy came back to win the 100 and 200 m Backstrokes, beating Daniel Carr both times;
● Josh Prenot, the Rio 200 m Breaststroke silver medalist, won the 200 m Breast and the 400 m Medley;
● Simone Manuel won the 50 and 100 m Frees, beating Margo Geer in both;
● Regan Smith, still just 16, won the 100 and 200 m Backstrokes;
● Annie Lazor won the 100 and 200 m Breaststrokes, and was third in the 50 m Breast.
Special mention should be made of a remarkable meet for Flickinger, the 2018 Pan-Pacific gold medalist in the 200 m Butterfly, who collected four medals, including a win in her specialty, plus silvers in the 400 m Free, 200 m Back and 400 m Medley.
There was prize money of $1,500-1,000-500 for the top three finishers. The next Tyr Pro Swim Series meet will be in Des Moines, Iowa from 6-9 March. Summaries:
USA Swimming Tyr Pro Swim Series
Knoxville, Tennessee (USA) ~ 9-12 January 2019
(Full results here)
Men
(All U.S. unless otherwise indicated)
50 m Freestyle: 1. Michael Andrew, 22.11; 2. Michael Chadwick, 22.46; 3. Ali Khalafalla (EGY), 22.47.
100 m Free: 1. Chadwick, 49.17; 2. Yuri Kisil (CAN), 49.59; 3. Joao de Lucca (BRA), 49.90.
200 m Free: 1. de Lucca (BRA), 1:49.48; 2. Gianluca Urlando, 1:49.51; 3. Chase Kalisz, 1:50.47.
400 m Free: 1. Anton Ipsen (DEN), 3:52.26; 2. Tristan Cole (CAN), 3:56.37; 3. Jeremy Bagshaw (CAN), 3:57.69.
800 m Free: 1. Ipsen (DEN), 8:00.34; 2. Taylor Abbott, 8:09.54; 3. Bagshaw (CAN), 8:12.81.
1,500 m Free: 1. Ipsen (DEN), 15:16.19; 2. Abbott, 15:42.72; 3. Brennan Gravley, 15:43.77.
50 m Backstroke: 1. Michael Andrew, 24.73; 2. Ryan Murphy, 24.95; 3. Daniel Carr, 25.18.
100 m Back: 1. Ryan Murphy, 53.17; 2. Daniel Carr, 54.31; 3. Bryce Mefford, 54.86.
200 m Back: 1. Murphy, 1:56.16; 2. D. Carr, 1:58.46; 3. Mefford, 1:59.50.
50 m Breaststroke: 1. Nic Fink, 27.34; 2. Kevin Cordes, 27.47; 3. Andrew, 27.71.
100 m Breast: 1. Andrew Wilson, 1:00.57; 2. Fink, 1:00.61; 3. Josh Prenot, 1:00.76.
200 m Breast: 1. Prenot, 2:09.96; 2. Fink, 2:10.57; 3. Wilson, 2:12.68.
50 m Butterfly: 1. Luis Martinez (GUA), 23.60; 2. Andrew, 23.64; 3. Giles Smith, 23.68.
100 m Fly: 1. Marius Kusch (GER), 52.06; 2. Luis Martinez (GUA), 52.14; 3. G. Smith, 52.40.
200 m Fly: Urlando, 1:57.04; 2. Kalisz, 1:57.12; 3. Mack Darragh (CAN), 1:59.47.
200 m Medley: 1. Kalisz, 1:57.68; 2. Carson Foster, 2:00.13; 3. Prenot, 2:00.33.
400 m Medley: 1. Prenot, 4:18.74; 2. C. Foster, 4:20.27; 3. Ipsen (DEN), 4:20.72.
Women
(All U.S. unless otherwise indicated)
50 m Freestyle: 1. Simone Manuel, 24.75; 2. Margo Geer, 23.78; 3. Farida Osman (EGY), 25.12.
100 m Free: 1. Manuel, 53.42; 2. Geer, 54.09; 3. Kayla Sanchez (CAN), 54.53.
200 m Free: 1. Katie Ledecky, 1:55.78; 2. Simone Manuel, 1:58.52; 3. Melanie Margalis, 1:58.68.
400 m Free: 1. Ledecky, 4:02.71; 2. Hali Flickinger, 4:09.74; 3. Margalis, 4:09.93.
800 m Free: 1. Ashley Twichell, 8:32.27; 2. Erica Sullivan, 8:37.39; 3. Mariah Denigan, 8:38.14.
1,500 m Free: 1. Ledecky, 15:45.59; 2. Twichell, 16:13.03; 3. Sullivan, 16:29.23.
50 m Backstroke: 1. Olivia Smoliga, 27.85; 2. Kayla Sanchez (CAN), 28.13; 3. Kathleen Baker, 28.37.
100 m Back: 1. Regan Smith, 59.37; 2. Olivia Smoliga, 59.44; 3. Phoebe Bacon, 59.93.
200 m Back: 1. R. Smith. 2:07.53; 2. H. Flickinger, 2:08.72; 3. Isabelle Stadde, 2:10.69.
50 m Breaststroke: 1. Molly Hannis, 30.69; 2. Faith Knelson (CAN), 31.02; 3. Annie Lazor, 31.12.
100 m Breast: 1. Lazor, 1:06.89; 2. Micah Sumrall, 1:07.78; 3. Kierra Smith (CAN), 1:08.21.
200 m Breast: 1. Lazor, 2:23.51; 2. Micah Sumrall, 2:26.50; 3. Emily Escobedo, 2:26.85.
50 m Butterfly: 1. Penny Oleksiak (CAN), 26.00; 2. Osman (EGY), 26.09; 3. Kelsi Dahlia, 26.20.
100 m Fly: 1. Dahlia, 57.86; 2. Kendyl Stewart, 58.25; 3. Oleksiak (CAN), 58.33.
200 m Fly: 1. H. Flickinger, 2:07.21; 2. R. Smith, 2:11.34; 3. Megan Kingsley, 2:12.73.
200 m Medley: 1. Margalis, 2:10.43; 2. Alex Walsh, 2:12.36; 3. Emily Overholt (CAN), 2:14.91.
400 m Medley: 1. Ledecky, 4:39.39; 2. H. Flickinger, 4:39.80; 3. Margalis, 4:40.31.
Mixed
200 m Medley: 1. Team Dirado (Bacon, Fink, Urlando, Manuel), 1:43.48; 2. Team Beisel (Baker, Cordes, Stewart, Chadwick), 1:43.83; 3. Team Adams (Smoliga, Andrew, Prenot, Sahlia, 1:44.45.
