by Jessica Delos Reyes//USA Swimming
Coming off Thursday night’s win in the
100m butterfly, Regan Smith touched the wall first in the 200m butterfly and
100m backstroke – in a new meet record – on Friday at the TYR Pro Swim Series
Westmont. The event runs through Saturday at the FMC Natatorium.
Smith won the 200m butterfly in a
time of 2:07.92. Just 21 minutes later, she won the 100m backstroke, setting a
TYR Pro Swim Series record with her time of 57.90 – the second-best time in the
world in 2023.
“I’m really proud of both of my swims
tonight,” Smith said. "In the 200 fly, I was just really proud of how I
executed things. I didn’t have a ton of time before the 100 back so I tried to
treat that last swim like a practice. I knew it was going to be a hard double
but I’m in good enough shape and I’ve done plenty of harder things in
practices. I tried to keep a positive attitude overall.”
Regan wasn’t the only Smith to post
wins Friday night in Westmont. 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Kieran Smith picked
up his second win of this TYR Pro Swim Series with his finish in the 400m freestyle
(3:50.25). Leah Smith also picked up her second win of this TYR Pro Swim
Series, winning the 400m freestyle (4:07.95).
“That was fun,” Leah Smith said.
“This morning I was setting up a good strategy for tonight. I wanted to really
feel strong on the back half, so I was really happy with that. I just got out
and stayed there.”
In the 50m freestyle, sprint
specialist Abbey Weitzeil won the women’s event in a time of 24.50. Fellow Cal
Bear Jack Alexy picked up his first TYR Pro Swim Series win in the men’s event
with his time of 22.90.
“I was really excited to go a best
time at this point,” Alexy said. “Coming off of NCAAs, I took a couple of days
off but I’m really happy with that time. I’m happy to start the summer off
strong and give myself a good chance for world trials and worlds.”
Hunter Armstrong picked up his second
TYR Pro Swim Series win Friday with his 52.59 finish in the men’s 100m
backstroke. Breaststroke specialist Lilly King picked up her first win of this
meet in the 200m event with a time of 2:23.68.
“(Coach) Ray (Looze) told me not to
take the gas off the third 50 – which I kind of like to do – I tried to do what
he asked, and I think it turned out pretty well,” King said.
Shaine Casas claimed another win at
this TYR Pro Swim Series with his finish in the men’s 50m butterfly in a time
of 23.46. Beata Nelson picked up her first TYR Pro Swim Series win with her
time of 26.30 women’s event.
“We don’t get to swim 50s a lot, so I
don’t really have much of an execution plan, but I was going to take one
breath, just focus on my two lane lines and get down there,” Nelson said. “I’m
happy with the win.”
Competition continues through
Saturday at the FMC Natatorium. All prelim sessions and Saturday’s finals can
be viewed on www.usaswimming.org/watch. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. ET with finals
at 7 p.m. ET daily. A full schedule of broadcasts on Peacock and CNBC can be
found here. For more on the competition, visit the event page.
No comments:
Post a Comment