Lilly King Sets New Meet Record in 50m Breaststroke on Final Day of TYR Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Olympian Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Team) posted a new TYR Pro Swim Series record in the 50-meter breaststroke, touching in an impressive 29.62 seconds on the final day of competition in Santa Clara.
“I got better as the week went on,” King said of her swimming in Santa Clara. “I’m kind of sad to go home and go back to the weather [in Indiana]. It’s been a good week out here.”
Five-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Stanford Swimming) opened the evening session with a convincing victory in the 400m free in 4:00.51, almost four seconds faster than fellow Olympian Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa./Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics) who finished in 4:04.72. Zane Grothe (Boulder City, Nev./Mission Viejo Nadadores) picked up the men’s 400m free title, touching in 3:50.53.
“I’m happy with my 400m free today and all my swims this weekend,” Ledecky said. “It gives me a good indicator of where I am. It’s good to get some racing in before Nationals and to take some things away to work on over the next six or seven weeks.”
All of the sprint races during the event were in knockout format, starting with a round of nine competitors, then four competitors in the semifinals and two final competitors in the finals.
In the 50m fly, Canadian Penny Oleksiak out-touched Egyptian swimmer Farida Osman in a time of 26:06, while Jack Conger (Rockville, Md./Nation’s Capital Swim Club) took the 50m fly in a scorching 23.67.
Olivia Smoliga (Glenview, Ill./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) fought through to win the 50m back over Ali Deloof (Grosse Point, Mich./Club Wolverine) in a time of 28.02. Canadian Markus Thormeyer won the men’s 50m back sprint in a time of 25.68.
Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) placed first in the 50m breast in 27.67, as Andrew Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Longhorn Aquatics) followed .03 seconds behind in second place.
In the premier race of the evening, Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas/Stanford Swimming) edged out Abbey Weitzeil (Saugus, Calif./California Aquatics) for the 50m free title. Manuel raced in 24.67, while Weitzel touched in 25.64. Thormeyer also took the men’s 50m free.
The evening closed out with the women’s and men’s 200m mystery IM. Canadian Sarah Darcel won the women’s race in 2:16.92 and Japan’s Hiromasa Fujimori won the men’s race in 2:04.79.
The 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series concludes on July 5-8 in Columbus, Ohio at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.