Monday, January 18, 2021
Seven U.S. National Team Members Record Victories on January TYR Pro Swim Series Closing Night
The 2021 January TYR Pro Swim Series wrapped up Sunday night, with multiple winners coming out of both the Richmond, Virginia and San Antonio, Texas sites.
Kicking off the night’s slate of events was the 1500-meter freestyle, which saw Ally McHugh and Zane Grothe each earn their second win of the meet.
“I’ve been waiting all week for that race,” Grothe said after going 15:10.29 for the win. “Everything I’ve been doing in training the past two months has been focused on a better 1500.”
For McHugh, her 16:12.87 time was the fastest she has swum the event since July of 2019 and the third-fastest performance of her career.
“I was just trying to use my legs a little more, but also make sure I wasn’t slipping with my stroke and make sure I was still grabbing water,” McHugh said. “I just wanted to finish off on a good note. I can usually bring it back pretty fast, but I don’t think I did a great job of switching gears in the middle. I think I kind of stayed the same, so I wanted to switch a little bit and see what I had left and push it a little bit so I think I did a better job of that at the end of it.”
Following the 1500m freestyle was the 200m individual medley, where Kathleen Baker went 2:10.30 to capture the victory, also marking the third-fastest swim of her career.
“Before this meet, we had talked about maybe doing a little more butterfly even though in this event I’m really only swimming butterfly for 35 meters,” Baker said. “I should definitely be doing it a little more in practice, so maybe just adding some more 50’s on quick-interval long course, or 75’s or things like that just to get that flow of a stroke. I definitely feel like each split has some negatives and some things to work on, but that’s where you want to be in January.”
The men’s event saw Kieran Smith touch the wall first, earning him his third win of the meet.
”Usually I’m pretty tired by the end of the meet, but that (200m I.M.) was the best feeling I’ve had at a meet in a really long time,” Smith explained. “It felt really, really good.”
The 200m backstroke titles were captured by Isabelle Stadden in 2:09.31 and Ryan Murphy in 1:56.82. Stadden’s time of 2:09.31 was the only sub-2:10 swim in the field, while Murphy’s 1:56.82 showing was over a second ahead of the field.
“It took me at least prelims to remember how to swim (the event),” Stadden said. “But it felt good to get a long-course race in before whenever the next one is. It was tough, but I made it through.”
“I wasn’t really focusing on times,” Murphy explained after his swim. “That was a race where I really wanted to feel the pain… Whenever you start to feel a little bit of fatigue, you have got to continue to push through it and build towards that last 50.”
Rounding out the night was the 100m freestyle, which saw Catie DeLoof and Justin Ress claim victories, giving each of them their second win on their second-consecutive night.
“It felt really tough, but that’s kind of what this meet is about is learning how to swim tough,” Ress said after his swim. “You never know at a big meet when you’re going to feel like this so you have to learn how to push through it. There was a lot of time between sessions and it was a late swim, but this is all a good way to learn how to swim when the circumstances aren’t the best.”
At the conclusion of the meet, U.S. National Team members totaled victories in 25 of 28 events.
Kicking off the night’s slate of events was the 1500-meter freestyle, which saw Ally McHugh and Zane Grothe each earn their second win of the meet.
“I’ve been waiting all week for that race,” Grothe said after going 15:10.29 for the win. “Everything I’ve been doing in training the past two months has been focused on a better 1500.”
For McHugh, her 16:12.87 time was the fastest she has swum the event since July of 2019 and the third-fastest performance of her career.
“I was just trying to use my legs a little more, but also make sure I wasn’t slipping with my stroke and make sure I was still grabbing water,” McHugh said. “I just wanted to finish off on a good note. I can usually bring it back pretty fast, but I don’t think I did a great job of switching gears in the middle. I think I kind of stayed the same, so I wanted to switch a little bit and see what I had left and push it a little bit so I think I did a better job of that at the end of it.”
Following the 1500m freestyle was the 200m individual medley, where Kathleen Baker went 2:10.30 to capture the victory, also marking the third-fastest swim of her career.
“Before this meet, we had talked about maybe doing a little more butterfly even though in this event I’m really only swimming butterfly for 35 meters,” Baker said. “I should definitely be doing it a little more in practice, so maybe just adding some more 50’s on quick-interval long course, or 75’s or things like that just to get that flow of a stroke. I definitely feel like each split has some negatives and some things to work on, but that’s where you want to be in January.”
The men’s event saw Kieran Smith touch the wall first, earning him his third win of the meet.
”Usually I’m pretty tired by the end of the meet, but that (200m I.M.) was the best feeling I’ve had at a meet in a really long time,” Smith explained. “It felt really, really good.”
The 200m backstroke titles were captured by Isabelle Stadden in 2:09.31 and Ryan Murphy in 1:56.82. Stadden’s time of 2:09.31 was the only sub-2:10 swim in the field, while Murphy’s 1:56.82 showing was over a second ahead of the field.
“It took me at least prelims to remember how to swim (the event),” Stadden said. “But it felt good to get a long-course race in before whenever the next one is. It was tough, but I made it through.”
“I wasn’t really focusing on times,” Murphy explained after his swim. “That was a race where I really wanted to feel the pain… Whenever you start to feel a little bit of fatigue, you have got to continue to push through it and build towards that last 50.”
Rounding out the night was the 100m freestyle, which saw Catie DeLoof and Justin Ress claim victories, giving each of them their second win on their second-consecutive night.
“It felt really tough, but that’s kind of what this meet is about is learning how to swim tough,” Ress said after his swim. “You never know at a big meet when you’re going to feel like this so you have to learn how to push through it. There was a lot of time between sessions and it was a late swim, but this is all a good way to learn how to swim when the circumstances aren’t the best.”
At the conclusion of the meet, U.S. National Team members totaled victories in 25 of 28 events.