Multiple Top-2 Finishes Separated by Under Half a Second on TYR Pro Swim Series Night Two
In a night that featured four events that came down to less than half-a-second difference between first and second place, the second night of the TYR Pro Swim Series at San Antonio played host to fast swims and big-name wins.
The evening kicked off with the 100-meter freestyle, where defending Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel touched first in 54.62. The win gave Manuel the 15th win in the 100m freestyle of her TYR Pro Swim Series career, which is over double the next closest female 100m-freestyle swimmer in competition history.
On the men’s side, Blake Pieroni topped an A and B final that combined for 10 U.S. National Team members.
“The U.S. has gotten so much better in the 100 free over the last four-to-five years, it’s incredible,” Pieroni said of the competition in San Antonio. “The guys in the B final here and also the ones in the A [final] are really going to be fighting for those [Olympic Games Tokyo 2020] spots.”
Up next was the 100m breaststroke, which featured a women’s field that came down to a narrow finish in the women’s field between Molly Hannis and Annie Lazor, who finished in 1:07.10 and 1:07.31, respectively.
“This morning, I didn’t really love how I was swimming, so I wanted to change some things, and that last 50 was one of those things,” Hannis said. “It’s been a very competitive event these last couple of years. With how much faster it has gotten, I’m just trying to improve with the times.”
The men’s event also came down to just over three tenths of a second, as Michael Andrew’s 1:00.10 just out-touched Nic Fink’s 1:00.34. The win gave Andrew the 25th TYR Pro Swim Series of his career, moving him into 10th place for all-time wins in the competition.
The night rounded out with wins by U.S. National Teamers Hali Flickinger (2:07.55, 200m butterfly) and Katie Ledecky (4:05.00, 400m freestyle), who were back competing in their first long-course meets since March of 2020.
“It’s so much fun, these girls are my friends and I haven’t seen them in so long,” Flickinger said. “Being able to swim against them, I don’t even see it as racing the whole time, I just see it as having fun with my girls. It’s a feeling that I have really missed.”
“Even though we don’t have fans, there’s still a level of excitement on deck,” Ledecky added. “There’s more people watching and more people swimming again, so it’s fun.”
The night rounded out with wins from Zheng Quah in the 200m butterfly and Marwan El-Kamash in the 400m freestyle.
TYR Pro Swim Series at San Antonio action continues tomorrow with preliminary action beginning at 11 a.m. ET on usaswimming.org/watch and finals starting at 8 p.m. ET on Olympic Channel.