Sunday, April 11, 2021
Adrian, Weitzeil Close TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo with Freestyle Wins
The TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo concluded Sunday morning with U.S. National Team members claiming victory in seven of eight events. Powerhouse names such as Katie Ledecky, Ryan Murphy, Jordan Wilimovsky and Abbey Weitzeil all used the final day of the meet to complete their multi-win efforts in California, while Nathan Adrian capped off the meet with his first TYR Pro Swim Series win since 2018.
The morning started with Ledecky capturing her third title in as many days, going 15:40.55 in the 1500-meter freestyle to set a new top time in the world this year. She leaves Mission Viejo setting new top times in the world in the 200-, 400- and 1500m freestyle events.
“I was happy with it,” Ledecky said of her performances. “I felt strong throughout and just wanted to put together a good swim in the morning.”
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 open water-qualifier Wilimovsky took the men’s event in 15:10.44. He leaves Mission Viejo with two wins after finishing first in the 800m freestyle on Thursday. Wilimovsky has now finished in the top three in each of his six TYR Pro Swim Series events this year.
Up next was the 200m individual medley, which went to Madisyn Cox in 2:10.00 and Michael Andrew in 1:57.98. Cox’s time ties her 2019 national championship-winning swim, while Andrew’s swim was the lone performance in the men’s field under the two-minute mark.
“It was fun,” Cox said. “I knew (Kathleen) Baker was going to beat me out on the butterfly and I just tried to hang with her on the backstroke. I wanted to have good tempo and save my legs for the breaststroke and then give freestyle everything I had.”
The women’s 200m backstroke followed, seeing Rhyan White record the first TYR Pro Swim Series win of her career. Her 2:07.24 puts her alongside Baker as the only swimmers in the world this year to break the 2:08 mark in the event.
“That was a really great race,” White said. “I was nervous, but it was exciting because it was my last one (of the meet). I really like to race against these other girls from across the country, since all year I’ve really just been racing the girls who are in college. I’ve been focusing a lot on myself and trying to stay in my own race.”
Murphy touched first in the men’s event, going 1:56.27 to complete a backstroke sweep at the meet.
“That was good,” Murphy said of his meet. “It was a nice way to finish out the meet, so I’m definitely pleased with it.”
Capping off the competition was the 100m freestyle, which featured Weitzeil touching first in a women’s A final that featured five U.S. National Team members. Weitzeil’s 53.68 swim is a new top time in the world this year, besting the previous mark of 53.94, which she set in last night’s preliminary swim.
“I’m really happy with it,” Weitzeil said. “Coming out here yesterday morning, it felt kind of hard. I’m pretty tired but I’m just working on dropping times every time I swim so I’m pretty pleased with the meet.”
In the men’s event, Adrian finished first in 48.74. The win gives him 41-career wins in TYR Pro Swim Series competitions dating back to 2010.
The 2021 TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo wraps up the third of four scheduled TYR Pro Swim Series competitions in 2021.
The morning started with Ledecky capturing her third title in as many days, going 15:40.55 in the 1500-meter freestyle to set a new top time in the world this year. She leaves Mission Viejo setting new top times in the world in the 200-, 400- and 1500m freestyle events.
“I was happy with it,” Ledecky said of her performances. “I felt strong throughout and just wanted to put together a good swim in the morning.”
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 open water-qualifier Wilimovsky took the men’s event in 15:10.44. He leaves Mission Viejo with two wins after finishing first in the 800m freestyle on Thursday. Wilimovsky has now finished in the top three in each of his six TYR Pro Swim Series events this year.
Up next was the 200m individual medley, which went to Madisyn Cox in 2:10.00 and Michael Andrew in 1:57.98. Cox’s time ties her 2019 national championship-winning swim, while Andrew’s swim was the lone performance in the men’s field under the two-minute mark.
“It was fun,” Cox said. “I knew (Kathleen) Baker was going to beat me out on the butterfly and I just tried to hang with her on the backstroke. I wanted to have good tempo and save my legs for the breaststroke and then give freestyle everything I had.”
The women’s 200m backstroke followed, seeing Rhyan White record the first TYR Pro Swim Series win of her career. Her 2:07.24 puts her alongside Baker as the only swimmers in the world this year to break the 2:08 mark in the event.
“That was a really great race,” White said. “I was nervous, but it was exciting because it was my last one (of the meet). I really like to race against these other girls from across the country, since all year I’ve really just been racing the girls who are in college. I’ve been focusing a lot on myself and trying to stay in my own race.”
Murphy touched first in the men’s event, going 1:56.27 to complete a backstroke sweep at the meet.
“That was good,” Murphy said of his meet. “It was a nice way to finish out the meet, so I’m definitely pleased with it.”
Capping off the competition was the 100m freestyle, which featured Weitzeil touching first in a women’s A final that featured five U.S. National Team members. Weitzeil’s 53.68 swim is a new top time in the world this year, besting the previous mark of 53.94, which she set in last night’s preliminary swim.
“I’m really happy with it,” Weitzeil said. “Coming out here yesterday morning, it felt kind of hard. I’m pretty tired but I’m just working on dropping times every time I swim so I’m pretty pleased with the meet.”
In the men’s event, Adrian finished first in 48.74. The win gives him 41-career wins in TYR Pro Swim Series competitions dating back to 2010.
The 2021 TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo wraps up the third of four scheduled TYR Pro Swim Series competitions in 2021.