• Results

The second night of the TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo saw more impressive finishes in the Marguerite Aquatics Center pool. U.S. National Team members won five of the eight events of the night, while five different U.S. athletes on the upcoming FINA World Championships roster racked up top-3 finishes. 

The evening kicked off with the 100-meter freestyle, seeing the women’s event go to Poland’s Katarzyna Wasick in 54.57 while the men’s event saw a 1-2 finish from upcoming FINA World Championships U.S. teammates Ryan Held and Justin Ress. 

“Actually I was surprised it was that fast,” Held said. “I really thought I was going to be closer to 49.90 because even in the race, there were just little check boxes in my mind that I wasn’t fully ticking – I wasn’t like ‘Ooh, man that was an okay turn, or that breakout was a little rough.’ So, definitely things to clean up, tighten up and move on to Budapest.”

Both Held’s time of 48.64 and Ress’ time of 48.90 were just a few tenths off their performances at April’s Phillips 66 International Team Trials, where they both qualified for the U.S. 4x100m freestyle relay team at the upcoming world championships. 

The 100m breaststroke was up next on the slate, going to U.S. National Team members Kaitlyn Dobler (1:07.60) and Will Licon (1:01.46). The win is Dobler’s first at a senior level, long course meter national meet, while Licon picks up the first TYR Pro Swim Series victory of his career in the 100m breaststroke. 

“I really enjoyed [that swim,]” Dobler said. “We were having a really fun time in the ready room. I know most of the girls in there so I was just laughing and having a good time. This swim itself, it felt a lot better than this morning and I was happy with the drop from this morning.’

Lindsay Looney continued the streak of U.S. National Team first-place finishes as she cruised to a 200m butterfly title in 2:08.86 – more than 2.5 seconds ahead of the field. Like Dobler, the win gives Looney her first in her TYR Pro Swim Series career. 

“I’m really happy with that,” Looney said. “We had a really good training camp at the [U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center] with some Sun Devils, some pros and it was good to train with them. That gave me the confidence boost going into this meet. I was really, really excited for today, swimming the double between the 100 free and 200 fly. I was really pumped to see what I could do after a really hard training session for three weeks and I’m really happy with that.”

The men’s event went to France’s Leon Marchand, who touched first in 1:56.54 ahead of U.S. National Junior Team member and Sandpipers of Nevada swimmer Ilya Kharun, who finished second in 1:58.70. 

The evening concluded with the 400m freestyle – seeing the Sandpipers of Nevada trio of Katie Grimes (4:05.77), Bella Sims (4:07.54) and Claire Weinstein (4:13.43) fill out the top-3. All three will compete in Budapest, albeit not in the 400m freestyle. 

Grimes’ swim gave the 16-year-old the third-fastest swim among the 15-16 age group in history. 
“I’m happy with it,” Grimes said of her swim. “I’m just listening to what my coach told me to do. It was a little bit faster than what I went a couple weeks ago so it’s a good sign going into the summer.”

The men’s event featured a first-place touch from Marwan El-Kamash, who finished second in yesterday’s 1500m freestyle. 

The TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo continues through Saturday evening, with prelims beginning at noon ET and finals beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Tomorrow’s prelims can be streamed on www.usaswimming.org/watch while finals can be viewed on Olympic Channel.