• Results

The action concluded tonight in Mission Viejo with the 800-meter freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley and 50m freestyle.

Katie Grimes was back at it, claiming her fourth victory of the meet in the 800m freestyle where she started out strong and never looked back, winning with a 8:27.72. Mile winner Erica Sullivan followed almost 20 seconds later (8:47.54), with her Texas teammate, Olivia McMurray, claiming third in 8:54.19.

“I was just trying to finish off a strong weekend,” said Grimes. “I’m not super happy with the time but I had a pretty strong past couple of races so I’m just happy I finished!”

The men’s side held a tighter field, especially for the first half. Marwan El-Kamash led for most of the race, looking to match his 1500 victory earlier in the meet. Brice Barrieault and Ilya Kharun offered up some close competition, but El-Kamash pulled away and owned this race by over five seconds, almost breaking eight minutes, in 8:00.74. Barrieault and Kharun, both of Sandpipers, finished with 8:05.59 and 8:08.49, respectively. 

Isabelle Stadden won the women’s 100m backstroke with a 1:00.21, followed by Bella Sims (1:01.33) and Teagn O’Dell (1:01.46). This was a best time for Sims, who has been hitting personal bests here all week. 

“It was really fun racing. I really enjoyed swimming the 100 lately and it’s been great competition,” said Stadden. 

World Championship Team member Justin Ress touched first in the men’s 100m backstroke with a 53.80. He led by a second at the 50, and won the race by two seconds. Cal swimmer Colby Mefford was second with a 55.99 in a personal best. Mikita Tsmyh from Belarus, touched third with 57.01. 

“It was solid, other than being all over the lane line all the time,” said Ress. “I just came to this meet to execute well and tune up for [World Championships] so I’m happy with it.”

Next up, the 200m breaststrokes offered greater separation between the finishes. On the women’s side, Isabelle Odgers taking the win in 2:28.68. Not far behind was Katja Pavicevic in 2:29.81 and Kaitlyn Dobler in 2:31.10.   

“I think it’s always fun to race, especially with such a great field and I love racing Kaitlyn Dobler,” said Odgers. For the men, Will Licon decidedly won in 2:12.28, coming back on his second 100 over four seconds faster than the rest of the heat. Ethan Hansen came in over six seconds behind him in 2:18.53, and Brandon Fischer finished third with 2:19.25 

“I thought I executed it pretty good,” said Licon. “I’m curious to see the splits and kind of see how it all added up in the end.” 

The women’s 200m IM winner was Viktoria Gunes with a 2:13.80. Justina Kozan was chasing her down with solid closing speed and finished behind her with a 2:14.72. Lindsay Looney, whose had a busy and successful week here, touched third in 2:16.15.   

On the men’s side, Grant House broke the two-minute barrier with a 1:59.84, only .60 off his personal best, and well ahead of the rest of the field. Ilya Kharun got his hand on the wall second with 2:04.43 and Tyler Kopp follow with a. 2:05.09. Both Kharun and Kopp swam lifetime bests. 

“I was really happy with it. I was really looking forward to tonight,” said House. “I was really looking forward to getting close to my best time and I did that tonight. Just really hitting the execution points that I wanted to and getting after it like I know I can, and we’re trained to do that. We were just hoping to get as close to the best time from World Championships trials a few weeks ago while under a lot more fatigue from training.”

Finally, the splash-n-dashes offered the expected excitements of close finishes. Kasia Wasick won with a 24.70, the only one to break 25 seconds. She was followed by Kyla Leibel in 25.47 and Anicka Delgado won third with 25.95.

For the men, David Curtiss touched first in 21.80, the 14th fastest time in the world this year. He was followed by World Championship Team member Ryan Held in 22.08 and Artyom Machenkin with 22.43. 

“It was a little bit rough on the back end. My legs kind of gave out. The morning was definitely better but still a solid swim,” said Curtiss. 

This TYR Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo is the last domestic, national meet before the 2022 FINA World Championships, which take place June 18-25 in Budapest, Hungary.   

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