Sunday, December 4, 2022
Regan Smith Leads Way on Toyota U.S. Open Finale
Regan Smith collected her fourth and fifth wins of the meet, while Katie Ledecky won her fourth to close out the final night of racing at the Toyota U.S. Open at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
Smith continued her exceptional meet with another meet record in the 200m back. Her 2:05.28 lowered the previous meet record she set last year at 2:07.09, and just missed Phoebe Bacon’s U.S. Open record of 2:05.08. Canada’s Summer McIntosh came in second at 2:07.15, with Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller in third at 2:09.77. Later in the meet, Smith added the 200m fly win to her collection with a 2:07.30, in front of Lindsay Looney (2:10.25) and Stanford’s Charlotte Hook (2:10.64).
“I’m really happy," Smith said of her performances this week. "I'm excited to go back to Arizona, put my head down and put in some good work.”
Ledecky made it a clean sweep of the longer freestyle events, winning the 200m free all the way up to the 1500m free. Her 15:44.13 in the 1500m tonight topped second place finisher Beatriz Dizotti of Brazil (16:18.40) by 34 seconds, while Sarasota’s Michaela Mattes took third in 16:34.75.
“There are some good things to take away (from the meet)," Ledecky said. "Some things to work on moving forward. That’s all I can ask for. I’m pretty happy with how the week went and excited to get back into training.”
Cumberland YMCA’s Daniel Diehl recorded his second win of the meet, sweeping the backstroke events with a 1:56.41 in the men’s 200m back. Virginia Tech’s Nico Garcia also swam under the 2:00 mark with a 1:59.49 for second, while Texas A&M’s Baylor Nelson picked up another podium finish with a 2:00.98 for third.
Louisville’s Gabi Albiero topped the women’s 100m free final in 54.90. She overtook Wisconsin Aquatics’ Beata Nelson down the stretch as Nelson touched right behind in 54.94. Nation’s Capital’s Camille Spink rounded out the top three in 55.47.
"I just tried to go out with those girls," Albiero said. "They went out faster than me this morning, so I was just trying to stay with them. I take a lot of pride in the way that I finish races so I knew that if I was in striking distance, I could give it my best. It’s fun to race Beata (Nelson); she’s one of my good friends.”
Gabi’s brother, Nicolas Albiero, made it a sibling double as he won the men’s 200m fly later in the evening with a 1:56.32, better than 2020 Olympian Zach Harting (1:57.06) and AGS’s Hector Ruvalcabra Cruz (1:59.63).
"Watching Gabi (Albiero, his sister) have the meet she’s had, it’s really inspired me," Nick Albiero said. "To race next to someone I train with every day (Zach Harting), it’s awesome. Getting to compete in this environment is so fun.”
Louisville swept the sprint free events tonight as Cardinal Aquatics’ Andrej Barna won the men’s 100m free in 48.45, comfortably in front of Florida’s Josh Liendo (48.97). Virginia’s Matt King claimed third in 49.05.
Kentucky’s Gillian Davey and Ireland’s Mona McSharry battled it out in the women’s 200m breast final, with McSharry turning first at each of the first three walls before Davey chased her down on the final length, touching first in 2:27.06. McSharry wound up second in 2:27.59, while NSW’s Ashleigh Oberekar placed third in 2:28.34.
“I could kind of see her (McSharry) out of the corner of my eye," Davey said. "I knew it was going to be a good race between us. I was super excited, I wanted it really badly and I just went and did it.”
Florida’s Aleksas Savickas swept the breast events in Greensboro after winning the men’s 200m breast in 2:09.68. He denied Sun Devil’s Chase Kalisz a third win as Kalisz took second in 2:10.10. Tennessee’s Lyubomir Epitropov took third in 2:11.74.
Florida’s Alfonso Mestre capped his meet with a win in the men’s 1500m free at 15:16.51, ahead of Brazil’s Pedro Farias (15:20.12) and Florida teammate Eric Brown (15:26.67).
In relay action, Ireland closed out the meet with a win in the women’s 4x100m free relay in 3:46.83, while NSW won the men’s race in 3:24.23.
Smith continued her exceptional meet with another meet record in the 200m back. Her 2:05.28 lowered the previous meet record she set last year at 2:07.09, and just missed Phoebe Bacon’s U.S. Open record of 2:05.08. Canada’s Summer McIntosh came in second at 2:07.15, with Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller in third at 2:09.77. Later in the meet, Smith added the 200m fly win to her collection with a 2:07.30, in front of Lindsay Looney (2:10.25) and Stanford’s Charlotte Hook (2:10.64).
“I’m really happy," Smith said of her performances this week. "I'm excited to go back to Arizona, put my head down and put in some good work.”
Ledecky made it a clean sweep of the longer freestyle events, winning the 200m free all the way up to the 1500m free. Her 15:44.13 in the 1500m tonight topped second place finisher Beatriz Dizotti of Brazil (16:18.40) by 34 seconds, while Sarasota’s Michaela Mattes took third in 16:34.75.
“There are some good things to take away (from the meet)," Ledecky said. "Some things to work on moving forward. That’s all I can ask for. I’m pretty happy with how the week went and excited to get back into training.”
Cumberland YMCA’s Daniel Diehl recorded his second win of the meet, sweeping the backstroke events with a 1:56.41 in the men’s 200m back. Virginia Tech’s Nico Garcia also swam under the 2:00 mark with a 1:59.49 for second, while Texas A&M’s Baylor Nelson picked up another podium finish with a 2:00.98 for third.
Louisville’s Gabi Albiero topped the women’s 100m free final in 54.90. She overtook Wisconsin Aquatics’ Beata Nelson down the stretch as Nelson touched right behind in 54.94. Nation’s Capital’s Camille Spink rounded out the top three in 55.47.
"I just tried to go out with those girls," Albiero said. "They went out faster than me this morning, so I was just trying to stay with them. I take a lot of pride in the way that I finish races so I knew that if I was in striking distance, I could give it my best. It’s fun to race Beata (Nelson); she’s one of my good friends.”
Gabi’s brother, Nicolas Albiero, made it a sibling double as he won the men’s 200m fly later in the evening with a 1:56.32, better than 2020 Olympian Zach Harting (1:57.06) and AGS’s Hector Ruvalcabra Cruz (1:59.63).
"Watching Gabi (Albiero, his sister) have the meet she’s had, it’s really inspired me," Nick Albiero said. "To race next to someone I train with every day (Zach Harting), it’s awesome. Getting to compete in this environment is so fun.”
Louisville swept the sprint free events tonight as Cardinal Aquatics’ Andrej Barna won the men’s 100m free in 48.45, comfortably in front of Florida’s Josh Liendo (48.97). Virginia’s Matt King claimed third in 49.05.
Kentucky’s Gillian Davey and Ireland’s Mona McSharry battled it out in the women’s 200m breast final, with McSharry turning first at each of the first three walls before Davey chased her down on the final length, touching first in 2:27.06. McSharry wound up second in 2:27.59, while NSW’s Ashleigh Oberekar placed third in 2:28.34.
“I could kind of see her (McSharry) out of the corner of my eye," Davey said. "I knew it was going to be a good race between us. I was super excited, I wanted it really badly and I just went and did it.”
Florida’s Aleksas Savickas swept the breast events in Greensboro after winning the men’s 200m breast in 2:09.68. He denied Sun Devil’s Chase Kalisz a third win as Kalisz took second in 2:10.10. Tennessee’s Lyubomir Epitropov took third in 2:11.74.
Florida’s Alfonso Mestre capped his meet with a win in the men’s 1500m free at 15:16.51, ahead of Brazil’s Pedro Farias (15:20.12) and Florida teammate Eric Brown (15:26.67).
In relay action, Ireland closed out the meet with a win in the women’s 4x100m free relay in 3:46.83, while NSW won the men’s race in 3:24.23.