Saturday, December 7, 2024
Night Three of Toyota U.S. Open Showcases Next Generation
Pictured: Alyssa Sagle
The third night of the Toyota U.S. Open showcased the next generation of USA Swimming stars as three junior athletes took home victories. At just 15 years old, Sadie Buckley (Fairfax, Va./Nation’s Capital Swim Club) kicked off the session with a dominant win, taking the victory in the women’s 400-yard individual medley by more than four seconds. Later in the session, 17-year-old Kennedi Dobson (Levittown, Pa./Eastern Express Swim Team) narrowly grabbed the women’s 200y freestyle victory. In the final women’s individual event of the evening, 16-year-old Alyssa Sagle (Gainesville, Va./Nations Capital Swim Club) touched out Tokyo Olympian Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah/Wolfpack Elite) to top the podium in the women’s 100y backstroke.
In the first men's individual event of the session, Danny Berlitz (Drums, Pa./West Virginia University) surprised the crowd by grabbing a victory from lane eight. Berlitz accelerated during the freestyle leg to finish almost a second clear of the competition. Later in the evening, a familiar face topped the podium as Paris Olympian Drew Kibler (Carmel, Ind./New York Athletic Club) won the men's 200y freestyle by more than a second. Racing concludes tomorrow, with prelims starting at 9 a.m. ET and finals at 6 p.m. ET.
Women’s 400y Individual Medley – FINAL
1 – Sadie Buckley (Fairfax, Va./Nation’s Capital Swim Club), 4:07.87
2 – Emerson Callis (Richmond, Va./Quest Swimming), 4:12.62
3 – Mira Szimcsak (Budapest, HU/Southern Methodist University), 4:13.22
Buckley on her race strategy: “I was really surprised by my time dropping. I didn’t know I was going to drop that much in one day. My strategy was just to work my breaststroke and see how it went.”
Men’s 400y Individual Medley – FINAL
1 – Danny Berlitz (Drums, Pa./West Virginia University), 3:46.51
2 – Angus Macdonald (Beverly Hills, Mich./Unattached), 3:47.90
3 – Sean Honey (Provo, Utah/Penn State University), 3:49.05
Berlitz on swimming from lane eight and finishing strong: “I’ve had a couple rough months training, so I had motivation but no stress. Go in lane eight and have fun. Let it rip. I put in so much work and I wanted to see the results.”
Women’s 100y Butterfly – FINAL
1 – Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah/Wolfpack Elite), 52.19
2 – Rachel Klinker (Lexington, Ky./Cal Aquatics), 52.48
3 – Margaret Markvardt (Estonia/Penn State University), 52.56
White on swimming butterfly: “It’s nice to have a different event. With swimming backstroke all the time, swimming a different event takes the pressure off. There’s no pressure, no expectation for performance. It’s nice to be here just swimming and seeing where everyone is at.”
Men’s 100y Butterfly – FINAL
1 – Brady Samuels (Muncie, In./Purdue University), 45.27
2 – Marshall Odom (Friendswood, Taxas/University of Utah), 47.14
3 – Shane Eckler (Delco, Pa./Unattached), 47.52
Samuels on expectations coming into the meet: “I didn’t have a whole lot of expectations. I was just swimming with a clear mind, hoping for the best, having fun, try not to take things too seriously.”
Women’s 200y Freestyle – FINAL
1 – Kennedi Dobson (Levittown, Pa./Eastern Express Swim Team), 1:44.07
2 – Chloe Stepanek (Northport, N.Y./Texas A&M University), 1:44.51
3 – Georgia Nel (South Africa/University of North Carolina), 1:45.47
Dobson on executing her race strategy: “I think I executed pretty well. Chloe is a really good competitor and I’m really excited I got to race her.”
Men’s 200y Freestyle – FINAL
1 – Drew Kibler (Carmel, Ind./New York Athletic Club), 1:32.78
2 – Bradley Dunham (Hoschton, Ga./Swim Atlanta), 1:33.87
3 – Breno Correia (Brazil/Wolfpack Elite), 1:34.23
Kibler on swimming short course again: “ I was experiencing it in a whole new way. I had a burst of speed at the end that I feel like I haven’t had in a long time. It was fun experimenting with something new. It felt like a new medium of expression.”
Women’s 100y Breaststroke – FINAL
1 – Skyler Smith (San Jose, Calif./ University of North Carolina), 58.87
2 – Aliz Kalmar (Hungary/Fresno State University), 1:00.56
3 – Casadie Dibetta (St. Clairsville, Ohio/Ohio University), 1:00.60
Smith on her thoughts going into the race: “We've had a heavy week of training so to be able to come out here and race, go a pretty solid time considering all things, I was just happy to get out here.”
Men’s 100y Breaststroke – FINAL
1 – Charlie Egeland (Minneapolis, Minn./Yale University), 52.11
2 – Mariano Lazzerini (Chile/Penn State University), 52.52
3 – Logan Kelly (Austin, Minn./Unattached), 52.68
Egeland on the meet so far: “I just wanted to keep the tempo fast. I have been overthinking it and it’s really not that complicated. I just have to up the tempo and go as fast as possible”
Women’s 100y Backstroke – FINAL
1 – Alyssa Sagle (Gainesville, Va./Nations Capital Swim Club), 51.71
2 – Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah/Wolfpack Elite), 51.95
3 – Lily Mead (Timonium, Md./Loyola University Maryland), 52.86
Sagle on her swim: “It felt really good, I definitely wasn’t expecting that (time). I felt strong and thought I did a good job with my underwaters.”
Men’s 100y Backstroke – FINAL
1 – Bradley Dunham (Hoschton, Ga./Swim Atlanta), 46.11
2 – Matthew Bittner (Houston, Texas/Penn State University), 46.98
3 – Joe Hayburn (Bowie, Md./Loyola University Maryland), 47.05
Dunham on executing his race strategy: “I knew I would be a little tired after the 200 (freestyle), so I just wanted to take it out with all the energy that I had. I know I have a lot of endurance so I knew if I could get out ahead I could close. I feel like I did that so I was happy with it.”
Women’s 4x50y Freestyle Relay – FINAL
1 – Queens University, 1:31.91
2 – Nation’s Capital Swim Club, 1:32.78
3 – Marshall University, 1:34.45
Men’s 4x50y Freestyle Relay – FINAL
1 – Purdue University, 1:17.84
2 – Queens University, 1:19.85
3 – Loyola University Maryland, 1:20.04
Competition concludes tomorrow with the women’s and men’s 1650y freestyle, 200y backstroke, 100y freestyle, 200y breaststroke, 200y butterfly, and 4x100y freestyle relay. Meet information and the complete competition schedule can be found here.