• Results

Night three of the 2022 TYR Pro Series Swim in Mission Viejo, Calif., wrapped up with speedy performances in all eight events. Several swimmers on the FINA World Championships Team are racing here to serve as a final tune-up before Budapest in a few shorts weeks.

The Sandpipers of Nevada teenagers owned the 200-meter freestyle, with Claire Weinstein touching first in a 1:58.31, followed by her teammate Bella Sims in a 1:58.97, who led the race to the 150 mark until Weinstein came home in a speedy 29.24 for the win. Lindsey Looney of Arizona State finished third in 2:00.03, a personal best dating back from 2019.   

“I didn’t really have goal times, I just wanted to come in here and get more experiences on how to swim my races and try different strategies,” said Weinstein.   

The 200m freestyle action continued on the men’s side with World Champion Team Member Trenton Julian claiming victory with a 1:48.01, followed by Patrick Sammon (1:48. 43) and Grant House (1:48.44). House led early but Julian found closing speed with a 27.01 to pass House. He was just out-touched at the finish by Sammon, his ASU teammate. Julian said his strategy was to get his front-half going.

“I had a little bit of a problem with that in freestyle, not as much in butterfly but I’m really trying to get that front half racing down,” Sandpiper sensation Katie Grimes won the women's 200m backstroke with a 2:09.52, her best time by nearly two seconds. This is the 11th fastest time in this event for girls’ 15-16 age group. Isabelle Stadden, who led by almost a second at the 100, was just out-touched for second in a 2:09.59. and JoJo Ramey, who will be attending Florida this fall, finished third in 2:14.51. 

“I was just trying to keep up the tempo and get my hand on the wall. Isabelle is a great competitor and I love racing her,” said Grimes. “She’s just a stud.” 

The men's 200m backstroke belonged to Jack Dolan who dominated this race from the start. The ASU swimmer clocked in at 2:01.90, a personal best. 28-year-old David Cespedes Echeverri touched second in a 2:04.68 with Harry Homans closely behind with a. 2:05.03 for third. 

“It was pretty tough coming off the 200m free but I’m happy with it. It’s one of my best times – only about a second off so I think it’s pretty good,” said Dolan.

Nearly 15 minutes after setting a personal record and in the 200 backstroke, Grimes was back to leave another mark, this time crushing the 400m Individual Medley with a very speedy 4:36.77, splitting 1:01.36/1:09.47/1:23.44/1:02.44. Grimes finished almost seven seconds ahead of teammate Sims, coming in at 4:43.46, to earn her second silver of the evening. Lindsey Looney 4:44.12 earned her second bronze of the evening, and a personal best by over three seconds. 

Known for her distance prowess and freestyle strength, Grimes has steadily been climbing the IM ranks as well. “I’m still trying to work on that breaststroke a little bit more, and the butterfly is starting to come around a little bit. The backstroke’s been solid for awhile now, but there’s definitely room for improvement there. I’m still sticking with that distance free for now, but I think it's important to do (the IM) while you still have that younger energy.”

In the men's 400m IM,  David Johnston won with a 4:19.54, more than six seconds off his personal best, and well ahead of the rest of the field. Ilya Kharun touched second with a 4:24.31, and Tyler Kopp finished third with a 4:27.03. Kharun lead the butterfly leg, but Johnston pulled ahead on breaststroke and continued leading to the finish.

“It was just a good racing experience," Johnston said. "It’s my favorite event to swim, and I just really enjoy getting up and racing a 400 IM final and just getting that experience for later on in the season. I’m making good progress and looking forward to tomorrow and to keep training hard.”

Justina Kozan won the women’s 100m butterfly with a 1:00.01, followed closely by Krystal Lara from Badger Swim Club in 1:00.24, and USC’s Isabelle Odgers in 1:00.74. This was one of the tighter races of the evening with top eight finishing almost within one second of each other. Lara, who represents the Dominican Republic, led at the 50, but Kozan came back strong for the win.

“I really liked it. It was a lot of fun racing all of those girls. I thought I went out pretty well and brought it back good,” said Kozan.

To close out the evening, Julian claimed another victory, this time in the men’s 100m butterfly. Ryan Held led at the 50, but Julian brought home to win with a 51.78, within tenths of his best time. Held’s 52.44 was also close to his best (52.15), and third place went to Cal’s Gabriel Jett with a 52.50, a personal best from last May’s 54.49.

“I think it was good practice for me. It’s a little more reflective of the beginning of that 100 fly I wanted more of a feel,” said Julian. “I think it’s looking good going into the 200m fly.”

Action concludes tomorrow with the 800m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley and 50m freestyle. Competition prelims will begin at noon ET with finals beginning at 8 p.m. ET. All preliminary sessions, as well as tomorrow’s finals, will be livestreamed on www.usaswimming.org/watch.