Olympic gold medalists Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash./California Aquatics) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill./Trojan Swim Club) prepped for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming with impressive victories to highlight day two of the Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara.
In a strong international field of sprint freestylers, Adrian took the men’s 50-meter free in meet record fashion with his fastest time of 2016 in 21.68 seconds. He was closely followed by 2000 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin (Valencia, Calif./Unattached) in 21.98 and Australia’s James Magnussen touched third in 22.19.
“It was a great swim,” said Adrian. “I take a lot of power in the fact that my Cal teammates are doing well. Josh (Prenot) and (Ryan) Murphy just set meet records so that’s exciting for us. We’re doing something right so I’m excited for (U.S. Olympic Team Swimming) Trials.”
Dwyer, the points leader in the season-long series for a BMW one-year lease, followed up his second-place finish in the 200m free last night with a win in in 3:46.09, good for eighth in the world for 2016. He cruised to victory with a four-second lead over Canada’s Ryan Cochrane.
U.S. National Team member Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla./California Aquatics) topped 2015 World Champion Mitch Larkin of Australia and the rest of the field in the 100m backstroke with a meet record 52.76, good for third in the 2016 world rankings. Larkin who touched in 53.32 and Jacob Pebley (Corvallis, Ore./California Aquatics) placed third in 53.57.
“It was pretty good,” said Murphy. “Anytime you have the defending world champion in your race you’re going to up your game a little bit, so it was good to have him there. My adrenaline was a little higher tonight.”
Completing the sweep of the breaststroke events in Santa Clara, Josh Prenot (Santa Maria, Calif./California Aquatics) picked up the win in the men’s 200m breast in 2:09.44. Prenot comfortably claimed the victory with a three-second lead over the nearest competitor. His time was good for a new meet record.
Held at the George F. Haines International Swim Center, the three-day meet consists of prelims at 9 a.m. PT and finals at 5 p.m. PT. A live webcast of the entire meet will be available at usaswimming.org.
Other winners Saturday in Santa Clara included:
• Australia’s Madeline Groves won the 200m fly in 2:07.77
• Brazil’s Kaio Almeida won the men’s 200m fly in 1:57.61
• Australia’s Emma McKeon claimed the women’s 50m free in 24.85
• Australia’s Emily Seebohm took the women’s 100m back in 58.96
• Canada’s Martha McCabe won the women’s 200 breast in 2:27.89
• Australia’s Jessica Ashwood touched first in the women’s 400m free in 4:10.48
Complete results from Santa Clara can be found here.
Following this meet will be the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, held June 26-July 3 in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara is one of seven stops of the 2015-16 Arena Pro Swim Series. As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with swimwear leader Arena, the circuit will feature a record $350,000 in overall prize money. Swimmers may earn awards for top-three finishes in all individual Olympic events across the series. At each meet, $1,000 will be provided for a first-place finish, $600 for second and $200 for third. In addition to the single-event prize money, the overall male and female winners of the season-long Series will earn a $10,000 bonus.
For the third consecutive season, longtime USA Swimming partner BMW will award the grand prize of a one-year lease of a BMW vehicle to the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmers.
Male and female overall Arena Pro Swim Series champions will be honored at the conclusion of the 2015-16 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the seven meets. Participants will be awarded points in each individual Olympic event throughout the duration of the Series (Five points for first, three for second, one point for third place).