Competition continues through Saturday at the Wellmark YMCA
DES MOINES, Iowa – United States National Team member and four-time 2018 national champion Michael Andrew (Encinitas, Calif./Race Pace Club) doubled up with wins in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke and men’s 50m backstroke Thursday on night two of the TYR Pro Swim Series at Des Moines at the MidAmerican Energy Aquatic Center at the Wellmark YMCA.
Andrew took the 100m breaststroke in 59.70 seconds, finishing just ahead of British national teamer James Wilby at 59.91. Grabbing third was Olympic gold medalist Cody Miller (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) in 1:00.22.
Andrew entered the pool shortly thereafter to grab his second win of the night, taking the 50m backstroke title in 24.94. This marked back-to-back victories for Andrew, who also nabbed the same win in January’s TYR Pro Swim Series at Knoxville. Rounding out the top three were Grigory Tarasevich of Russia at 25.16 and Olympian Jacob Pebley (Corvallis, Ore./Team Elite) at 25.30.
Annie Lazor (Beverly Hills, Mich./ Mission Viejo Nadadores), the 2018 Short Course World Championship gold medalist, continued her hot streak winning the women’s 100m breaststroke in 1:06.66. The performance was the fastest in the world in 2019 and set a new personal best for the breaststroke specialist. Bethany Galat (Mishawaka, Ind./Texas A&M University) and Melanie Margalis (Clearwater, Fla./St. Petersburg Aquatics) took second and third, respectively, with times of 1:07.13 and 1:07.20.
“I feel like an age group swimmer again, after taking time off after the 2016 Olympic Trials,” Lazor said about her newfound energy. “Every time I swim, I get a little better. Not just getting better but learning something new every time I swim. It’s great to have that fun element back again and not just be focused on going fast every time. I have a great training environment. I have awesome coaches and following their plan is paying great dividends so far.”
The four-day, long course meters competition runs through Saturday with daily prelims at 10 a.m. CST and evening finals at 7 p.m. CST. All-session and single-session tickets to catch the world’s best swimmers in action are on sale now at usaswimming.org.
Other USA Swimming National Team members taking wins included Margo Geer (Milford Center, Ohio/Mission Viejo Nadadores) in the 100m free in 54.59, Blake Pieroni (Valparaiso, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) in the men’s 100m free in 48.91, Kathleen Baker (Winston Salem, N.C./Team Elite) in the 50m back in 27.76 – currently the top time in the world in 2019, Hali Flickinger (Spring Grove, Pa./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) in the 200m fly in 2:07.10 and Zane Grothe (Boulder City, Nev./BCH Heatwave ) in the 400m free in 3:49.29.
Germany’s Alexander Kunert won the men’s 200m fly in 1:57.80, while China’s Li Bingjie took the women’s 400m free in 4:03.29
NBCSN will air live finals coverage from Des Moines at 7 p.m. CST on Friday. The NBC Sports app will stream coverage on Friday and a live webcast of all the prelims will stream online at usaswimming.org.
Across the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series, swimmers may earn increased awards for top-three finishes. At each meet, $1,500 will be provided for a first-place finish, $1,000 for second and $500 for third. In addition, one athlete per gender with the highest-scoring prelim swim in an individual Olympic event based on FINA power points will win $1,500.
The TYR Pro Swim Series is being brought to Des Moines in partnership with Catch Des Moines and the Wellmark YMCA.
Keep up with all the latest USA Swimming news by following @usaswimming on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
#TYRProSeries