A sunny evening in California at the Clovis North Aquatics Complex in was the setting for the first day of the TYR Pro Swim Series at Clovis. Wednesday night’s action featured the men’s and women’s 800-meter freestyle timed finals and saw U.S. National Team member Leah Smith claim her second freestyle win in 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series competition.

Smith’s time of 8:22.87 was good for best female mark of the event and over four and a half seconds ahead of the competition. The result pushed Smith to 17 finishes inside the top-3 in TYR Pro Swim Series events this year, which is tied for second most among female competitors.

“I was really excited about my swim,” said Smith. “That was my second fastest in-season best. I’m super pumped, that’s basically what I went at nationals last year with a taper, so I’m really pumped to see what I can do at [FINA World Championships]”

Touching in second was fellow national team member Erica Sullivan, who finished in 8:27.06. Sullivan also finished second in the 800m freestyle at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville this past January. This time around, Sullivan managed to shave almost 10 seconds from her Knoxville time, which she clocked in at 8:37.39.

The men’s 800m freestyle concluded the night and saw Egyptian swimmer Akaram Mahmoud win the event in 8:00.86.

The lone American in the men’s 800m freestyle, U.S. National Team member Chris Wieser, touched in 8:01.98, good for second place overall. The swim was Wieser’s first TYR Pro Swim Series race of 2019 and marked his best career finish at the TYR Pro Swim Series.

Thursday’s action at the Clovis North Aquatics Complex will feature 10 events and a handful of U.S. National Team members to watch. Smith will be vying for her second win in Clovis, competing in the 200m freestyle and 400m IM. Also expected to compete Thursday: Olympians Townley Haas, Matt Grevers and Kelsi Dahlia

Tomorrow’s prelims begin at 9 a.m. PT with finals starting at 5 p.m. PT. Prelims will be available via livestream on usaswimming.org, while NBCSN will air Thursday’s A finals with B finals streaming at usaswimming.org.

Results