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By Emily Sampl//Contributor | Saturday, March 7, 2020
Katie Ledecky collected her third win of the meet, while Caeleb Dressel set a new meet record during the third night of finals at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Des Moines, Iowa.
Ledecky cruised to her third win of the meet in the opening event, the women’s 200m free, pulling away on the third 50 to win in 1:54.59. That time is the fastest in the world in 2020, jumping ahead of Yang Junxuan’s 1:54.98 from January. Ledecky’s time was also just off her own meet record of 1:54.43 from 2016. Club Wolverine’s Siobhan Haughey gave her a run over the first 150 but faded to second in 1:56.48, with Alto Swim Club’s Simone Manuel in third at 1:56.92.
World record-holder Caeleb Dressel lowered the meet record in the men’s 100m fly final, dipping under 51 seconds with a 50.92 for the win. Jack Conger set the previous record of 51.00 two years ago. Race Pace Club’s Michael Andrew picked up another top two finish with a 51.33, with Team Elite’s Marius Kusch in third with a 51.68.
World record-holder Regan Smith of Riptide and Olympic gold medalist Kathleen Baker of Team Elite treated the crowd to a great race in the women’s 200m back. Smith flipped more than a second ahead at the halfway point before Baker majorly closed the gap. Despite out-splitting her by almost seven-tenths on the last 50, Baker couldn’t quite complete the comeback, as Smith got the win in 2:06.16. Baker touched second in 2:06.46, with Aggie’s Lisa Bratton in third at 2:09.63.
California’s Ryan Murphy, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the event, cruised to his first win of the meet in the men’s 200m back. Murphy clocked a 1:55.22, the fastest time posted in 2020. Wolfpack Elite’s Christopher Reid out-touched 2016 Olympian Jacob Pebley for second, 1:58.10 to 1:58.53.
Saint Petersburg Aquatics’ Melanie Margalis, a 2016 Olympian in the 200m IM, flirted with the 12-year old American record in the 400m IM, demolishing the rest of the field by six seconds with a 4:32.53. Katie Hoff set the American record of 4:31.12 back in 2008. Longhorn Aquatics’ Madisyn Cox finished a distant second in 4:38.88, with Wisconsin Aquatics’ Ally McHugh in third at 4:42.50.
Fresh off a win in the 200m back, Regan Smith took to the women’s 100m fly final and nearly knocked off Cardinal Aquatics’ Kelsi Dahlia, as the two were neck and neck the entire way. Dahlia came out just .01 ahead, 57.33 to 57.34. Smith’s time lowered her own National Age Group record in the 17-18 age group, which she set this morning at 57.75. Team Elite’s Kendyl Stewart grabbed third in 57.98.
Seventh-seed Andrew Seliskar of California Aquatics cut nearly three seconds off his prelim swim to win the men’s 200m free from lane one with a 1:46.91, half a second in front of NOVA of Virginia’s Townley Haas, a 2016 Olympian in the event. Haas touched at 1:47.48, with Gator Swim Club’s Caeleb Dressel right behind in 1:47.55. Team Elite’s Jacob Heidtmann took home the men’s 400m IM win in 4:12.40, ahead of Dynamo’s Jay Litherland (4:15.81) and Team Elite’s Hsing-Hao Wang (4:18.43).
Tomorrow’s prelims get underway at 9:30am CT, with finals starting at 6:30pm CT. Make sure to check out live streaming action on usaswimming.org.