After three days, four sessions and nine locations, the 2020 Toyota U.S. Open is officially in the books. The competition saw National Age Group records drop, young talent rise and a handful of stars shining in their signature events. The last day of the competition followed suit, seeing multiple U.S. National Team members claim victory and post impressive times.  

The day kicked off with the 1500-meter freestyle, featuring a strong field of distance swimmers that included 2020 Olympic qualifiers Ashley Twichell (Fayetteville, N.Y./TAC Titans) and Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Kswim) among other National Team members. Ultimately, it was Erica Sullivan (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) and Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./Saint Petersburg Aquatics/University of Florida) who touched the wall first in 16:04.37 and 15:09.14, respectively.  

Sullivan’s time of 16:04.37 was good for the third-fastest time in the world in 2020. The swim was also more than 13 seconds ahead of the competition and almost 10 seconds faster than her time at the 2019 Toyota U.S. Open.  

“It felt pretty good, it was a lot better than I wanted to go,” Sullivan said. “I’ll definitely take that and I’ve got some learning points from that race too so hopefully we can piece them together and start to see things improve at [TYR] Pro Series meets, then Trials and then hopefully the [Olympic] Games.”  

The national talent was once again on display in the women’s backstroke, as the 200-meter event featured five U.S. National Team members, including current and former world-record holders Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Riptide Swim Team) and Kathleen Baker (Winston-Salem, N.C./Team Elite). Ultimately, Phoebe Bacon (Chevy Chase, Md./Nation’s Capital Swim Club) posted the fastest time, going 2:09.16 in the Des Moines water for first place. The time marked the third-fastest time in the world in 2020, while second-place finisher Katharine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./NC State) finished in 2:10.22 for the seventh-fastest time in the world in 2020.  

In the men’s event, it was U.S. National Junior Team member Will Grant (Waco, Texas/Harvard University) who took the title in 1:59.52-- the lone sub-2:00 performance in the field. 

“Yeah, I was pretty happy,” Grant said after his swim. “I had no idea how this meet was going to go, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to race, and race long course especially so I was pretty happy with the results. I don’t think I did anything crazy, but just where my body is at in training, I think that these are good times.” 

The men’s and women’s 100-meter freestyle followed, and saw Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club) win the women’s event in 54.04, while Andrej Barna (Serbia) claimed the men’s event in 48.75. 

Going 2:27.55 to claim top spot in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke was Madisyn Cox (Lubbock, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics). The win gave her the third top-3 finish of the competition. 

“I got to swim a really good 100-meter breaststroke yesterday so I was just excited to get in there, race them and do the best I could and just put forward what I could this morning,” Cox said. 

2019 FINA World Championships silver medalist Andrew Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) captured the men’s title in 2:09.83, completing the breaststroke sweep for the competition. 

The night closed with first-place finishes in the 200-meter butterfly from Smith and Zach Harting (Madison, Ala./Cardinal Aquatics/Huntsville Swim Association). Smith’s time of 2:08.61 was the lone performance in the field under the 2:10 mark, while Harting’s 1:57.82 performance was his sixth-fastest time since 2019.