Friday, May 19, 2023
Third Time’s A Charm for Weitzeil, King, Fink and Ress
Night two of competition at the 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo finished with four National Team members – Abbey Weitzeil, Lilly King, Nic Fink and Justin Ress – winning their third titles in their respective events in this year’s TYR Pro Series. All four athletes won their events in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Westmont, Ill. and Mission Viejo, Calif.
Racing started with Abbey Weitzeil (Santa Clara, Calif./California Aquatics) winning her third 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series 100m freestyle title with a time of 54.27. Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Alto Swim Club) was second with a time of 54.27 while Claire Curzan (Cary, N.C./Alto Swim Club) and Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas/Sun Devil Swimming) tied for third with times of 54.50.
“I’m super excited (about winning her third TYR Pro Series title),” Weitzeil said. “Seeing that time up there, it’s what I’ve gotten at past major meets before so knowing that I’ve done that in season with the rest coming, we have like five to six weeks until (World Championships) team trials. I’m super excited for what’s happening this season. I know I can go a best time.”
The 100m freestyle continued with Ryan Held (Springfield, Ill./New York Athletic Club) winning with a time of 48.74. Hunter Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/New York Athletic Club/California Aquatics) finished third with a time of 49.13.
“The race was good,” Held said. “This morning I was in control of what was going on and I knew for tonight, I just had to put down the gas a little more. Go out faster, and if you go out fast, you just have to come back. It doesn’t matter how tired you are, you have to come back faster.”
Olympic gold medalist Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) brought home her third-straight TYR Pro Swim Series win in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:06.67.
“I thought I’d be a little bit faster today,” King said. “It’s kind of out of my control at this point. I’m still happy with the win and to be here getting some good racing in.”
Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club) clocked a 59.77 to win the 100m breastroke, the No. 10 time in the world this season. He also collected his third-straight TYR Pro Swim Series title. Jake Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays) was just one second behind with a time of 1:00.81.
“I didn’t know exactly how I would feel coming out of this one,” Fink said. “This morning wasn’t super sharp. Knowing that I can have one that isn’t great and bounce back for my fastest one of the season is a good feeling. It was a good race and I’m definitely happy with it.”
Winning her first 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series title, Isabelle Stadden (Blaine, Minn./California Aquatics) clocked a 27.88 in the 50m backstroke (27.88). Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah/University of Alabama) went 28.13 and Curzan touched third with a 28.14.
“I’m not too out of breath, just because it’s a 50,” Stadden said. “I’ve really been enjoying the sprint races to get my heart rate up, especially when it’s before my 200 and 100 back.”
Winning his third-straight TYR Pro Series title in the 50m backstroke with a time of 24.79, Justin Ress (Cary, N.C./Mission Viejo Nadadores) out-touched Armstrong (24.91) by .12.
“It was really solid,” Ress said of his race. “It’s really important to give it to the home crowd here. I challenged myself tonight with the double. I don’t train for doubles anymore, so it was tough.”
Kelly Pash (Carmel, Ind./Longhorn Aquatics) clocked a 2:08.20 in the 200m butterfly, winning her first 2023 TYR Pro Series title. She edged out teammate Dakota Luther (Austin, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) by .05.
“I’m really tired,” Pash said. “I had a double with the 100 freestyle before this. I was just thinking back to my younger years of swimming when I would swim every event, so I was taking my confidence from that; using my 100 free as a warmup for my 200 fly. I definitely felt it in that race.”
Trenton Julian (Glendale, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores) picked up a win in the 200m butterfly (1:56.51) in front of his home crowd.
“I love swimming at home,” Julian said. “Swimming in the sun was a little misty in the morning but we have the sun right now. I think (my time) was fine for right now. I felt really loose on that first 100 fly and in the last 100, I tightened up a lot.”
The women’s 400m freestyle was dominated by athletes under 18 years old. Olympian Bella Sims (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) clocked a new best time of 4:06.41, beating out Wednesday’s 1500m freestyle winner Jillian Cox (Cedar Park, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) who finished in 4:10.22. Fourteen-year-old and 1500m freestyle runner-up Kayla Han (La Mirada, Calif./La Mirada Armada) placed third with a time of 4:10.56.
“That was really good for me,” Sims said. “It’s really cool to see everyone gradually get better and have younger people take over the older kids. It’s inspiring.”
The TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo will continue Friday with prelims at 9 a.m. PT and finals at 5 p.m. daily.
Racing started with Abbey Weitzeil (Santa Clara, Calif./California Aquatics) winning her third 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series 100m freestyle title with a time of 54.27. Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Alto Swim Club) was second with a time of 54.27 while Claire Curzan (Cary, N.C./Alto Swim Club) and Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas/Sun Devil Swimming) tied for third with times of 54.50.
“I’m super excited (about winning her third TYR Pro Series title),” Weitzeil said. “Seeing that time up there, it’s what I’ve gotten at past major meets before so knowing that I’ve done that in season with the rest coming, we have like five to six weeks until (World Championships) team trials. I’m super excited for what’s happening this season. I know I can go a best time.”
The 100m freestyle continued with Ryan Held (Springfield, Ill./New York Athletic Club) winning with a time of 48.74. Hunter Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/New York Athletic Club/California Aquatics) finished third with a time of 49.13.
“The race was good,” Held said. “This morning I was in control of what was going on and I knew for tonight, I just had to put down the gas a little more. Go out faster, and if you go out fast, you just have to come back. It doesn’t matter how tired you are, you have to come back faster.”
Olympic gold medalist Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) brought home her third-straight TYR Pro Swim Series win in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:06.67.
“I thought I’d be a little bit faster today,” King said. “It’s kind of out of my control at this point. I’m still happy with the win and to be here getting some good racing in.”
Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club) clocked a 59.77 to win the 100m breastroke, the No. 10 time in the world this season. He also collected his third-straight TYR Pro Swim Series title. Jake Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays) was just one second behind with a time of 1:00.81.
“I didn’t know exactly how I would feel coming out of this one,” Fink said. “This morning wasn’t super sharp. Knowing that I can have one that isn’t great and bounce back for my fastest one of the season is a good feeling. It was a good race and I’m definitely happy with it.”
Winning her first 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series title, Isabelle Stadden (Blaine, Minn./California Aquatics) clocked a 27.88 in the 50m backstroke (27.88). Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah/University of Alabama) went 28.13 and Curzan touched third with a 28.14.
“I’m not too out of breath, just because it’s a 50,” Stadden said. “I’ve really been enjoying the sprint races to get my heart rate up, especially when it’s before my 200 and 100 back.”
Winning his third-straight TYR Pro Series title in the 50m backstroke with a time of 24.79, Justin Ress (Cary, N.C./Mission Viejo Nadadores) out-touched Armstrong (24.91) by .12.
“It was really solid,” Ress said of his race. “It’s really important to give it to the home crowd here. I challenged myself tonight with the double. I don’t train for doubles anymore, so it was tough.”
Kelly Pash (Carmel, Ind./Longhorn Aquatics) clocked a 2:08.20 in the 200m butterfly, winning her first 2023 TYR Pro Series title. She edged out teammate Dakota Luther (Austin, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) by .05.
“I’m really tired,” Pash said. “I had a double with the 100 freestyle before this. I was just thinking back to my younger years of swimming when I would swim every event, so I was taking my confidence from that; using my 100 free as a warmup for my 200 fly. I definitely felt it in that race.”
Trenton Julian (Glendale, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores) picked up a win in the 200m butterfly (1:56.51) in front of his home crowd.
“I love swimming at home,” Julian said. “Swimming in the sun was a little misty in the morning but we have the sun right now. I think (my time) was fine for right now. I felt really loose on that first 100 fly and in the last 100, I tightened up a lot.”
The women’s 400m freestyle was dominated by athletes under 18 years old. Olympian Bella Sims (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) clocked a new best time of 4:06.41, beating out Wednesday’s 1500m freestyle winner Jillian Cox (Cedar Park, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) who finished in 4:10.22. Fourteen-year-old and 1500m freestyle runner-up Kayla Han (La Mirada, Calif./La Mirada Armada) placed third with a time of 4:10.56.
“That was really good for me,” Sims said. “It’s really cool to see everyone gradually get better and have younger people take over the older kids. It’s inspiring.”
The TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo will continue Friday with prelims at 9 a.m. PT and finals at 5 p.m. daily.