Team USA Collects 11 medals on Day Two of Pan American Games
SANTIAGO, Chile – The swimming competition of the 2023 Pan American Games rolled into day two, with Team USA winning 11 more medals (4g, 4s, 3s) in the pool tonight at the Centro Acuático del Estadio Nacional.
Jack Aikins (Atlanta, Ga./SwimAtlanta/University of Virginia) and Kennedy Noble (Avondale, Ariz./Wolfpack Elite) set new Pan American records en route to their gold-medal wins in the men’s and women’s 200 backstroke, respectively. Their contributions to the 11-medal haul from day two bring Team USA’s total to 21 medals (8g, 7s, 6b). View the swimming medal standings by nation on the Pan American Games website.
More than 350 athletes from 41 federations are competing over the five days of pool competition – the most athletes competing in a sport at the Pan American Games.
Women’s 200m Freestyle
3 – Camille Spink (Haymarket, Va./Nation’s Capital Swim Club), 1:58.61
5 - Kayla Wilson (Virginia Beach, Va./Tide Swimming), 1:58.91
Spink on her performance: “I feel really sore and tired, but I knew this was going to be my one swim to get it or not get it so I’m really proud that I did. It means a lot to me because I’ve been trying to get this cap with my name on it for so long and to win a medal for the U.S. is one of my dreams so I’m really happy about it.”
Race Notes:
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Spink’s bronze is the first international medal of her career.
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Spink’s time of 1:58.61 is a new personal best.
Men’s 200m Freestyle
1 – Coby Carrozza (Austin, Texas/University of Texas), 1:47.37
4 – Zane Grothe (Boulder City, Nev./Boulder City Henderson Swim), 1:48.00
Carrozza on his gold-medal win: “I’m ecstatic! Going to this meet, that’s all I could think about.”
Carrozza on how this prepares him for his upcoming relay: “It’s awesome. Relays are the most fun thing in swimming, and I am really looking forward to swimming it with three other guys.”
Race Notes:
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Carrozza’s gold medal is the first individual international medal of his career.
Women’s 100m Butterfly
2 – Kelly Pash (Carmel, Ind./Carmel Swim Club/University of Texas), 57.85
3 – Olivia Bray (Daleville, Va./Longhorn Aquatics), 58.36
Pash on her second medal at the Pan American Games: “It’s really exciting to get that stuffed bird again! Of course, getting another medal for Team USA is a big deal and I’m just proud of the red, white and blue.”
Bray on competing for Team USA: “It’s such an honor to be here. I’m grateful to have this amazing team and to share the podium with Kelly [Pash]; we’ve been together for three years at Texas and to be on a Team USA team together is just awesome. Silver and bronze together? It’s pretty good.”
Race Notes:
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Bray’s bronze medal marks the first individual international medal of her career.
Men’s 100m Butterfly
1 – Luke Miller (Broomfield, Colo./Wolfpack Elite), 51.98
3 – Arsenio Bustos (Orange, Conn./Wolfpack Elite), 52.60
Miller on winning gold: “It’s great. Just proud to represent the USA. Been dreaming about it for a long time. It’s good to be here.”
Bustos on his bronze medal and swimming with his Wolfpack Elite teammate: “It’s my first international meet so I just got to be happy with contributing to the medal count…I know that we’re not right next to each other, but we had each other in the peripheral in the race, but to know that someone you train with every day is there is a cool feeling.”
Race Notes:
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Miller’s gold marks the first international individual medal of his career.
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Bustos earned the first international medal of his career.
Women’s 200m Backstroke
1 – Kennedy Noble (Avondale, Ariz./Wolfpack Elite), 2:08.03
2 – Reilly Tiltmann (Brookfield, Wis./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 2:12.79
Noble on setting a Pan American record and winning a gold medal: “It feels amazing. I definitely didn’t really expect it coming in this morning. I didn’t feel as well as I wanted to but I’m really happy the way it turned out. I could hear the crowd after the third 50 so I definitely knew something good could be happening so that definitely motivated me on the last part of the race.”
Tiltmann on her bronze-medal finish: “It’s super awesome. This is my first time ever representing Team USA so just having the opportunity to be here and race has been so, so fun and I’m just really happy.”
Noble on sharing the podium and her relationship with Tiltmann: “It’s amazing. I think Team USA does a really good job in putting together these camps. We’ve known each other for years now. We were roommates at the National Select Camp in 2019 so we’ve known each other a long time and it’s really cool to climb up the ranks with each other. It’s been a surreal experience.”
Race Notes:
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Noble set a Pan American Games record with her time of 2:08.03.
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Tiltmann makes her international debut at these Pan American Games and wins her first individual international medal.
Men’s 200m Backstroke
1 – Jack Aikins (Atlanta, Ga./SwimAtlanta/University of Virginia), 1:56.58
2 – Ian Grum (Atlanta, Ga./Dynamo Swim Club), 1:57.19
Aikins on breaking a Pan American Games record: “It feels awesome. It’s really special to be able to do something like that at my first international meet. It was just an overall fun and exciting experience…I always just kind of judge things on how my legs feel. I always try to save them for the last 50 as much as I can and when that works out pretty well, I end up having a pretty good race.”
Grum on winning silver: “It’s awesome. To go one-two in the 200 back for the United States who is super strong, is awesome. To swim for our country, swim for our family and swim for the colleges we represent, it’s an honor.”
Race Notes:
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Aikins sets a Pan American record with his time of 1:56.58.
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Aikins and Grum both win their first international individual medals in their international competitive debut at these Pan American Games.
Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2 – USA, 3:24.21
Brooks Curry (Atlanta, Ga./Dynamo Swim Club), 48.43
Jonny Kulow (Lander, Wy./Sun Devil Swimming), 47.44
Catie DeLoof (Grosse Pointe, Mich./New York Athletic Club), 54.01
Amy Fulmer (Bellefontaine, Ohio/The Ohio State University), 54.33
Curry on being a part of a Team USA relay: “It’s always special to be on a U.S. relay, especially at these international meets. It means a lot to me to represent the red, white and blue and it’s always super fun to be on these teams no matter who else is on the relay. I really enjoy every part of it.”
Race Notes:
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Jack Dahlgren, Gabi Albiero and Paige Madden also receive medals for their prelim swims.
The pool competition continues through Wednesday. For more information, please visit the swimming page on the Pan American Games website. The open water competition will take place on October 29. For information on the open water competition, please visit the open water page on the Pan American Games website. Learn more about Team USA’s overall performance at the Pan American Games by visiting the Team USA website.
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