It was a clean sweep for the US on the second day of the Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona as Americans took first place in all ten of the races.
Cammile Adams won the 200m butterfly for the third time in three tries this year while Cassidy Bayer improved on her second place finish from Austin and Maya DiRado, who won the event in Orlando, was third. On the men’s side Michael Phelps got his first win in the event this year after a second place finish in his first try. Pace Clark and Jonathan Gomez took part for the first time and went two-three.
In the women’s 50m freestyle Madison Kennedy, won for the second straight meet while Abbey Weitzeil made it two thirds in three tries. Dana Vollmer was in between them and had her best finish of the year after a tenth in her first try in Austin. Nathan Adrian made it four-for-four with Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones notching their first top five finishes of the year.
In the 100m backstroke Maya DiRado had her first finish in the top four this year winning the event but the Americans didn’t sweep the medals as Hungarian Katinka Hosszu and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe rounded out the top there. On the men’s side David Plummer won for the second time this year while Ryan Lochte had his best finish so far in second. Arkady Vyatchanin of Serbia was third.
The 200m breaststroke saw some new blood at the top as Breeja Larson won after placing eighth in her previous appearance and Canadian Ashley McGregor topped her previous sixth as she was runner-up. Hilde Luthersdottir of Iceland had her second straight third place finish. BJ Johnson won the men’s event, his first top three finish of the year, while Nic Fink has now placed second in all four races but to three different swimmers. Mexico’s Miguel De Lara Ojeda finished third.
Finally in the 400m freestyle Katie Ledecky made it three wins in three tries while Cierra Runge had her first top three finish in second place. Denmark’s Lotte Friis was third, her third straight top four finish. Connor Dwyer failed to make it three-for-three in the men’s 400m freestyle as he finished second to Michael McBroom who won after a second in his first appearance. Clark Smith was third in his first competition of the year.
The swimming wraps up tomorrow as the final eight events are held. The women’s 800m freestyle will feature Katie Ledecky who is two-for-two in this event (she seems to win a lot) and Becca Mann who was runner-up to Ledecky on both of those occasions.
Maya DiRado won the women’s 200m individual medley in her first appearance in Orlando and will be looking to make it two straight. Melanie Margalis on the other hand has come in second in all three contests this year and will hope to win for the first time. Michael Phelps won the first two times he entered the men’s 200m individual medley so he will be the favorite again this weekend.
DiRado has also won the women’s 200m backstroke this year and came in second in her other appearance. The men’s 200m backstroke features no competitors who have finished in the top four so far this year but Ryan Lochte will be in the field.
The women’s 100m freestyle features an exciting field. Simone Manuel won both of the races she entered so far this year while both Abbey Weitzeil and Allison Schmitt have a second and third so far. Katie Ledecky will be trying to complete the top four cycle after taking second, third, and fourth in the first three events this season. Nathan Adrian has won the first three men’s 100m races and will be looking to continue his dominance. Jimmy Feigen is also in the field having placed third in his only appearance so far in Austin.
Finally in the men’s 1500m freestyle Michael McBroom was the winner in Minneapolis to start the year and will look to get his second win in the event.
