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Rio 2016 Daily Update – August 5th

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Friday was the end of the three day lead-in to the Olympics where a couple of sports get underway but not very much is happening. From beginning to end the US action on Friday lasted only about six hours with a good break in there was well. On Saturday the action will be nearly nonstop from 7:30 AM to 8 PM with a bonus beach volleyball night cap three hours later.

August 5th Recap:

Archery

On the last day before the Olympics really swing into action there was just one event going on in Rio. The archery competitors all participated in a 72-arrow ranking round to set the seedings for the individual and team events to be held over the next week. The men went first and Brady Ellison was in top form posting a 690 that was second only to a world record 700 from Kim Woo-Jin of Korea. Finishing 15th with a 674 was Zach Garrett while Jake Kaminski ended up 31st with a 660.

Now if you focus on those seeds.. #2, #15, #31… you may quickly realize that they are closely bunched on the bracket. Indeed if Ellison and Kaminski both win their first matches they will face off in the second round. And the winner of that would face Garrett if he wins his first two matches. Unfortunately the US has three of the eight in one eighth of the bracket and thus only one will be able to reach the quarterfinals and try to medal. As far as matchups go it’s Kaminski vs. Marcus D’Almeida on Tuesday at 3:18 PM, Ellison vs. Ali Elghrari on Tuesday at 3:31 PM, and Garrett vs. Haziq Kamaruddin on Wednesday at 3:18 PM. I believe the round of 32 matches for all of them would be later on those days.

In the meantime the three will team up to try and secure a medal in the team event on Saturday. The US is seeded second after posting a score of 2024 and has a bye to the quarterfinals where they will face Chinese Taipei or Indonesia at 2:15 PM. The entire team competition is tomorrow so they will keep competing as the day progress if they advance.

On the women’s side the only one competing is Mackenzie Brown who was up and down at times in her ranking round but finished 19th with a 641 score. She’ll face Claudia Mandia in the first knockout round on Monday at 8:26 AM.

Team USA's Brady Ellison in action

August 6th Preview:

All times ET!! All events should be available online via NBC’s Olympic website and apps (assuming a cable package that gives you access). What is live in ET/CT is often tape delayed in MT/PT. Yell at NBC for their ridiculous decision to tape delay an Olympics happening one hour east of ET, it’s insane.

Archery

As mentioned previously, Brady Ellison, Jake Kaminski, and Zach Garrett will begin the men’s team event at 2:15 PM against Indonesia or Chinese Taipei. Semifinals and a bronze or gold medal final will follow if the US advances. The archery matches should be live as part of MSNBC’s coverage from 2:15-5 PM.

Basketball

The first of many beatdowns of the Olympics is expected on Saturday when the US men face China at 6 PM. This matchup doesn’t feature much intrigue as these two sides met twice in warmups for the Olympics with the US winning by 50 and 49 points. The game will be shown live on NBCSN.

Beach Volleyball

It won’t be until 3:30 PM before beach volleyball gets underway for any Americans when Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson take on Jefferson Pereira and Cherif Younousse to open up their pool play. The sport will keep us up late on several occasions though and Saturday is one of them as April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings won’t hit the sand until 11 PM when they face Mariafe Artacho and Nicole Laird. The Gibb/Patterson match will air live on NBC as will Ross/Walsh Jennings later in the evening.

Boxing

Two Americans will enter the ring for round of 32 matches on Saturday. Carlos Balderas starts the lightweight division with a match against Berik Abdrakhmanov at 11:15 AM while Nico Hernandez has a late afternoon 4:30 PM matchup with Manuel Cappai in the light flyweight division. You might be able to catch the Balderas fight live on Telemundo while NBCSN will have them tape delayed as part of their coverage from 9 PM-12 AM.

Cycling

Cycling will begin on Saurday with the men’s road race, only 150.1 miles. Brent Bookwalter and Taylor Phinney will be racing for the US and the race will include Tour de France winner Chris Froome of Great Britain. It begins at 8:30 AM. The road race will be covered live by NBC during their coverage from 8-10:30 AM and by NBCSN in their coverage between 10:30 AM and 3 PM.

Equestrian

The start of the eventing competition will take two days to get through all of the dressage programs but two Americans are in the ring tomorrow. Boyd Martin is the first American out at 10:36 AM while Clark Montgomery goes at 3:14 PM. You’ll be able to catch the equestrian coverage on USA between 3 and 4 PM. One would think they might get Montgomery’s on live, but that’s not certain.

Fencing

The first gold of Rio in fencing will be handed out on Saturday in the women’s individual epee event and two American sisters are in contention. Courtney Hurley will start in the round of 32 at 9:45 AM against Yana Shemyakina while Kelley Hurley faces Nathalie Moellhausen at 10:15 AM in the same round. The other American is Katharine Holmes and she takes on Erika Kirpu at 9:45 AM as well. The round of 16 and quarterfinals proceed pretty quickly after the round of 32 before the semifinals and finals come later in the day. You won’t get much fencing coverage on TV tomorrow as the only scheduled coverage is the final on tape delay during CNBC’s coverage from 5-8 PM.

Field Hockey

Competing in the third straight Olympics for the first time the US hopes to build on a competitive showing in London as they open up with a must win matchup against Argentina at 4 PM. The US has defeated them in the Olympics four years ago as well as in the Pan American games so it’s a winnable matchup and with the top four in the group of six advancing a win in this one could be a difference maker in the quest for the quarterfinals where anything could happen. This one will be shown live on USA.

Gymnastics

While there isn’t really and drama about how the US team will do in qualifying for the men’s event (hint – they’ll make it) the real question on Saturday is how individuals do overall and in each event because Saturday’s qualifying round is what will determine who gets to compete for individual all-around titles as well as individual event titles. The US competes in the second group to take to the apparatus at 1:30 PM. Chris Brooks, Jake Dalton, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak, and Alex Naddour make up the team this year. Looking to watch it live? Your only chance will be online as NBC will delay their coverage until the evening telecast from 8 PM-12 AM.

Rowing

No medals at stake in rowing tomorrow as all we will see is the opening heats of several events. Gevvie Stone is in the second heat of the women’s single sculls which begins at 8:30 AM. In the men’s pair at 9:30 AM Nareg Guregian and Anders Weiss are in the first heat. Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek will be in the second heat of the women’s double sculls at 10 AM while Anthony Fahden, Edward King, Tyler Nase, and Robin Prendes in the men’s lightweight four will have to wait to the third and final heat of the 11 AM event. Finally in the 11:50 AM women’s quadruple sculls Tracy Eisser, Megan Kalmoe, Grace Latz, and Adrienne Martelli will be in the second heat. Rowing will be covered in two places tomorrow, live on NBC between 8 and 10:30 AM and delayed on NBC between 3 and 4:15 PM.

Rugby Sevens

Rugby makes its return to the Olympics on Saturday with the beginning of the women’s event. The US will compete twice on Saturday, opening at 12 PM against Fiji and closing the day against Colombia at 5 PM. The Fiji match will be shown live on NBCSN while the Colombia match will be live on CNBC.

Shooting

The shooting events get underway with two events beginning and being decided on Saturday. Sarah Scherer and Virginia Thrasher will take part in the women’s 10m air rifle qualification round at 7:30 AM with hopes of advancing to the final at 9:30 AM. The other event being held is the men’s 10m air pistol with the qualification round at 12 PM featuring Will Brown and Jay Shi and that event’s final at 2:30 PM. The women’s rifle final will be live on NBCSN but there is no planned TV coverage of the men’s pistol event.

Soccer

Having already secured a win over New Zealand on Wednesday the US could more or less lock up the group by beating France on Saturday in their 4 PM game. The matchup of the #1 and #3 teams in the world according to the FIFA rankings could be a final four preview and was a great contest in 2012 when the US went down 2-0 early but rallied for a 4-2 win. NBCSN will be your destination for this game.

Swimming

Six events begin on Saturday with four of those ending later in the day and two more moving into evening semifinals. Things start off at 12:02 PM with Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland in the fourth and final heat of the men’s 400m individual medley. Next up is Dana Vollmer in the fourth heat and Kelsi Worrell in the fifth heat of the women’s 100m butterfly at 12:28 PM. Starting at 12:48 PM Connor Jaeger takes part in the sixth heat with Conor Dwyer in the seventh heat of the men’s 400m freestlye. That’ll take a little while and it’s not until 1:32 PM that we’ll see Maya DiRado in the fourth heat and Elizabeth Beisel in the fifth heat of the the women’s 400m individual medley. The final individual event to start is the 2:04 PM men’s 100m breaststroke where Kevin Cordes and Cody Miller are together at the center of the fourth heat. The afternoon will wrap up with the US 4x100m freestyle relay team competing in the second heat of that 2:15 PM event.

In the evening we’ll see finals of men’s and women’s individual medley events as well as the men’s 400m freestyle and the women’s 4x100m freestyle. With no semifinals in those events swimmers will need a top eight time in the heats. In the other events it’ll be an evening semifinal so the heats in the afternoon only require a top 16 time to advance. The swimming events will all be live for ET and CT with afternoon heat coverage on NBC as well as the evening coverage.

Table Tennis

One of the more interesting potential storylines on Saturday will be that of 16-year-old Kanak Jha in the table tennis event. He starts the men’s singles competition with a matchup against Nima Alamian at 9:30 AM and would expect to have one more match later in the day if he wins. Jha is supposed to be a potential star but this is certainly not the Olympics where he will be in his prime. Lily Zhang opens her women’s singles competition by taking on Gremlis Arvelo at 10:15 AM while Jennifer Wu faces Eva Odorova at 11 AM. Much later in the day Yijun Feng is the last of the individuals to start as he faces Zhiwen He in the first round of the men’s singles event. NBCSN is planning to show the Zhang match on delay during their coverage from 1-4 PM while Jha’s and Wu’s matches will be on delay on MSNBC’s coverage from 2:15-5 PM. Any second round matches the US athletes would compete in would be shown on delay on NBCSN between 9 PM and 12 AM.

Tennis

It’s hard to talk about exact start times in tennis since matches do vary in length quite a bit and they don’t make any promises that you won’t be on an hour after the match before you started if it goes quickly, but we do know that Madison Keys will lead off the day with her singles match against Danka Kovinic. It’s a busy day for the US on the tennis court as in addition to Keys we’ll see Jack Sock take on Taro Daniel around 11:30 AM, Sloane Stephens take on Eugenie Bouchard in a tantalizing North American matchup around 2:30 PM, and three men’s matches around 1 PM: Brian Baker against Yuichi Sugita, Steve Johnson against Darian King, and Denis Kudla against Andrej Martin. Later in the day, not before 5:45 PM, Venus Williams will face Kirsten Flipkens. If it’s tennis you want it’s all live and on Bravo, though you’ll only get a single match at a time of course.

Volleyball

The US will start their quest to take home gold for the first time by battling potential 51st state Puerto Rico in their Olympic opener at 4:05 PM. Puerto Rico has never been to the Olympics so this will be a big moment for them. Telemundo will have coverage from the start while NBC will have most of it live but won’t have the very start.

Water Polo

Water polo will get underway with the US men taking on defending gold medalists Croatia at 9:20 AM. With four of the six teams in the group moving to the knockout round it’s certainly no must win for the US but it would be a great way to start their Olympics. The match will be live on NBC.

Weightlifting

The US only has four athletes competing in weightlifting in Rio and one of them will get it over with on the very first day. Morghan King will take part in the women’s 48kg competition at 6 PM. There is only one group of competitors in that weight class. Coverage of the event will be delayed on NBCSN between 8 and 9 PM.

Olympic Previews, Olympics, Rio 2016, Swimming

Rio 2016 – Swimming Preview

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Swimming is one of the most prominent summer Olympic sports and perhaps the foremost one the US excels at.  It has been an Olympic sport since the first modern Olympics and has included women’s events since 1912. The program has expanded all the way to 34 events from the original four (though only the 100m freestyle remains).  The main events will be held at the temporary Olympic Aquatics Stadium while the outdoor events are held at the Fort Copacabana. In swimming as long as you have two swimmers who meet the minimum time you get two spots. So the US easily qualified two spots in each event except the women’s 10km open water swim. The relays all qualified at the 2015 world championships. Continue reading Rio 2016 – Swimming Preview →

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Connor Jaeger, Ryan Lochte, Caitlin Leverenz Among US Winners on Sunday in Charlotte

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The US finished off the Arena Pro Swim Series event in Charlotte with several wins on Sunday. The US got off to a good start when Leah Smith won the 800m with Ashley Twichell finishing second and Lindsay Vrooman making it a clean sweep.

It was a 1-2 finish for Americans in the 200m individual medley as Caitlin Leverenz and Karlee Bispo finished atop the standings. The same was true on the men’s side where Ryan Lochte and Connor Dwyer took the top two spots. The first event not won by the US on Sunday was the 200m backstroke where Canada’s Dominique Bouchard took top honors but the US did grab the next two spots through Erin Voss and Clara Smiddy. On the men’s side it was the same story with Serbia’s Arkady Vyatchanin topping the Americans, Tyler Clary and Carter Griffin.

Lilly King won the women’s 50m breaststroke with Katie Meili following her to the line 0.07 seconds later. The US won again with Cody Miller 0.11 seconds ahead of Canadian Jason Block. Nic Eriksson finished third for the US but 0.32 seconds behind second. The US only grabbed one medal in the final women’s event but Dana Vollmer finished behind Canadians Penny Oleksiak and Chantal Van Landeghem so it was a bronze. Canada grabbed the top spot in the men’s event through Santo Condorelli with Jimmy Feigen finishing with a silver for the US. In the final event of the day Connor Jaeger won his second 1500m freestyle event of the year to go along with two silvers. Zane Grothe grabbed a silver medal to wrap up the event for the US.

The final two Arena Pro Swim Series events are in Santa Clara, California and Indianapolis, Indiana both running June 3rd through the 5th.

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Dana Vollmer, Cammile Adams, Leah Smith, Connor Dwyer Among American Winners on Day Three in Charlotte

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After losing just one event on Friday in Charlotte the US didn’t have quite as strong a win rate but still brought home plenty of golds in the Arena Pro Swim Series event. It started off in the women’s 200m butterfly. Cammile Adams won the event for the fourth time in four tries this year with Jen Marrkand in second. Hannah Saiz grabbed her second medal of the year, a bronze, to make it a 1-2-3 American finish. On the men’s side Colombia’s Jonathan Gomez won with Tyler Clary in second. Zach Harting gave the US two in the top three. In the women’s 50m freestyle Canada’s Chantal Van Landeghem held off Madison Kennedy by 0.1 seconds. Kennedy had won the last two events but now has won two golds and two silvers in the last four events. The US did win the men’s event as Anthony Ervin won for the first time this year. Canada’s Santo Condorelli was 0.17 seconds back with Josh Schneider just 0.01 seconds further back in bronze.

The women’s 100m backstroke was the first event where the US finished outside of the top two. Canada’s Kylie Massey and Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry held off Ali DeLoof. The US also failed to win on the men’s side where Serbia’s Arkady Vyatchanin took first but Ryan Lochte was second best and Bryce Bohman was third. In the 200m breaststroke Canada’s Kierra Smith ruined a 1-2-3 US finish as Anne Lazor and Lilly King finished first and third. The only American in the men’s 200m breaststroke top three was Cody Miller, and he won the event. Mexico’s Mauro Castillo Luna came in second.

In the women’s 50m butterfly Dana Vollmer grabbed the top spot by 0.1 seconds over Canada’s Penny Oleksiak. The order was reversed on the men’s side with Santo Condorelli in first and Matthew Josa and Tim Phillips in second and third just 0.02 seconds apart. In the longest race of the day, the women’s 400m freestyle, Leah Smith won for the first time this season after two silvers and Lindsay Vrooman and Gillian Ryan made it as 1-2-3 American finish. The same was true on the men’s side where Connor Dwyer grabbed his third win over the year with Zane Grothe and Connor Jaeger finishing behind him.

Sunday will feature five events. Here are some of the American favorites:
Women’s 800m Freestyle: Lindsay Vrooman – a silver in Orlando
Women’s 200m Individual Medley: Caitlin Levernz – gold in Minneapolis
Men’s 200m Individual Medley: Ryan Lochte – silver in Austin, Connor Dwyer – silver and bronze this season
Women’s 200m Backstroke: No previous US medalists from this season
Men’s 200m Backstroke: No previous US medalists from this season
Women’s 50m Breaststroke: Has not been held this season
Men’s 50m Breaststroke: Has not been held this season
Women’s 100m Freestyle: Dana Vollmer – bronze in Mesa
Men’s 100m Freestyle: Jimmy Feigen – bronze in Austin and Mesa
Men’s 1500m Freestyle: Connor Jaeger – a gold and two silvers this year

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

US Swimmers, Including Ryan Lochte, Win Nine of Ten Events Day of Arena Pro Swim Series

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The second day of the Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series event didn’t see a clean American sweep but it came very very close. Leah Smith opened things with a win in the 200m freestyle by 0.42, her first medal of the season, with Canadian Taylor Ruck in second. Lindsay Vrooman was the second best American in fourth. On the men’s side Connor Dwyer has now won all four of the races he’s entered this season. This one was over a second and a half quicker than Zane Grothe.

In the 100m breaststroke Lilly King got the win with Katie Meili finishing outside of first for the first time this season in second place. Cody Miller scored his first win of the season on the men’s side after he had finished second to open the season in Minneapolis. Sam Tierney surprisingly ended up 16th after three top four finishes to start the year including a win. Mexican Miguel De Lara Ojeda was second. In the 50m backstroke, the first contest of the event this year, Ali Deloof beat Canadian Kylie Masse to the line by 0.08 with Clara Smiddy in fourth. Bryce Bohman won the men’s event by 0.15 seconds over Vietnam’s Paul Le while Bob Glover came in third.

The 100m butterfly race between Kelsi Worrell and Dana Vollmer went to Vollmer. Vollmer’s winning margin was around a second but Worrell got beat to the line by 15-year-old Penny Oleksiak of Canada. The men’s 100m butterfly race was where the US failed to win for the first time. Instead it was Canadian Santo Condorelli who beat Tim Phillips. The second place finish was the best of the season for Phillips topping a third place finish in Austin. Matthew Josa was third for the US as Condorelli won by 0.3 seconds and Josa was 0.6 seconds behind Phillips.

Finally in the 400m individual medley Cammile Adams won for the first time after three top five finishes earlier in the year. China’s Rose Bi was second by over eight seconds with Lindsey Clary finishing third. Ryan Lochte made it two wins in two tries on the men’s side with Ecuador’s Tom Peribonio two seconds back. Michael Weiss finished third almost three seconds behind Peribonio.

Saturday will feature six events. Here are some of the American favorites:
Women’s 200m Butterfly: Cammile Adams – three golds in three tries, Hannah Saiz – silver in Minneapolis
Men’s 200m Butterfly: No previous US medalists from this season
Women’s 50m Freestyle: Madison Kennedy – two golds and a silver this season. Dana Vollmer – silver in Mesa
Men’s 50m Freestyle: Anthony Ervin – silver in Mesa, Jimmy Feigen – bronze in Austin, Cullen Jones – bronze in Mesa
Women’s 100m Backstroke: No previous US medalists from this season
Men’s 100m Backstroke: Ryan Lochte – silver in Mesa
Women’s 200m Breaststroke: Haley Spencer – silver in Minneapolis
Men’s 200m Breaststroke: Cody Miller – two bronzes
Women’s 50m Butterfly: Has not been held this season
Men’s 50m Butterfly: Has not been held this season
Women’s 400m Freestyle: Leah Smith – two silvers this year, Lindsay Vrooman – a silver in Orlando
Men’s 400m Freestyle: Connor Dwyer – two golds and a silver this year, Zane Grothe – a silver in Orlando, and Connor Jaeger – a bronze in Minneapolis.

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Ashley Twichell and Connor Jaeger Win on First Day of Arena Pro Swim Series

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On the first night of the Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series event Americans won both of the events contested. In the opening women’s 1500m freestyle it was Ashley Twichell holding off Chilean Kristel Kobrich to win with Gillian Ryan in third. Americans went 1-2 in the men’s 800m with Connor Jaeger about 2.5 seconds ahead of Zane Grothe.

Five events will be held on Friday with men’s and women’s versions of each event. The 200m freestyle will feature Connor Dwyer, three for three in going for gold in that event this year. The women’s 100m breaststroke has several Americans who have had success this year, Katie Meili victorious twice in two tries and Andee Cottrell who was third in the season opening Minneapolis event. The men’s side is set to feature Sam Tierney and Cody Miller, the duo that went 1-2 in Minneapolis. Tierney was also third in Austin. The 50m backstroke is being held for the first time this year.

The 100m butterfly featuring an interesting battle between Kelsi Worrell and Dana Vollmer. They have gone head-to-head twice so far this season and each won one and finished runner-up in the other. Vollmer also raced one other time and finished second in Austin. The men’s race will feature Tom Phillips, third place in Austin, and none of the winners of the first four races this season. Finally in the 400m individual medley Cammile Adams had a second place finish in Mesa and a big name is on the men’s side, Ryan Lochte who won in his only entry in Austin.

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview

 

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Four Day Arena Pro Swim Series Event Begins in Charlotte Thursday

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The fifth Arena Pro Swim Series event is this weekend in Charlotte. There will be a couple of events getting things underway on Thursday before the main competition begins Friday. The women have a 1500m freestyle race while the men have an 800m freestyle race. These races have not been held at other events so this is the first time we’ll see it this year.

Previous Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Mesa Recap

 

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps, and Ryan Lochte Among American Winners on Day Three of Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona

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The stars were out for the US on Saturday in Mesa as some of the biggest names in swimming took first place in their races at the Arena Pro Swim Series. Katie Ledecky will be as big a star as anyone this summer in Rio and she made it three wins in three tries in the women’s 800m freestyle. Danish swimmer Lotte Friis was second while Cierra Runge had her first top four finish in third.

Maya DiRado won the women’s 200m individual medley for the second straight time while Ella Eastin was second in her first race of the season while Melanie Margalis finally didn’t finish second. Unfortunately she didn’t move in the direction she hoped to. Michael Phelps made it three-for-three on the men’s side with Chase Kalisz finishing in the top four for the first time in second. David Nolan’s first appearance of the year resulted in a third place finish.

Maya DiRado won her second event of the day in the women’s 200m backstroke while Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe was second and Kaitlin Harty finished third in her first apperance.  The men’s side saw Ryan Lochte grab his first win of the year with Omar Pinzon of Colombia in second and Connor Green with his first top-five finish of the year in third.

The women’s 100m freestyle saw Simone Manuel win her third race in three tries this year. Abbey Weitzeil has also been really strong and her second place finish makes it three top-three finishes in three tries. Finally Dana Vollmer was third in her first appearance in this event. Nathan Adrian won for the fourth straight time in the men’s 100m freestyle with Cristian Quintero of Venezuela in second and Jimmy Feigen finishing in third for the second time this season.

Finally in the men’s 1500m freestyle Jordan Wilimovsky won in his first appearance of the season and made it four winners in four events. Michael McBroom added a second place finish to his first from Minneapolis while Ous Mellouli of Tunisia now has three third place finishes in three tries.

The fifth of seven events will be next month in Charlotte starting on May 12th.

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

USA Goes Ten For Ten On Second Day at Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona

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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.

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

Katie Meili, Dana Vollmer, Katie Ledecky and Connor Dwyer Headline First Day Winners at Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona

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The first day of the Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona saw Americans take first place in the majority of the contests.

In the women’s 200m freestyle Katie Ledecky continued her winning ways making it four out of four in the series so far. Allison Schmitt had her top finish of the year in second place as the top two were well out in front of the rest of the field. Over on the men’s side similar dominance was shown by Connor Dwyer who made it three for three and finished a second a half ahead of everyone else. Ryan Lochte finished third as Venezuelan Cristian Quintero slipped between the two Americans.

Over in the women’s 100m breaststroke Katie Meili won her second in two tries this year with Jamaican Alia Atkinson and Molly Hannis both within a half second of her. The men’s 100m breaststroke had one of the best finishes of the day as Andrew Wilson, Youssef El Kamash of Egypt, Miguel De Lara Ojeda of Mexico, and Azad Al-Barazi of Syria, all finished within 0.07 seconds. El Kamash got the win with De Lara Ojeda in second and Wilson the top American in third.

Dana Vollmer, having finished twice so far this year, finally won the women’s 100m butterfly while Kelsi Worrell was runner-up a third of a second back and Cassidy Bayer almost two seconds back in third. On the men’s side Seth Stubblefield, who had yet to register a top ten finish in two attempts this year, won the event with Jack Conger, ninth in his only appearance so far, in second. Giles Smith was third and now has finished at every top-five spot except for second in the first four races of the year.

Finally in the women’s 400m medley Katinka Hosszu of Hungary won for the second time this year while Cammile Adams added a second place finish to her two previous top-five finishes and Ella Eastin in her first appearance was third. On the men’s side Sean Grieshop, sixth in his only previous appearance, won by over three seconds with Tunisian Ous Mellouli in second and Gunnar Bentz with a third place finish in his first race.

Friday features races in the 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, and 400m freestyle. Preliminaries in the morning, finals in the evening.

Cammile Adams has won both of her attempts at the 200m butterfly and also in the field is Cassidy Bayer who was third in her only attempt so far and Maya DiRado who won the event in Orlando. On the men’s side Michael Phelps will race, second in his only entry so far this season, as will Andrew Seliskar, third in Austin, and Chase Kalisz who won in both Minneapolis and Orlando.

Top contenders in the women’s 50m freestyle include Madison Kennedy, first in Orlando and second in Austin, and Simone Manuel, who was second in both of her races so far this season. On the men’s side Nathan Adrian has won each of the first three events of the series and will look to make it four-for-four while Jimmy Feigen, third in his only appearance, is also in the field.

In the 100m backstroke Missy Franklin, who has won two of the three events so far, will go head-to-head against the only one to beat her so far this year, Katinka Hosszu of Hungary. On the men’s side David Plummer, who won in Minneapolis and came in third in Austin, is the only of the first three winners to compete this weekend perhaps making him a favorite.

Three Americans with good finishes so far this year will all compete in the 200m breaststroke Laura Sogar was the winner in Austin while Molly Hannis finished right behind her. Haley Spencer finished second in Minneapolis. This will be only the second competition for all three. On the men’s side Nic Fink has finished second in all three events so far but just might get his first win as the winners from the first the first three races are not competing.

Finally in the 400m freestyle there are a lot of good swimmers in the field but it’s clearly headlined by Katie Ledecky, who won the two events she raced in so far this year. Also competing is Lotte Friis who won the other and was fourth in her other attempt. Connor Dwyer is two-for-two winning the men’s 400m freestyle but Michael McBroom, who was second in his only competition so far, will provide competition.