World Cup Westmont – Day Three Prelims: Gretchen Walsh Closes in on Another Record Swim
The final day of the World Cup stop in Westmont will unfold on Sunday, with the series then shifting to Toronto for its final leg. Action in the Chicago suburbs has been sensational, highlighted on Saturday night by world records from Mollie O’Callaghan in the 200-meter freestyle and Regan Smith in the 100 backstroke.
During the Sunday morning prelims, O’Callaghan will be back in the water for the 100 freestyle and Smith will race the 200 backstroke. On the men’s side, Canadian Ilya Kharun has enjoyed a strong first two days in Westmont, claiming victories in the 50 freestyle and 200 butterfly. He’s now set to contest the 50 butterfly, an event he won last week in Carmel.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Day Three prelims:
Men’s 400 Individual Medley
The 400 IM is a timed final at the World Cup so the fastest heat based on entry times will swim in the finals.
In the earlier heats, Australia’s Brendon Smith was the fastest of the morning, getting to the wall in 4:07.36.
Lucas Henveaux followed with a 4:08.56.
There was an 11-second gap from Henveaux to the rest of the field.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
World record holder Gretchen Walsh took the top seed in the 100 fly, predictably, in 54.28. The time is less than a second off the World Cup record she swam last week in Carmel.
Her world record time is 52.71.
Australia’s Alex Perkins took the second seed in 56.01, ahead of Belgium’s Roos VanOtterdijk (56.90) and Finland’s Laura Lahtinen (56.92), who all broke 57 seconds.
Australia’s Olivia Wunsch took the fifth seed in 57.10, followed by Ireland’s Ellen Walshe (57.43), New Zealand’s Vanessa Ouwehand (57.75) and Australia’s Brittany Castelluzzo (58.00).
Men’s 50 Butterfly
Canada’s Ilya Kharun put together a strong back-half of the race to touch the wall in 22.04 and take the top seed.
World Record holder Noe Ponti from Switzerland took the second seed in 22.18. He holds the World Cup record at 21.50 and the world record (SCM) in 21.32.
Finlay Brooks took the third seed in 22.22, followed by Canada’s Josh Liendo (22.23), Singapore’s Tzen Wei Teong (22.44), Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter (22.62) – and a tie for the seventh seed with Ralf Tribuntsov and Simone Stefani at 22.63.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
World record holder Regan Smith grabbed the top seed in the 200 backstroke, but not by much, and the field looks to bring perhaps the most interesting final tonight.
Smith took the top seed in 2:03.12 – four seconds off her World Cup record and nearly five off her world record – but it was just one hundredth of a second ahead of Miranda Grana (2:03.13) and that doesn’t include Olympic medalists Phoebe Bacon (2:03.55) and Kaylee McKeown (2:03.77) looming.
Australia’s Hannah Fredericks took the fifth spot in 2:03.99, followed by Anastasiya Shkurdai (2:04.23), Canada’s Madison Kryger (2:04.62) and USA’s Rhyan White (2:04.81).
This story will be updated as events finish.
