Gretchen Walsh, Ilya Kharun Top 50 Butterfly Prelims at U.S. Open

U.S. Open, Day Four Prelims: Gretchen Walsh, Ilya Kharun Headline 50 Butterfly

The final preliminaries session of the U.S. Open opened Saturday morning with sprint action in the 50-meter butterfly events and will also include competition in the 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly. Already in Austin, Kate Douglass has been a three-event victor, taking the top spot in the 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

Here is an event-by-event recap of the Day Four prelims:

Results

Women’s 50 Butterfly

American-record holder Gretchen Walsh will not be touched in the final of the 50 butterfly after leading prelims by more than a second. Walsh recorded a time of 25.43, which was well ahead of the 26.79 by Natalie Kan for the second seed. The evening will be a race between Walsh and the clock, and whether the University of Virginia product can put together her latest sub-25 effort in the event.

Men’s 50 Butterfly

Canadian Ilya Kharun, who was narrowly edged by Shaine Casas in the final of the 100 butterfly on Friday night, came up with the top seed in the 50 butterfly. Kharun nearly dipped under the 23-second barrier in the morning, going 23.01 for Lane Four in the final. Dare Rose checked in at 23.19 while sprint veterans Santo Condorelli (23.42) and Caeleb Dressel (23.45) advanced to the title race.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Coming off a victory in the 100 backstroke, Regan Smith cruised through qualifying in the 200 backstroke, posting the second-fastest time of the morning. Smith touched the wall in 2:11.47, which trailed the 2:09.59 of Phoebe Bacon. In addition to winning the 100 back on Friday night, Smith was the runnerup in the 100 fly with an impressive 56-low performance.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Olympic and world champion Hubert Kos was quickest in the morning, behind a performance of 1:58.56. Kos was the winner of the 100 backstroke on Friday night and will be chasing the championship record of 1:54.59 in the evening. Taking the second seed for the final was Blake Tierney, who clocked a mark of 1:59.24.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Kate Douglass will chase her fourth victory of the U.S. Open when she steps onto the blocks for the final of the 200 breaststroke. Douglass eased to the top seed with a morning performance of 2:27.08, which was slightly quicker than the 2:27.47 of Ireland’s Mona McSharry. Douglass is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 breaststroke and the American-record holder.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Indiana’s Noah Cakir kept the program’s breaststroke excellence rolling by nailing down the top spot in the heats of the 200 breaststroke. Cakir was one of two athletes to go under 2:13 in prelims, his 2:12.01 nearly a half-second clear of the 2:12.50 of A.J. Pouch. Texas’ Nate Germonprez, on a breaststroke tear in the short-course pool, qualified third in 2:13.10.

Women’s 100 Freestyle