TYR Pro Swim Series: Luca Urlando Blasts 1:52.37 200 Fly, No. 4 on All-Time List
Luca Urlando is a man in form in the 200 butterfly, and he nearly took home a U.S. Open record for his troubles Friday.
Urlando absolutely blasted his way through the final at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Sacramento, going 1:52.37. That is a best time, more than a second ahead of the 1:53.84 he posted in the Pro Swim Series in Clovis in 2019.
It’s the meet record, and it nearly displaced Michael Phelps’ time from the 2008 Olympic Trials (1:52.30) as the U.S. Open Record. Urlando slots in behind world record holder Kristof Milak, Phelps and reigning Olympic champion Leon Marchand as the No. 4 performer of all time. Friday’s swim is the 13th-fastest performance of all time and 10th-fastest in a textile suit.
Urlando is coming off an NCAA championship and NCAA record for Georgia in this event last week in Federal Way, Washington. The native of Sacramento is swimming under the club colors of DART Swimming this week.
Urlando went 1:54.64 in semifinals at Olympic Trials last summer, then 1:55.08 to finish second to Thomas Heilman and book an Olympic spot. Urlando struggled in Paris, finishing 17h in prelims in 1:56.18 to not earn a second swim.
Friday, he beat out a pair of Olympians in the Chmielewskis. Krzysztof Chmielewski went 1:54.36 to finished second. His brother Michal Chmielewski was exactly a second back. Only one other swimmer, Michael Hochwalt, broke two minutes. (The Polish record remains Pawel Korzeniowski’s super-suited 1:53.23 from 2009. Krzysztof Chmielewski holds the textile best at 1:53.62 from the 2023 World Championships.)
The third evening session in Sacramento also featured a tie for the gold in the men’s 50 freestyle. Both Maxime Grousset and Michael Andrew went 22.04 to share honors. The Frenchman Grousset was coming off a win in the 100 fly on Thursday night. Andrew was facing a double with the 100 breaststroke later in the night.
Brooks Curry was third in 22.27. He had gone 22.03 in the morning to take the top seed. Kamal Mohammed was fourth, .01 ahead of Youssef Ramadan with Evgenii Somov sixth in a final full of Olympians.
Grousset returned later in the night for a win in the 50 butterfly, getting the better of Andrew by .53 seconds in 23.12. Mahammad and Ramadan tied for fourth. Ethan Dumesnil was third.
Rhyan White prevailed a thriller of a showdown with Katharine Berkoff in the 100 backstroke, edging her fellow American Olympian by .01 seconds. White went 59.68. Berkoff was on the back of a double, having finished fifth in the 50 free.
In the mix was Leah Shackley, who went 59.92 to finish third. Anastasia Gorbenko finished fourth in 1:00.42.
Australian Sam Short delivered an outstanding swim in the 400 free that nearly took down a U.S. Open record. The 2023 World Champion went 3:43.84, eight tenths slower than the time he posted to finish fourth in the Olympic final in Paris.
Barely surviving were the U.S. Open record set in 2008 by Larsen Jensen at 3:43.53 and the Pro Swim Series mark of 3:43.55 of Sun Yang in 2016.
Short was 5.85 seconds ahead of American Alec Enyeart, who went 4:39.69 to edge Ilia Sibirtsev for second by .08.
In a rerun of last week’s championship final at the NCAA Championships, Matt Fallon bested two fellow A finalists to the title. Fallon, the American Olympian who was second at NCAAs, went 2:09.58 to win. Second was Spanish international Carles Coll Marti in 2:10.25, with Kyrgyzstani Olympian Denis Petrashov third in 2:12.33. Coll Marti was third for Virginia Tech at NCAAs, Petrashov fourth for Louisville.
Coll Marti’s former Va Tech mate AJ Pouch was fourth.
France’s Yohann Ndoye Brouard dominated the men’s 100 back in 53.87, his winning margin nearly three seconds. Jack Dahlgren edged Hugo Dauvachelle by .03 for silver.
Beryl Gastaldello claimed a tight race over Louisville’s Julia Dennis in the women’s 50 free, the French Olympian going 24.75 to win by .04 seconds. Liberty Clark was third.
Isabelle Odgers won the women’s 200 breast in 2:28.89, surging on the final 50 to get the win by .24 seconds over Aliz Kalmar. Mikayla Tan was third in 2:29.45. The leader at 150 meters, Lisa Nystrand, faded to fourth, two seconds off the pace. Canadian Olympian Tessa Cieplucha finished fifth.
Rachel Klinker dominated a very thin field in the 200 butterfly, her time of 2:10.85 some five seconds ahead of Justina Kozan.
New Zealand international Hazel Ouwehand took control of the final of the women’s 50 fly, going 25.94. That’s .06 off her national record from last spring. Shackley, back in the water, went 26.61 for second. Arielle Hayon was third, and Dennis, in her second swim, finished fifth. Eve Thomas won the women’s 400 free in 4:11.64, four seconds ahead of Alexa McDevitt.
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