2017 Charlotte UltraSwim

Molly Hannis Rocks 30.19 50m Breast, World No. 2

Molly Hannis Rocks 30.19 50m Breast, World No. 2

Full recap from day three finals from the 2017 Charlotte UltraSwim hosted by SwimMAC Carolina featured Leah Smith in the 200 freestyle, Katie Meili in the 200 breaststroke, Tim Phillips in the 100 butterfly, the 200 backstroke, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststr

Jun 4, 2017 by Maclin Simpson
Molly Hannis Rocks 30.19 50m Breast, World No. 2

2017 Charlotte UltraSwim

​Charlotte, North Carolina
​June 1-4, 2017
Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center​
LIVE RESULTS -- Available via Meet Mobile (iPhone/Android)


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Day three finals Saturday at the 2017 Charlotte UltraSwim featured some very fast swimming by ​Leah Smith, ​Katie Meili​, ​Tim Phillips​,​ Molly Hannis, Ryosuke Irie, Justin Ress, and others. Events on the docket included the 4x100m freestyle relay, 200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m backstroke, 50m butterfly (top four), 50m backstroke (top four), 50m breaststroke (top four), and 50m freestyle (top four).

Women 200m Freestyle
With ​Melanie Margalis​ out of the field due to a scratch, ​Leah Smith​ continued her reign of dominance in Charlotte -- winning the 200m freestyle with a blazing fast 1:57.72. That time cracks the world top 20 this year and is a sign of good things to come as the 200 is the weakest event in Smith's repertoire. The crazy thing is that there is very little parody in this event on the international stage; the fastest time in the world this year is from ​Michelle Coleman ​of Sweden in 1:55.64 from April. So someone like Leah Smith has a major opportunity to move up with a small time drop, granted she makes the World Championship team in this event.​

Women 200m Breaststroke
​Katie Meili ​continued to tear in Charlotte with a strong 2:26.81 in the 200m breaststroke. That's well off the 2:23.18 she swam at the arena Pro Swim Series at Atlanta back in May, but a strong swim nonetheless. Look for Meili to sneak closer toward the 2:21 range heading into Nationals and potentially snag a spot on the World Championship team in this event. Fortunately for her, this event is wide open as there is not a ​true​ 200m breaststroke specialist on the women's side for the United States. ​Lilly King​ and ​Molly Hannis​ favor the 100 (even though Hannis made the Olympic Team in the 200). Don't count out ​Bethany Galat​, though. The Texas A&M Aggie finished third at Trials behind Hannis, just 13 one-hundredths of a second from making the Olympic Team.​

Men 100m Butterfly
​Tim Phillips ​rattled off a strong 53.14 in the men's 100m butterfly, a time that would have placed 6th at the arena Pro Swim Series in Santa Clara Friday night (tied for 6th with Texas' ​Tripp Cooper​, actually). Phillips swam according to his typical race strategy -- fly til' you die. He took the race out in a very quick 24.50, but faded a touch on the back end in 28.64. To put that in comparison, ​Jack Conger, Caeleb Dressel, ​and ​Tom Shields​ -- the biggest threats to make the World Championship team in this event -- came home in 27.53, 27.17, and 27.90, respectively in Santa Clara. If Phillips wants to steal one of those two spots, he will either have to build an insurmountable lead or fine tune his closing speed during taper.

Men 200m Backstroke
After a strong 53.25 in the 100m backstroke on Friday night -- the third fastest time in the world this year -- ​Ryosuke Irie​ popped off a strong 1:57.54 in the 200, tied with Germany's ​Christian Diener ​for the 16th fastest time in the world this year, but was a touch off his 1:57.06 from the Japan Swim (Japanese Nationals) back in April. At that meet, Irie finished second behind countrymate and IM specialist ​Kosuke Hagino​ (1:56.39). After a disappointing 8th place finish at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, can Irie put himself back in medal contention at World Championships this summer? Stay tuned.​

Men 50m Backstroke
​Justin Ress​ has been ​on fire​ over the last month or so. The rising NC State junior rattled off a blazing 24.89 in the 50m backstroke, cracking the top 10 in the world this year.​ That swim, along with his 53.49 100m backstroke Friday, has to give him a serious amount of confidence going into Nationals. ​Ryosuke Irie ​touched second in 25.65 fresh off his 200m backstroke.

Women 50m Breaststroke
​Molly Hannis ​rocked a 30.19 in the women's 50m breaststroke -- the second fastest time in the world this year behind ​Yulia Efimova​ (29.88). Coming off the 200 breast earlier in the session, ​Katie Meili ​snagged second in 30.70 -- just a touch off the 30.45 she swam Friday night in the top eight.​ As confident as ​Lilly King ​may be, the recent performances from Hannis and Meili have to give her some cause for concern going into Nationals.

Men 50m Freestyle
​Michael Chadwick​ continues to impress. The recent University of Missouri grad popped off a solid 22.22 in the 50m freestyle tonight ahead of ​Ryan Held ​(22.51), ​Justin Ress​ (22.64) who was less than 10 minutes off his 24.89 50 back, and ​Matheus Santana​ (22.72). With the likes of ​Nathan Adrian ​and ​Caeleb Dressel​, it is going to be tough to crack the top two in this event. But if anyone can do it, it is Chadwick. 
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