With day 1 full of some solid races, upsets, and some decent swims, day 2 (tonight) should provide a few more competitive races. The Men’s 100 Breaststroke final should prove to be the most interesting of the 3 final races (other 2 being Women’s 100 Fly and 400 Fr…both of which have a more spread out field than the Men’s 100 Br).
However, this post is not meant to highlight day 2, but rather pick the winners of day 3…
Day 3 finals-Men’s 200 Freestyle, Women’s 100 Backstroke, Men’s 100 Backstroke, Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Men’s 200 Freestyle
1-Conor Dwyer
2-Townley Haas
Dwyer had a solid 400 Fr last night, punching his ticket to the games with a second place finish….Haas was right behind him in 3rd, with some excellent closing speed. Haas is the NCAA champion and record holder in SCY for this event (200 Fr), making him fairly dangerous among a very deep field. Dwyer has been swimming fast in this event all year, so we expect both swimmers to make the top two slots for Rio.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
1-Olivia Smoliga
2- Missy Franklin
Another event with such a deep field, we think it will be tough to pick the 1 and 2 slots. With many choosing Franklin as the winner, we think she hasn’t looked great as of late, and is going to be touched out by someone. Who that someone is, we’re not sure….our best guess at this point is Olivia Smoliga. With awesome front end speed in Free and Back, she may be able to make a run at the 59 low threshold tomorrow night, earning her slot to Rio…regardless of who wins though, it could end up being the race of the night.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
1-Ryan Murphy
2-Matt Grevers
Right now, the US has 3 guys under 53.0 in this event, being Murphy, Grevers, and Plummer…unfortunately, only 2 will make the games. Its hard to bet against Ryan Murphy after how fast he has swum since last summer in both yards and meters, and Grevers, who is the defending Olympic champion.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
1-Lilly King
2-Katie Meili
Both of these women have been under the 1:06 mark, which puts them ahead of the rest of the field with exception of Jessica Hardy…we really like Lilly King’s tempo and recent progress in the stroke (in both yards and meters) over the last year, and think Meili will be able to slip into the 2 spot with her recent success in meters over the past year as well…should be another exciting race.