Trenton Julian Blasts 1:54.71 200 Fly at Speedo Summer Championships
In the Olympic Trials final of the men’s 200 butterfly, Trenton Julian led throughout but faded to eighth on the last length. Now, Julian has recorded a time that would have qualified him for the American Olympic team at the Speedo Summer Championships, held not far from his Mission Viejo, Calif., training base in Irvine.
Julian recorded a mark of 1:54.71 in the 200 fly, which ranks 11th in the world and third among Americans behind Thomas Heilman and Luca Urlando, but the mark is quicker than Urlando swam in finishing second in the Trials final. Jack Dahlgren, who finished sixth at Trials, also swam a faster time here as he came in at 1:55.79 while Kentucky’s Ryan Merani took third (1:58.21).
Julian split this race far differently than he did in Indianapolis, going out in 54.52 at the halfway point and clocking 1:23.98 with one lap remaining. He faded on the way home but still managed a mark of 30.73. At Trials, Julian clocked 1:23.12 through three laps before splitting a painful 33.95 over the final 50 meters.
Jillian Cox, a finalist in the women’s 800 freestyle at last year’s World Championships who took third in her best event at Trials, won the event here in 8:26.43, followed by Rachel Stege (8:30.96) and Kate Hurst (8:34.17). Another veteran of international competition, Ohio State’s Charlie Clark, pulled away to win the men’s 1500 free in 15:09.44. Shawmut’s William Mulgrew (15:12.63) and Kentucky’s Carson Hick (15:14.07) tok second and third, respectively.
In the women’s 100 breaststroke, the top time of the day belonged to Gabrielle Rose, the 46-year-old who was an Olympian in 1996 and 2000 and a surprise semifinalist at Olympic Trials. Rose clocked 1:08.66 in prelims before scratching the final. In the evening, SwimMAC Carolina’s Elle Scott won a tight race in 1:08.73, with Trojan’s Isabelle Odgers (1:08.83) and Kentucky’s Bridget Engel (1:08.87) just behind.
Michigan’s Hannah Bellard won the women’s 200 fly in 2:09.98, beating out Indiana’s Katie Forrester (2:12.19) and Fishers Area’s Emily Wolf (2:13.71). Aquajets’ Charlie Egeland finished first in the men’s 100 breast in 1:01.10, with Iowa Flyers’ Joe Polyak (1:01.58) and Streamline’s Oleksandr Karpenko (1:01.78) finishing second and third, respectively.
The University of Michigan’s Casey Chung, Claire Newman, Brady Kendall and Lindsay Flynn won the women’s 200 medley relay in 1:51.06 while the Indiana Swim Club’s Owen McDonald, Harry Herrera, Finn Brooks and Dylan Smiley clocked 1:38.65 to take first place in the men’s.
Most American swimmers aimed to peak at last month’s U.S. Olympic Trials, and 46 of them qualified to represent the Stars and Stripes at the Paris Olympics. For those who did not qualify, USA Swimming is offering this summer championship meet that takes the place of a usual late-July/early-August Nationals and Junior Nationals. The meet runs through Saturday, July 27.
