San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Ledecky grabs her second gold medal at S.A. event
Four Olympic swimmers, headlined by seven-time gold medalist Katie Ledecky, won their events at the TYR Pro Swim Series San Antonio meet Friday night at the Northside Swim Center.
Ledecky clocked a 4:03.84 in the 400-meter freestyle, beating Leah Smith (4:05.43) and fellow U.S. Olympic teammate Hali Flickinger (4:10.38). It was the second event Ledecky has won at the meet after capturing the 200 freestyle Thursday.
Ledecky was one of 300 swimmers competing at the event, which started Wednesday and wraps up with the finals at 6 p.m. Saturday. Among the competitors are 21 members of last year’s U.S. Olympic swim team, including Ledecky, Flickinger, Claire Curzan, Caeleb Dressel and Michael Andrew, as well as a field of college swimmers.
San Antonio is the second of three sites for the 2022 TYR Pro Swim Series and is a qualifying meet for April’s Phillips 66 International
Team Trials, a selection meet in qualifying U.S. teams for the 2022 FINA World Championships
in Budapest, Hungary, and the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Hawaii.
Ledecky, the world record holder in the 400 freestyle, said she enjoyed competing in the San Antonio meet because it had a bigger field of competitors than the TYR Pro Series meet in Chicago a few weeks ago.
“It’s really a great field here,” Ledecky said. “It’s fun to have a bigger crew here and fun to have a lot of fans in the stands as well.”
While Ledecky said she felt she ran an “OK” race, she said has accomplished a lot while competing in San Antonio.
“I learn from every single race, every single meet, and I think that’s a good accomplishment,” Ledecky said. “It’s something I can take to back to training; just happy with learning as much as I am.”
Curzan, a member of the 400 medley relay that took silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, won the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. In the 50 freestyle, Curzan had to fight off a strong challenge from Erika Brown, beating her by 0.38 hundredths of a second to win the event in 24.43 to Brown’s 24.81.
Curzan said being able to compete against college swimmers in her events helped her perform better.
“I think (the college swimmers) really elevated the competition,” Curzan said. “I definitely like where I am right now. I’m definitely in the middle of a training grind. I think I’m kind of surprised (at) how I’m doing. I’m excited for the future and I think it will be good.”
Flickinger won the finals of 200 butterfly in 2:08.47.
In the men’s division, the 50 freestyle was a race to the wire between 2020 Olympic gold medalists Andrew and Dressel. Andrew won by a length, touching the wall in 21.73, while Dressel, the American record holder in the event, finished in 21.83.
Several U.S. national team members from Texas are competing in the meet, including Shaine Casas of McAllen, who won the 100 backstroke in 53.54, edging Coleman Stewart (54.53).
Casas, a member of UT swim team, is a three-time NCAA champion.