Chase Kalisz Earns Second And Third Wins At Mesa Pro Swim Series

Chase Kalisz, who won the 400-meter individual medley on Thursday, won two more races Friday on the second day of the TYR Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Arizona.

He won the 200 butterfly and the 200 IM on Friday at the Skyline Aquatic Center. His time of 1 minute, 57.68 seconds in the 200 IM was the fifth-fastest in the world this year. Josh Prenot finished second in 2:00.57, nearly four seconds ahead of third-place finisher Daniel Sos.

After defeating Olympic teammate Prenot for the second time this week, even Kalisz was impressed.

“That was my best swim in the meet so far,” Kalisz, the reigning Olympic silver medalist in the 400 IM, told the Olympic Channel.

Also having a big day Friday was two-time Olympic medalist Leah Smith. Competing in three finals, she won the women’s 800 freestyle to begin the final session, then finished sixth in the 200 butterfly and second in the 200 IM. She had the fastest freestyle segment in the IM.

Melanie Margalis, who won a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, won the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.90.

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While some of the United States’ rising stars dominated races Friday, Nathan Adrian and Matt Grevers, who have a combined 14 Olympic medals,  splashed to some impressive finishes as well. Adrian won the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 48.84 seconds and Grevers finished runner-up to Ryan Murphy in the 100 backstroke. Both men won those events at the 2012 Olympics.

“It’s an important year to be on,” said Adrian, who is aiming for his fourth Olympic team in 2020. “It’s an important year to be on the (world) squad.”

Murphy, who won three gold medals in Rio, won the 100 backstroke in a time of 53.98 seconds and finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

Other U.S. winners Friday included Zane Grothe in the men’s 800 freestyle, Michael Andrew in the men’s 100 breaststroke, Mallory Comerford in the women’s 100 free, and 2016 Olympians Olivia Smoliga in the women’s 100 backstroke, Hali Flickinger in the women’s 200 fly and Molly Hannis in the women’s 100 breaststroke.

The Mesa meet continues Saturday and Sunday.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is sports editor of the Cape Cod Times and a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.