U.S. Short Course World Trials, Day 4 Men’s Finals: Final Butterfly Showdown on Tap
Men’s butterfly has gotten a shakeup at the Short Course Worlds Trials this week in Westmont.
Tyler Ray and Ilya Kharun set U.S. Open records in the 100 fly, the latter getting the win. Luca Urlando downed the mark in the 200 fly, in the process erasing a six-year-old American standard by Tom Shields that Urlando, Kharun and Ray were all under. That doesn’t even include the name Caeleb Dressel quite yet.
The 50 got a facelift Saturday, Kharun going 21.61 in prelims to beat his U.S. Open record and lop .38 off Shields’ 2021 mark.
It set up a fine finale Saturday night in the finale of the FMC Natatorium.
All the action on the final night of the U.S.’s selection meet:
200 breaststroke
Josh Bey claimed the first race of the night and his spot in Beijing in dramatic fashion, going 2:02.23 to edge his Indiana University training mate Noah Cakir by .01 seconds.
That means there’s no room on the squad in the event for 2024 World Short Course Championships finalist AJ Pouch. He was third in 2:03.91. It was more than four seconds back to Chris O’Grady in fourth.
200 individual medley
Maximus Williamson held off Destin Lasco and nearly peeled off an American record in the 200 IM, winning in 1:49.70. He was ultimately nearly a second ahead of Lasco’s 1:50.59. Closer was the American record of Shaine Casas of 1:49.43 from last year.
Third was Grant House in 1:53.58. It was a gap of nearly five seconds back to JT Ewing in fourth.
50 butterfly
100 backstroke
200 freestyle
