2025 Pro Swim Series — Fort Lauderdale: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap ...Middle East

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

2025 Pro Swim Series – Fort Lauderdale

Day 3 Prelims Heat Sheet

We’ve been spoiled through the first two days of the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series. The stars have been out, from Katie Ledecky swimming the two fastest times of her career in the 400/1500 meter freestyle (breaking the U.S. Open record in the former) and Kylie Masse swimming a Pro Swim Series record in the 50 backstroke.

Now, it’s time to see what Day 3 has in store.

This morning, we’ll see heats for the 200 freestyle, 50 breaststroke, 50 butterfly, 200 backstroke, and 400 IM.

Fresh off her sensational swim in the 400 freestyle last night, Ledecky will take on the 200 freestyle. Her distance form is clearly on point and now we’ll see what she’s got in the tank at the shorter end of her freestyle range. She’ll swim in the penultimate heat of the event next to Alex Shackell, setting up for a potential showdown with Claire Weinstein (who posted a 400 free lifetime best yesterday), Bella Sims, Erin Gemmell, and Simone Manuel.

Masse will stick with the sprints as well, opting for the 50 butterfly over the 200 backstroke, the event she won Olympic bronze in last summer. That event will also feature American record holder Gretchen Walsh, who has confidently entered long-course season with the first sub-53 second 100 freestyle of her career last night. Walsh and Douglass will go head-to-head in the final heat of the morning, while Masse will race 100 butterfly Olympic champion Torri Huske and Beata Nelson.

On the men’s side, Shaine Casas aims to set himself up to keep his undefeated run at the 2025 Pro Swim Series. He’s eight-for-eight so far, winning six events in Westmont and pulling off a double last night. He’s got another double on tap today, as he’s entered in the 200 freestyle and 50 butterfly.

Casas will face strong competition in the 200 freestyle, namely Luke Hobson and Chris Guiliano. A fourth Longhorn, Leon Marchand, is a factor in this race as well, continuing to take on some non-primary events in his return to competition. Marchand is also entered in his bread-and-butter 400 IM to close out this session.

Though both 400 IM world record holders, Marchand and Summer McIntosh, are in Fort Lauderdale, only one is entered in the event. Rather than take on the 200 freestyle or 400 IM, McIntosh entered the 200 backstroke, one of the untraditional events on her schedule this weekend.

Women’s 200 Freestyle — Prelims

Top 8: 

Entered with a yards time, Claire Curzan won heat three of 10, swimming a 2:02.68 to take over the top time of the morning through the early heats. She was out in a 58.68, establishing a strong lead over the field. They came within .67 seconds of her on the third 50, but Curzan dug in over the final 50 meters to lengthen the lead again. She owns a lifetime best 2:00.36 from May 2022 in this race.

400-yard IM NCAA champion Caroline Bricker overwrote that time in heat five, smashing her lifetime best with a 2:01.58. We’ve seen Bricker continually rewrite her lifetime bests in yards this season, particularly in the IMs and 200s. She translated the yards lifetime best of 1:41.73 she swam at NCAAs this season to a 2.63-second best here in Ft. Lauderdale, improving from the 2:04.21 she swam in 2021.

We saw our first sub-2:00 swims in heat eight, the first circle-seeded heat. After a fast start from Torri Huske, Isabel Ivey took the lead on the back half of the race and held on to win in 1:58.92. Simone Manuel had an excellent final 50, splitting 29.95 to move from the middle of the pack into second in the heat with a 1:59.25. Rylee Erisman (1:59.31) and Huske (1:59.93) were the other two to crack 2:00 in the heat.

Katie Ledecky made a statement in the penultimate heat. She swam 1:56.44 (56.63/59.91) as she pulled away from her heat on the back half of the race. Her time held up through the final heat as the fastest of the morning, and she’ll swim out of lane four as she looks for her third win of the meet. It also makes her the fourth-fastest swimmer in the world this season, slotting between Stefanie Balduccini (1:56.43) and Mary-Sophie Harvey (1:56.46) with finals still to come.

The battle between Olympians Erin Gemmell and Claire Weinstein resulted in the second and third fastest times of the morning. Gemmell just got the better of Weinstein, 1:58.15 to 1:58.29. The Sandpiper will be one to watch in the final, as she ripped a personal best 4:01 for third in last night’s 400 freestyle.

Alex Shackell’s 1:58.62 for second in heat nine slotted in fourth overall. The tight finish between Manuel, Erisman, and Huske ended up being significant as Manuel and Erisman grabbed the outside lanes for tonight’s championship final, leaving Huske as the top seed for the ‘B’.

Men’s 200 Freestyle — Prelims

Top 8: 

Sun Devil pro Jack Dolan swam a 1:53.14 in heat two (notably splitting the same as Ledecky over the second 100). That time stood as the fastest of the morning until heat five, when Florida freshman Devin Dilger clocked a personal best 1:52.92 to take over the leaderboard at the event’s halfway point. The top four men in the heat were all under Dolan’s time.

Canadian teenager Francis Brennan led a quartet of swimmers that overtook Dilger’s time in the next heat. Brennan took the win in 1:50.52, beating his entry time by 1.75 seconds. It was the first sub-1:51 swim of the session, with Virginia Tech’s Tanish George Mathew touching second in the heat over a second behind in 1:51.76.

Georgia’s Tomas Koski was lights out in the first circle-seeded heat. He accelerated away from the field early and posted a 1:46.43, tying his lifetime best and Finnish record. Koski is coming off another successful season with the Bulldogs where he continued to make strides on the national stage in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle.

He won his heat by over two seconds as Kieran Smith, last night’s 400 freestyle winner, clocked 1:48.46 to join Koski as the first swimmers under 1:50 this morning. That time held up as the fastest of the morning and the only one under 1:47 seconds. After Jack Dahlgren won the penultimate heat in 1:47.81, there was a battle in the final heat between Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, Tomas Navikonis, and Leon Marchand.

Hobson had the lead at the 100-meter mark, but Ohio State’s Tomas Navikonis pushed on the third 50, splitting 27.13 to move into the lead, with Hobson and Foster tied for second .14 seconds back. Navikonis extended his lead slightly down the stretch, taking the win in 1:47.50, just eight-hundredths off his personal best.

Navikonis qualified second overall, while Foster qualified fourth, .37 seconds back with a 1:47.87. Hobson was third in the heat with a 1:47.94, while Marchand’s 1:48.05 for fourth just snuck back for the championship final in eighth. Other ‘A’ final qualifiers include Olympian Aaron Shackell and Princeton’s Mitchell Schott, who had an excellent yards season and hit a lifetime best 1:48.02 to qualify for the final.

This is the end of Shaine Casas’ undefeated streak at the 2025 TYR Pro Series as he missed out on the ‘A’ final with a 1:48.62 prelims time. Championship final qualification was tough as other big names to miss out include Smith and Chris Guiliano.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke — Prelims

Top 8: 

Missouri’s Zara Zallen led the women’s 50 breaststroke prelims headed into the circle-seeded heats with a 32.18. That time was quickly overtaken in heat five, as Canada’s Shona Branton clocked a 31.27 to win. She touched ahead of a trio of teenagers including Louisville’s Caroline Larsen (31.40), Texas’ Piper Enge (31.51), and Spain’s Jimena Ruiz (31.65).

Virginia teammates Emma Weber and Alex Walsh faced off in the next heat. Weber, last night’s 100 breast winner, got the better of Walsh by a tenth, swimming a lifetime best 30.87. Walsh took second in the heat with a 30.97, a lifetime best of her own.

American record holder Lilly King went to work in the final heat. She clocked a 30.70, beating Weber’s effort by .17 seconds to secure lane four for tonight’s championship final. Weber will swim next to her in lane five, while UNC’s Skyler Smith will be on the other side. Smith hit the wall second in the last heat and was the fourth woman of the morning to break 31 seconds (30.95).

There’s a gap between the top four and the rest of the championship final qualifiers as after Walsh, it’s Branton and Lucy Thomas tied for fifth in 31.27. Branton is joined by fellow Canadian Sophie Angus (31.29) in the final.

Men’s 50 Breaststroke — Prelims

Top 8: 

Two men broke 29 seconds ahead of the circle-seeded heats, led by Nicholas Stefanidis win from heat three in 28.75. Victor Gil was second in that heat with a 28.97.

The top times were quickly erased in heat six, as Pavel Romanov hit a 27.46 to win. He was over a second faster than Stefanidis’ former-leading time, but did not win his heat by that margin. Denis Petrashov, last night’s men’s 100 breaststroke winner with a personal best, clocked 27.63 to touch second in the heat.

Sun Devil pros Michael Andrew and Mikel Schreuders took over as the top two swimmers of the morning in the last heat. Andrew won in a season-best 27.02 that’s less than two-tenths from his Pro Swim Series record. Schreuders followed in 27.38, qualifying second overall for the final.

Romanov’s time from the first circle-seeded heat held up for the third-fastest qualifying time, while heat seven winner, Aleksas Savickas, qualified fourth overall in 27.52.

After winnig bronze in the 100 breaststroke last night, 18-year-old Campbell McKean will be back for more championship final action. He dropped over a second from his lifetime best to qualify fifth for the 50 breaststroke final in 27.53. He’s sitting just ahead of Evgenii Somov (27.62) and Petrashov (27.63).

Women’s 50 Butterfly — Prelims

Top 8: 

Gretchen Walsh didn’t skip a beat as she turned her attention from the 100 freestyle to the 50 butterfly. Yesterday, Walsh broke 53-seconds in the 100 free for the first time in her career. This morning, she’s taken out the six-year-old Pro Swim Series record in the 50 butterfly, swum by Farida Osman.

Walsh is the American record holder in this event, a standard she scared this morning with a blistering 25.15. She shattered Osman’s Pro Swim Series record of 25.65 and will get another crack at her American and U.S. Open records tonight. Last summer, Walsh was out incredibly fast on the way to her world record in the 100 butterfly, but this is the first time we’ve gotten to see her race the long-course 50 butterfly since 2023. In December, she broke the super-suited SCM 50 fly world record, becoming the first woman sub-24 seconds (23.94).

Her Virginia teammate Kate Douglass was nearly under the former Pro Swim Series record herself, posting a 25.71 to qualify second for this evening’s championship final. The swim ties the lifetime best she posted at the Westmont Pro Swim.

The pro Cavaliers were the only two women to break 26 seconds this morning, as Regan Smith qualified third with a 26.04, trying her hand at the butterfly sprint. It was a lifetime best for Smith, undercutting the 26.68 she swam on the first 50 meters of her 100 butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Smith won heat eight ahead of 16-year-old Mena Boardman (26.56) and 18-year-old Larsen, who just qualified for the championship final of the women’s 50 breaststroke last event. Boardman qualified sixth for the final; she’s the second teenager in the championship final, joining 17-year-old Charlotte Crush. Crush swam a 26.38 to move through in fourth ahead of Beata Nelson’s heat 10-winning 26.45.

It’s been a tough morning for Huske, who has now logged two ninth-place finishes. She was ninth in the 200 freestyle and her 26.73 in the 50 butterfly kept her out of the championship final by .12 seconds.

Men’s 50 Butterfly — Prelims

Top 8: 

Olympian Hunter Armstrong tried his hand at the 50 butterfly in Fort Lauderdale. Known best for his backstroke and freestyle skill in the long-course pool, Armstrong swam out of heat 1. He posted a 24.20 that stood as the fastest time until heat seven. Armstrong has been as fast as 23.84 in this event, which he swam at the Misson Viejo Pro Swim two years ago. Then, Jack Dolan clocked a 24.12 on the back half of his 200 free/50 butterfly double, overtaking Armstrong’s time as the fastest of the morning.

Chris Guiliano threatened the 24-second barrier in heat 10 on the back half of that same double. He missed getting under that barrier, but 24.05 is a huge personal best for him. His former official best time stood at 25.41 from March 2021.

Guiliano’s time squeaked into the championship final in eighth as the sub-24 second swims started coming fast and furious over the next few heats. Casas destroyed the barrier in the very next heat. His undefeated streak was ended earlier this session as he missed the 200 free championship final (as did Guiliano), but he struck back here with a resounding 23.45.

Dylan Carter bettered Casas’ mark with a 23.30 to win the penultimate heat, edging out Ilya Kharun by two-hundredths. The two swimmers ended up as the fastest of the morning, with Carter improving his season-best from the Bergen Open by a hundredth. He remains the 16th fastest in the world this season. The battle between Andrew and Caeleb Dressel in the final heat ended with Andrew touching first in 23.45, tying Casas’ time for third-fastest overall.

After skipping the 100 freestyle yesterday, Dressel got his meet underway with a 23.58. He qualified easily for tonight’s championship final with that time, moving through fifth overall. The sixth swimmer to break 24 seconds this morning was Kamal Muhammad, who recently announced his transfer from Virginia to Tennessee for the upcoming NCAA season.

After demolishing his 50 backstroke personal best yesterday, Quintin McCarty did the same in the 50 butterfly. He popped a 24.03, breaking the 24.49 best he brought into the meet and joined Guiliano in approaching the 24-second mark for the first time in his career.

Women’s 200 Backstroke — Prelims

Top 8: 

Virginia’s Charlotte Wilson led for all of heat four, taking the win in a 2:17.38 that rattled her lifetime best of 2:16.17 from June 2023. It was a close call at the touch for the win though, as Ella Cosgrove dug in over the back half of the race. She clocked 1:09.08 on the second 100 meters and a 34.69, nearly overtaking Wilson. She touched in 2:16.39, a hundredth behind Wilson, beating her entry time by three-hundredths.

It was another Virginia swimmer, Curzan, who took the win in heat five. Curzan, the American record holder in the 200-yard backstroke, moved into the lead at the 100-meter mark. She held off Erika Pelaez‘s charge down the stretch for the win in 2:11.19. Pelaez, who just wrapped her freshman year at NC State, came .22 seconds from her lifetime best with a 2:11.89.

Rhyan White won the penultimate heat in 2:11.82. The heat had three DNS athletes in it, including Bella Sims, who placed 13th in the 200 freestyle earlier this session.

The final heat was crowded with talent, including Smith, Summer McIntosh, Audrey Derivaux, and Crush. Crush led at the 100-meter mark in 1:02.15, though Smith took the lead at the final turn by four-hundredths, with McIntosh close behind.

The trio headed down the stretch together, and Smith maintained her lead at the finish. She stopped the clock in 2:08.65 for the fastest time of the morning, just off the season-best 2:08.33 from the Westmont Pro Swim. McIntosh moved past Crush for second in the heat and overall, clocking a 2:08.91 as she gears up for the final. Crush rounded out the top three qualifiers with a 2:09.76.

The top four qualifiers all came from the final heat, with 15-year-old Derivaux swimming a 2:11.01. She’s been as fast as 2:06.88 this season, which makes her fourth-fastest in the world and top American swimmer this season.

Men’s 200 Backstroke — Prelims

Top 8: 

Carson Foster pushed the back half of his race to win heat three of the men’s 200 backstroke. He split 30.97/30.65 on the second 100-meters to pull ahead of the heat’s early leader Jack Harvey and take the heat win in 2:00.17, with Gavin Keogh second in 2:00.46.

Puerto Rico’s Yeziel Morales held off a push from Canada’s Aiden Norman to win heat four. He clocked a 2:01.58 to take the win, holding off Norman, a Florida freshman who won double backstroke gold at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, by two-hundredths.

The final heat belonged to reigning Olympic champion Hubert Kos. He easily separated himself from the field in the final heat, leading by 2.74 seconds at the final turn. Kos descended his final three 50s, splitting 30.47/30.33/30.27 over the final 150-meters to get his hand on the wall in 1:58.54. It’s the fastest time of the morning by a wide margin and the only one under 2:00, as his Texas training partner, Foster, locked up lane five with his 2:00.17.

Women’s 400 IM — Prelims

Top 8: 

Sun Devil Deniz Ertan dominated heat three, clocking 4:52.25 to win by over six seconds. That time stood up through the non-circle-seeded heats, even as a close race between Sydney Hardy and Brinkleigh Hansen was decided by a hundredth.

Emma Weyant took over the lead from Ellen Walshe on the breaststroke leg of heat six. The two were about four seconds up on Kayla Han. Weyant cruised to the heat in in 4:40.43, taking over the top time from Ertan by just under 12 seconds. Walshe touched second in the heat with a 4:42.10. Further back, Eleanor Sun tried to move ahead of Han on the freestyle leg. She fell short as Han took third in 4:45.11, but 4:45.59 marks a lifetime best for Sun by over two seconds.

The next heat saw another race between Virginia training partners, this time Katie Grimes and Leah Hayes. Grimes was in control of the first half of their 400 IM heat, but Hayes made the pass on the breaststroke leg with a 1:19.50 split to Grimes’ 1:24.74.

She was 1.39 seconds ahead of Grimes as she turned for freestyle and continued to outsplit Grimes over the freestyle, clocking a 4:40.70 for the second-fastest qualifying time. Grimes touched in 4:43.50, qualifying fourth overall.

Caroline Bricker and Helena Rosendahl Bach also qualified for the championship final from the final heat. Bricker swam her second personal best of the day with a 4:46.21, taking about two-tenths off her 400 IM best. Bach is best known on the international stage for her 200 fly abilities, by easily qualified for the championship final here in 4:46.82.

Men’s 400 IM — Prelims

Top 8: 

Kevin Vargas won his heat of the men’s 400 IM in 4:24.17, which looks to be his first time swimming the event officially since his national title winning time of 4:11.45 at the 2022 U.S. National Championships. He continued to lead through the next heat, as Texas commit Campbell McKean dominated with his second lifetime best of the day, swimming a 4:29.97 to break 4:30 for the first time.

There was a tie in heat four at 4:28.31 between Jacob Turner and Wilson York, as Vargas’ time continued to reign.

Bobby Finke shot to the top of the leaderboard in heat five, stomping to a heat win by nearly three seconds. Grant Sanders pulled within 2.5 seconds of Finke after the breaststroke leg, by Finke widened the gap with a 1:01.13 freestyle split. Finke’s 4:20.34 is a season-best for him, getting under his finals time from the Southern Zone South Sectional Championships by six-hundredths.

Finke’s time remained the fastest of the morning as world record holder Leon Marchand won the final heat in 4:21.04. This was his second swim of the day, as he qualified for the 200 freestyle championship final at the start of the session.

Interestingly, though Marchand had a sizable lead after the backstroke leg, Tommy Bried ate into his lead on the breaststroke leg, which is where Marchand historically breaks the race open. Marchand split 1:14.70 on breaststroke, while Bried clocked 1:11.66.

Bried outsplit Marchand on freestyle as well, 1:02.69 to 1:02.85. Marchand did enough to touch .48 seconds ahead of Bried, clocking a 4:21.04 for second overall. Bried’s 4:21.52 qualified third overall.

Three teenagers, Anthony Dornoff (4:23.99), Noah Cakir (4:24.11), and Luke Ellis (4:24.14) all made it back to the championship final as the fifth, sixth, and seventh seeds, while Vargas’ time held up for eighth overall.

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