Dressel and Dwyer Earn Spots in FINA World Championships

Dressel and Dwyer Earn Spots in FINA World Championships

Wednesday, June 28, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Dressel Takes First in 50m Fly and 6th in 200m Free; Dwyer Places 4th in 200m Free

By: Katie Callahan

Indianapolis, Ind. – Six Gators earned their way into the evening session on Day 2 of the Phillips 66 National Championships, each vying to earn their spot in the FINA World Championships in July.

Soon-to-be senior Dressel led the way for Florida, qualifying for the World Championships twice. Dressel reached the A Final of the 50m Butterfly after finishing second in the field overall with a time of 23.33 and earned his place on the US National team after finishing first and setting a new Championship Meet record of 23.05.

Alum Conor Dwyer and Caeleb Dressel earned their spots on the 4x200m Freestyle Relay team at the FINA World Championships after taking fourth and sixth place, respectively in the 200m Free A Final. Dwyer finished with a time of 1:47.25 and Dressel posted a 1:47.51.

Dressel found himself in third place overall after posting a time of 1:47.45 in the prelims of the 200m Freestyle. Close behind was former teammate Mitch D'Arrigo, who finished the preliminary round with a time of 1:47.52, earning him a spot in the A Final. In the final, D'Arrigo finished eighth with a time of 1:47.79.

Dwyer earned his spot in the 200m Freestyle A Final after finishing eighth overall with a time of 1:48.10.

Maxime Rooney finished the prelims tied for tenth overall with a mark of 1:48.36, placing him in the 200m Free B Final. He put on quite a show in the final, defeating the rest of the field by a body length to post a 1:47.47.

Brennan Balogh earned the top seed of the B Final in the 200m Backstroke after finishing the preliminary round with a time of 2:00.78. He finished seventh in the B Final after posting a time of 2:01.10.

Rounding out the men's competitors were Chandler Bray and Ross Palazzo, who each made the B Final of the 200m Breaststroke after swimming a 2:12.98 and 2:13.78 in the prelim round, respectively. Bray charged at the end of the B Final race to take third with a time of 2:12.97 and Palazzo was close behind in fifth with a mark of 2:14.20.

Grant Sanders, Ben Lawless, Grady Heath, Alex Lebed and Tyler Silver were the other Gators that competed for the men's squad on Day 2.

On the women's side, six Gators competed in the preliminary round of races. Soon-to-be Gator, Taylor Ault, was the only one to make it to the evening session, earning a place in the 200m Freestyle C Final after finishing with a time of 2:02.26. Ault finished fourth in the C Final, improving upon her earlier time by posting a 2:01.21.

The other competitors from the women's teams were Sherridon Dressel, Kelsey Dambacher, Savanna Faulconer, Rachel Ramey and Sydney Sell.

Tomorrow's races will begin at 9 a.m. with the women's 400 IM. Watch live at usaswimming.org.

Finals Times:
Women's 200m Freestyle – C Final
Taylor Ault – 2:01.21 (4^th place, 20^th overall)
Men's 200m Freestyle – A Final
                Conor Dwyer – 1:47.21 (4^th place)
                Caeleb Dressel – 1:47.51 (6^th place)
                Mitch D'Arrigo – 1:47.79 (8^th place)
Men's 200m Freestyle – B Final
                Maxime Rooney – (1^st place, 9^th overall)

Men's 200m Breaststroke – B Final
Chandler Bray – 2:12.97 (3^rd place, 11^th overall)
Ross Palazzo – 2:14.20 (5^th place, 13^th overall)
Men's 200m Backstroke – B Final
Brennan Balogh – 2:01.10 (7^th place, 15^th overall)
Men's 50m Butterfly – A Final
                Caeleb Dressel – 23.05 (1^st place)

*Bold indicates qualification for FINA World Championships

Preliminary Times:

Women's 200m Freestyle
                Taylor Ault – 2:02.16
                Kelsey Dambacher – 2:04.08
                Sherridon Dressel – 2:04.72
Men's 200m Free
                Caeleb Dressel – 1:47.45
                Mitch D'Arrigo – 1:47.52
                Conor Dwyer – 1:48.10
                Maxime Rooney – 1:48.36
                Grant Sanders – 1:50.93
                Ben Lawless – 1:52.21
                Grady Heath – 1:54.76

Women's 200 Breaststroke
                Rachel Ramey – 2:33.08
                Savanna Faulconer – 2:34.60
Men's 200 Breaststroke
                Chandler Bray – 2:12.98
                Ross Palazzo – 2:13.78
                Alex Lebed – 2:19.21
Women's 200 Backstroke
                Sydney Sell – 2:17.72
Men's 200 Backstroke
                Brennan Balogh – 2:00.78
                Grant Sanders – 2:06.05
                Tyler Silver – 2:07.27
Men's 50m Butterfly
                Caeleb Dressel – 23.33

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