The Americans are second after day one of the 2015 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series, an open air meet in Perth, Australia.
PERTH, Australia, Jan. 30 – The United States had a pair of first place finishes on the opening night of the 2015 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series, a dual meet competition. Host Australia leads with 318 points with the Americans second with 284. China (270) is third with Japan fourth with 368 points.
Maya DiRado (Santa Rosa, Calif.) won the women’s 200 individual medley while the American men’s 200 medley relay team also took third.
Avon’s Madison Kennedy is one of two captains on the U.S. women’s team. She finished third in the women’s 50 meter freestyle in 25.03 seconds and swam on the American women’s 4×50 freestyle relay with Margo Geer (Milford Center, Ohio), Felecia Lee (Wayne, N.J.) and Katie Meili (Colleyville, Texas) that finished second in 1:40.02.
Kennedy finished behind the Australian pair of Cate and Bronte Campbell in the 50 freestyle. Cate won gold in the recent Commonwealth Games and Bronte took a silver. Cate finished first in 24.03, just 0.07 off her Australian record time of 23.96. Bronte was second in 24.24.
“That was quick!” Cate Campbell said. “I knew that I would have to be really quick to beat Bronte. She’s been swimming amazingly well and for her that is right on her personal best so to be doing those times off the kind of training she has been doing is really encouraging and obviously I am within a tenth of my best so I am really, really thrilled.
In the 4×50 relay, Australia (Brittany Elmslie, Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell) won the race in 1:37.68 seconds with all four athletes swimming their legs in less than 25 seconds. The Americans were a distant second in 1:40.02 with China third in 1:42.33.
The swim meet, which is being held in an outdoor pool, concludes this evening. Australia is looking for its third straight BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series championship. The event concludes with an open water 10-kilometer race on Sunday. This is the first appearance for the American team in the event.
For the Americans, Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Cody Miller (Las Vegas, Nev.), Tim Phillips (Vienna, W. Va.) and Josh Schneider (Cincinnati, Ohio) won the men’s 200 medley with a time of 1:38.69.
“We got off to a slow start, but to end the session with a win sets the tone for (Saturday),” said Phillips. “It was a great race from start to finish, and for Schneider to hold off Australia’s (Cameron) McEvoy was pretty impressive. Hopefully we can build on this momentum tomorrow.”
Friday’s second-place finishers included Micah Lawrence (Pflugerville, Texas) in 100 meter breaststroke (1:07.48), Miller in the 200 meter breaststroke (2:11.35) and Becca Mann (Homer Glen, Ill.) in the 800 meter free (8:24.13).