2026 Pro Swim Series – Sacramento: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap ...Middle East

By Mark Wild on SwimSwam

2026 Sacramento Pro Swim Series

Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

Good morning to those of us on the eastern seaboard of the United States, and an earlier good morning to those of you out west. The 2nd day of the 2026 Sacramento Pro Swim Series meet is about to get underway, as some of the best swimmers, foreign and domestic, descend upon California’s capital for what is going to be a beautiful morning of some fast racing.

Things kick off with the 100 butterfly, where Torri Huske will look to put up yet another strong performance after having won the 200 IM last night. It won’t be a cake walk as she will be going up against the likes of France’s Marie Wattel and Canada’s Taylor Ruck, as well as her Stanford training partner Caroline Bricker. On the men’s side, top seed Aiden Hayes is in a similar situation as he has to fend off Canada’s Finlay Knox and Dutch star Sean Niewold, not to mention the likes of Michael Andrew and fellow Wolfpack swimmer Daniel Diehl, who won the 100 backstroke last night.

The pair is set to clash again in the 50 backstroke, a few events later, with the pair of NC State products occupying the top two seeds. The women’s 50 backstroke, too, has an NC State swimmer listed atop the field as 2025 World Champion Katharine Berkoff, who enters as the top seed. Winner of the 100 back last night, Berkoff will be up against some familiar foes as she looks to fend off Mary-Ambre Moluh and Rhyan White. Before the backstroke, however, the 200 breaststroke takes to the water, with Katie Christopherson and AJ Pouch as the top seeds.

The morning ends with one of the more grueling races on the schedule as the 400 IM closes out the session. Alto Swim Club’s Caroline Bricker returns to the pool as the top seed and will look to retain her top seeding against the Cal pair of Kathryn Hazle and Alexa McDevitt, as well as against 14-year-old Lauren Lonsdale. On the men’s side, 16-year-old Syunta Lee finds himself as the top seed squaring off against 28-year-old Grant Sanders for the middle lanes tonight.

Women’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

With an empty lane to one side as Liberty Clark no-showed the 100 fly, Michigan’s Bella Sims, who is back training with her club team (Sandpipers of Nevada), won the 3rd heat of the 100 fly, hitting the wall in 59.90. Entered with a yards time, Sims took the race out in 27.95, before coming home exactly four seconds slower, closing in 31.95.

Her time would not last long atop the leaderboard as the circle-seeded heats immediately followed Sims’ heat, and Canada’s Taylor Ruck, on-upped Sims time by a full second, recording the first sub-59 time. Ruck, a multiple-time Olympic medalist, was out a little faster than Sims, opening in 27.30, but also closed faster, coming home in 31.60 to stop the clock exactly one second ahead of Sims, at 58.90. Behind Ruck, by a bit of a margin were Cal’s Ava Chavez with her 1:00.29, an add of .31 on her seed, and Caroline Larsen of Louisville, who touched at 1:01.15, well off her seed of 58.73.

Ruck remained atop the leaderboard, holding off the top seeds, Marie Wattel and Torrie Huske, as the pair of Olympians touched in 59.17 and 59.34, respectively, in their heats. Huske was pushed the whole way in her heat by her training partner Caroline Bricker, with Bricker closing .39 faster to come within .04 of Huske. Wattel was the quickest to the 50 wall in the field, opening in 27.03, but was also one of the slowest among the top 8 on the last 50 (32.14), but likely pulled back to conserve some strength for tonight.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

Last night’s winner in the 200 free, Henry McFadden, showed off his butterfly prowess as he posted the top time through the start of the circle seeded heats, as he hit the wall in 54.67. Out in 25.58 and back in 29.09, the Stanford Cardinal’s time appears to be just .07 off his personal best of 54.60, which dates back to 2023.

McFadden’s time did not last long atop the leaderboard as four swimmers in the next heat surpassed it. Leading the way was Dutch sprinter Sean Niewold. The 24-year-old who swims in the US at the University of Alabama was right on his entry time of 51.83, as he opened in a swift 23.57 before closing in 28.31 to stop the clock at 51.88. Niewold’s 51.83 looks to be a personal best, from the Pro Swim Series stop in Westmont, earlier this year, so Niewold may be on track to better that tonight, as his time, like Ruck’s in the women’s event, would survive the last two circle seeded heats.

Heat 5 of 6 saw Canada’s Finlay Knox square off against Charlie Cancelmo and Daniel Diehl. The Canadian Olympian was out slower than Niewold, opening in 24.77, before coming home in 28.57, stopping the clock at 53.34. Knox touched ahead of Cancelmo, a 16-year-old from the Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club, by .39, and well ahead of Diehl, who added 1.32 seconds to his seed time, ultimately stopping the clock at 54.96.

The last heat opened slower than the first circle-seeded heat, with Michael Andrew hitting the halfway point in 23.92, but it was a much closer affair as he was nearly run down by the top seed, Aiden Hayes. Hayes was out nearly a second slower, touching at the 50 in 24.72, but the recent NC State graduate closed in 28.45 to come within a few tenths of a slowing Andrew, whose last 50 of 29.00 saw him hit the wall in 52.92, .25 ahead of Hayes.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

An event scheduled to hold semifinals tonight, the women’s 200 breaststroke saw Aliz Kalmar post the top time of the morning as the Fresno State product produced the lone sub-2:30 time of the morning. The 23-year-old took the race out in 1:11.76, the lone sub-1:12 time before closing in 1:18.23 to stop the clock at 2:29.99. The 5th seed entering this morning was just 1.55 off her seed of 2:28.44 and puts her into good standing for this evening as she looks to earn a spot in tomorrow’s final.

Surrounding her in the 2nd semifinal tonight will be 16-year-old Mikayla Tan and Silje Slyngstadli of California, as the pair touched 3rd and 5th this morning, going 2:31.57 and 2:33.90, respectively. The pair both were entered with seeds faster than Kalmar, so look for them to be nearer to her tonight, as each appeared to take the race out easier, especially Slyngstadli, as the Norwegian opened in 1:13.67.

The first semifinal will see Katie Christopherson, the top seed, occupy lane 4 as the Swim Atlanta product posted the 2nd fastest time of the morning, going 2:31.40. Out in 1:12.19, Christopherson, who swims collegiately for Virginia, will be up against Adalene Robillard of Alto Swim Club, who was 2:33.04 this morning, the 4th fastest time.

It’s not unusual to see some of the larger college programs place multiple swimmers into the top 8, but Fresno State is certainly adding its name to those lists as Kalmar was not the lone swimmer from her team to advance, as Jenna Pulkkinen also made the top 8, with her 2:34.04 becoming the 7th fastest time of the morning.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

It was a rather subdued affair from the top seeds in the men’s 200 breaststroke, but perhaps they are all saving their energy for tonight, as, like the women’s event, the men’s event will have its final swum tomorrow and a semifinal tonight.

Posting the top time of the morning and just one of three swimmers under 2:15 (and the lone swimmer under 2:14) was Carles Coll Marti. The Spaniard opened in 1:03.33 (one of two sub-1:04 opening 100s) before closing in 34.33 and 35.73 to stop the clock at 2:13.39. Occupying lane 4 in the semifinal before him tonight will be the psych sheet’s top seed, AJ Pouch. Pouch, who, like Carles Coll Marti, swam collegiately at Virginia Tech. Pouch, a 2025 World Championship finalist in this event, was out a little slower, opening in 1:04.04 and closing in 34.74 and 35.47 to stop the clock at 2:14.24, 6.25 off his seed of 2:08.00.

Joining them under 2:15 this morning was Andrew Eubanks, who was less than two seconds off his seed time of 2:12.85. The 18-year-old stopped the clock at 2:14.46 to secure lane 5 in the 2nd semifinal. Swimming in lane 3 tonight in the 2nd semifinal will be Josh Matheny, who an hour ago would have been an unexpected sight in the semifinal. The #3 seed entering the meet, Matheny appeared to have scratched the event as he did not appear on the heat sheets, but the Indiana Swim Club athlete took an empty lane in the first heat, going 2:15.52, the 5th fastest time of the morning.

Women’s 50 Backstroke – Prelims

Katharine Berkoff did Katharine Berkoff things, as the American Record holder easily secured the top spot in the final tonight. The winner of 100 back last night, Berkoff produced the lone sub-28 time of the morning as she stopped the clock at 27.73. Surrounding her tonight will be familiar foes as Mary-Ambre Moluh, the 2nd seed, and Kaitlyn Owen, the 3rd seed, retained their positions, touching 2nd and 3rd in the prelims in times of 28.09 and 28.20. Last night’s 3rd place finisher in the 100 back, Rhyan White, retained her 4th seed as she joined the trio under 20, hitting the wall in 28.66.

Both Bella Sims and Taylor Ruck successfully navigated their double as the pair added A-final appearances in the 50 back to their 100 fly performances from this morning. The top seed in tonight’s 100 fly, Ruck, finished 7th quickest this morning in the 50 back, stopping the clock at 29.20, while Sims earned another 5th place finish, touching at 29.00 flat. Splitting the pair, finishing 6th this morning was Kalia Antoniou, who touched in 29.11, a .19 improvement off her seed and not far off her recent Cypriot record of 28.97.

Men’s 50 Backstroke – Prelims

It was quite unusual to see one of the greatest backstrokers in history to be seeded so low in this event, but Ryan Murphy quickly righted the ship as he posted the fastest time of the morning in the 50 backstroke. Entered with a 100-yard time, which saw Murphy enter the meet outside of the top 16, the Cal product blasted a time of 25.36 from lane 7 to win the 3rd heat of the event. His time overtook that of fellow 30-year-old Dylan Carter, who posted a swift 25.56 from the first heat, and that of 27-year-old Michael Andrew, whose 25.53 pipped Carter by .03

The pair of tricenarians and Andrew will square off against a young field as Daniel Diehl, the winner of the 100 back, Jordan Ragland, and Aiden Hayes all joined the trio under 26.00. Hayes, the top-seeded, was more than second off his seed time, as he hit the wall at 25.90, but Hayes, like Ruck and Sims in the previous event, was coming off a double from the 100 fly, as was Andrew.

Women’s 400 IM – Prelims

With top seed Caroline Bricker declaring a false start this morning, the 400 IM tonight would appear to be wide open, but Kennedi Dobson made a strong push to be the favorite as the 6th seed grabbed lane 4 in the final tonight. The Georgia Bulldog is a multiple-time World Juniors medalist in freestyle events, but has been making inroads in the IM, as her time this morning, 4:49.33, appears to come within .15 of her best time, which dates back to August of 2024.

Surrounding her tonight will be fellow UGA swimmer Ieva Maluka and Cal’s Kathryn Hazle. Maluka, too, wasn’t far off her entry time as her 4:51.56 this morning was a little less than two seconds shy of her entry time of 4:49.76. Hazle, on the other hand, was well off her seed of 4:43.38, as she touched the wall in 4:52.54.  She and fellow Cal swimmer Alexa McDevitt (4:53.61), both likely were saving energy as all of the swimmers in the event (20 splashes) are guaranteed a second swim.

It’s going to be one of the youngest finals in the meet as six of the top eight swimmers are still teenagers, with local swimmer Lauren Lonsdale the youngest of the bunch at 14. Lonsdale, who swims for DART swimming, was 4:54.99 this morning, eight seconds off her seed time of 4:46.27, but more than fast enough to secure a spot in the final.

Men’s 400 IM – Prelims

Top 8

While not such a young field as the women’s 400 IM, the men’s final will still be on the younger side as half of the field is still teenagers, with the youngest of them all, Syunta Lee, leading the way. The 16-year-old from West Coast Aquatics used strong breaststroke splits (36.68/37.94) to pull himself into lane 4 tonight as he stopped the clock at 4:25.26, a little less than five seconds off his top-seeded time of 4:20.69.

Lee had to work hard in that breaststroke split as Joey Tepper put up a very strong time of 4:25.43 from the early heats. The 23-year-old from the University of Minnesota was entered with a yards time of 3:46.39 and was swimming in lane 8 of the 3rd heat but he quickly showed that he was a force not to be overlooked as he was the lone swimmer out in under 59 (58.30) and continued that speed through the backstroke as he hit the halfway mark at 2:03.63 (Lee, two heats later, was 2:09.57 for reference).

Joining the pair this morning with times under 4:30 are Grant Sanders and Jaques Harrison. Sander, the #2 seed, had an even stronger breaststroke leg than Lee (36.83/37.44) but let off just a little on the free to touch the wall in 4:25.84. Harrison, a 19-year-old from Canada, was ahead of both Lee and Sanders after the backstroke, but doesn’t appear to have the back half to hang with the top three, as he touched 4th at 4:29.62.

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