Tyler McGill Takes Gold on First Night of Missouri Grand Prix
COLUMBIA, Mo. (USA Swimming) – Tyler McGill (Champaign, Ill./Auburn Aquatics) was the sole member of the U.S. National Team to win gold Friday at the Missouri Grand Prix, taking the men’s 100m butterfly in 52.58.
“I’ve been working on some technical things in workout, and I wanted to do a good job of applying those to my race this weekend,” McGill said. “It worked out really well. It’s my best time of the season so far, so I’m pretty happy with the result.”
McGill out-touched the rest of the field by about a second. French Olympian Fred Bousquet, who trains with McGill at Auburn, was second in 53.54. Brazilian Olympian Thiago Pereira was third in 53.66
“Fortunately for me, I train with a lot of guys (like Bousquet) at Auburn who are faster than me in certain areas, so it pushes me to train faster and develop my speed so I can compete with the top-level guys in the world,” McGill said. “To have that every day definitely shows up in my races in my ability to go out and come home fast.”
Other U.S. National Teamers medaling Friday included Olympians Elaine Breeden (Lexington, Ky./Stanford) and Christine Magnuson (Knoxville, Tenn./Tucson Ford Aquatics), who took second and third in the in the women’s 100m fly; and Olympians Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga./Trojan Swim Club) and Mark Gangloff (Akron, Oho), who took second and third in the men’s 100m breaststroke.
Breeden and Magnuson finished the women’s 100m fly in 58.68 and 58.85, respectively. Katerine Savard of Canada won gold in 58.23.
“I’m really happy with that swim,” Breeden said. “Any time I’m under 59, it’s a good race for me. To take it out long and controlled and finish strong is the way I like to swim it, and that’s the way it worked out for me tonight. It felt really good.
“I’m excited for the 200. Any time my 100 feels good, I know it’s going to be a good weekend for butterfly.”
Felipe Lima of Brazil won the men’s 100m breast in 1:00.89. Shanteau and Gangloff finished right behind in 1:01.11 and 1:01.45.
“I believe that was my best in-season 100,” Shanteau said. “So I’m happy with that. If I can take a little bit of confidence away from it then great, but at the same time, it’s going to be a whole different game in six months (at Olympic Trials).”
Other winners Friday night included Samantha Cheverton of Canada in the women’s 200m freestyle (1:58.46), Blake Worsley of Canada in the men’s 200m free (1:49.08), Jillian Tyler of Canada in the women’s 100m breast (1:09.05), Alexa Komarnycky of Canada in the women’s 400m IM (4:41.66) and Alec Page of Canada in the men’s 400m IM (4:20.80).
The Missouri Grand Prix continues Saturday with prelims and finals of the men’s and women’s 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 800m free relay. For more information and complete results, go to www.usaswimming.org/missourigrandprix.
