Backstroke in motion: Ryan Murphy tops Northeast Florida athletes at USA Swimming finals
Ryan Murphy continued his decade-long reign atop the American backstroke scene, but sprint star Caeleb Dressel's return to the pool ran into some choppy waters at the week-long USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships in Indianapolis.
Bolles School graduate Murphy, winner of three Olympic gold medals in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and another at the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, repeated his national title in the 200-meter backstroke.
Now 27, Murphy also placed a close second to Hunter Armstrong in the 100 back, and will compete in both events later this month at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. He even finished second in preliminary rounds for the 100 butterfly, not his specialty stroke, but elected to scratch that event before the final.
In addition to the two individual backstroke events, Murphy is likely to race the men's medley relay for the United States and could also be considered for the mixed medley relay.
Not advancing to the world team, though, was former Clay High School sprinter Dressel, racing his first major championship meet since withdrawing midway through last summer's FINA world championships in Budapest.
The king of the freestyle and butterfly sprints worldwide from 2017 through 2022, Dressel wasn't able to match those results in his comeback, although he improved from a 29th-place finish in the 100 free heats to narrowly miss a top-two slot in the 50 fly (third) and the 100 fly (fifth).
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Still, Dressel expressed optimism for his long-term targets in the pool, telling the Associated Press after the meet, “I haven't had that enjoyment for quite some time, so it was nice being back."
Two more Jacksonville-area swimmers advanced to finals in their events. Former Mandarin swimmer Kensey McMahon, a world short course bronze medalist last winter, reached three A finals and placed third in the women's 1,500 free in 16:07.78. That wasn't quite enough for one of the two world championship slots from the distance events, which went to Katie Ledecky and Katie Grimes, but it lifted McMahon to No. 10 in the world for 2023 at the distance.
Former Bartram Trail swimmer Macguire McDuff also qualified for the men's 100 free and placed seventh.
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Cole Crane
School: Episcopal
Results: Men's 200 fly, seventh in C final (2:00.90); 50 fly, 31st (25.04); 100 fly, 44th (54.92).
Jace Crawford
School: Episcopal
Results: Men's 200 fly, 37th (2:00.69); 50 fly, second in B final (23.80)
Caeleb Dressel
School: Clay
Results: Men's 100 free, third in C final (49.64); 50 fly, third (23.35); 100 fly, fifth (51.66); 50 free, 22nd (22.72)
Will Heck
School: Bolles
Results: Men's 200 breast, 39th (2:22.65); 50 breast, fourth in D final (29.15); 100 breast, 44th (1:03.96)
Harry Herrera
School: Bolles
Results: Men's 200 breast, sixth in D final (2:20.51)
Billy Jones
School: Stanton
Results: Men's 200 fly, 40th (2:01.84); 200 IM, 51st (2:05.29)
Macguire McDuff
School: Bartram Trail
Results: Men's 100 free, seventh (48.24)
Kensey McMahon
School: Mandarin
Results: Women's 800 free, sixth (8:25.97); 400 free, eighth (4:10.27); 1,500 free, third (16:07.78)
Ryan Murphy
School: Bolles
Results: Men's 200 back, first (1:55.03); 100 back, second (52.39)
Olivia Peoples
School: Nease
Results: Women's 50 fly, second in B final (26.60); 100 fly, 31st (1:00.08)
Drew Salls
School: Sandalwood
Results: Men's 100 free, 58th (50.87); 50 free, 28th (22.89)
Julian Smith
School: Episcopal
Results: Men's 100 free, seventh in C final (50:37); 50 breast, 30th (28.60); 100 breast, 41st (1:03.37); 50 free, fourth in C final (22.81)
Summer Stanfield
School: Bartram Trail
Results: Women's 200 back, seventh in C final (2:14.39)
Sara Stotler
School: Clay
Results: Women's 200 fly, first in C final (2:11.31); 200 free, 46th (2:02.30); 100 fly, 26th (59.66); 200 IM, third in C final (2:15.38)
Jack Vandeusen
School: Bartram Trail
Results: Men's 1,500 free, 26th (15:38.04); 400 IM, 44th (4:29.34); 400 free, 48th (4:00.35)
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: USA Swimming: Ryan Murphy leads Northeast Florida at national finals
