TYR Pro Series: Grant House Rolls to Victory in 200 IM on Final Night
These days, the name of Grant House is regularly mentioned in the settlement known as House vs. NCAA, the legal decision that has reshaped college sports and allowed for collegiate athletes to receive benefits. However, during the final night of competition at the TYR Pro Series stop in Sacramento, House served a reminder that he also remains a factor while active in the pool.
Racing the 200-meter individual medley in the California capital, House secured a comfortable victory when he touched the wall in 1:58.22. The only athletes to break the two-minute barrier, House was nearly two seconds faster than the 2:00.08 produced by runnerup Michael Hochwalt (2:00.08). House posted splits of 24.58, 30.00, 34.10 and 29.54 during his win.
House was also the third-place finisher in the 100 freestyle, which was won by Frenchman Maxime Grousset. Already the winner of the 50 freestyle, 50 butterfly and 100 butterfly, Grousset put together a come-from-behind victory in the 100 free and emerged on top in 48.20. Grousset trailed American Brooks Curry at the turn, 22.71 to 23.14, but a back-half split of 25.06 fueled Grousset’s rally. Curry grabbed second place in 48.30, with House going 49.03 for third place.
Hochwalt was also the runnerup in the 200 backstroke, which was won by France’s Yohann Ndoye Brouard, who completed a sweep of the backstroke events. Ndoye Brouard was third at the 150-meter mark, behind Levente Balogh and Hochwalt, but moved into the lead on the final lap to win in 1:59.49. Hochwalt surged past Balogh and placed second in 2:00.19.
Beryl Gastaldello made it a trio of French victories when she won the final women’s event of the meet, the 100 freestyle. Gastaldello was timed in 54.01 and won by nearly a second over Liberty Clark (54.86), the only other swimmer to dip under 55 seconds.
When she won the 100 backstroke on Friday night, Rhyan White prevailed by the slimmest of margins, as her time of 59.68 was just a hundredth quicker than the effort of Katharine Berkoff. In the 200 backstroke, White was dominant. Covering her four laps in 2:08.83, the Tokyo Olympian touched almost two seconds ahead of Leah Shackley, who managed a second-place time of 2:10.66.
In the men’s 50 breaststroke, Kyrgyzstan’s Denis Petrashov and the United States’ Michael Andrew battled to the wall, with Petrashov getting the win in 27.32. Andrew was just .05 back in 27.37.
Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko claimed a wire-to-wire triumph in the women’s 200 individual medley, behind a swim of 2:09.90. Gorbenko built a one-second margin on the opening butterfly leg and never looked back en route to recording a 3.56-second margin over countrywoman Leah Polonsky, who finished in 2:13.46.
Australian Sam Short wrapped up a successful visit to Sacramento when he prevailed in the 1500 freestyle, raising his number of victories for the weekend to three. Short went 15:03.87 in the 30-lap event to back up earlier wins in the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle.
New Zealand’s Eve Thomas, the winner of the 800 freestyle on the opening night of the meet, added a victory in the 1500 freestyle. Thomas posted a time of 16:30.48 to finish nearly 10 seconds ahead of Hungary’s Vivien Jackl, who clocked in at 16:40.28.
Aliz Kalmar was first in the women’s 50 breaststroke in 31.56.
