IRVINE Eva Merrell calls the 100-meter backstroke her “wild card” event but the race gained clout in her repertoire Sunday after a record-setting performance on the closing day of the Speedo Grand Challenge.
The 16-year-old from Newport Beach and the Aquazot club captured the two-lap race in a meet-record and lifetime-best 1 minute, 1.48 seconds at the Woollett Aquatics Center.
“(The) 100 back is kind of my wild-card event, so I never know what I can go in that,” Merrell said with a laugh.
“Todd (Hickman), my coach, definitely tells me all the time, you have a really good backstroke. … It’s exciting.”
Merrell, known best for her 100 butterfly, broke Presley Bard’s 2010 meet record of 1:01.69 and jumped to the No. 17 fastest U.S. woman in the dorsal event this year.
The leap positions Merrell to perhaps advance to the top-16 semifinals at the U.S. Olympic Trials, June 26-July 3, in Omaha, Neb.
Her first Speedo title also marked further progress for a teen who left Corona del Mar to study on-line and focus on training.
University freshman Riley Lexvold of the Aquazot earned her first Trials cut by finishing second in the consolation finals of the 100 back in 1:03.36.
“It felt so surreal,” the 14-year-old said. “I couldn’t believe that I actually made it.”
Katie McLaughlin of the Nadadores continued her comeback from a neck injury by touching first in the 200 butterfly in 2:11.35.
The 18-year-old former Santa Margarita standout sliced about 2 ½ seconds off her time from Swim Meet of Champions last month.
“I’m moving in the right direction,” said McLaughlin, who climbed to 13th in the United States this year. “Every day is a little bit better than the last.”
The Nadadores’ Ous Mellouli took a major step toward a fifth Olympics for Tunisia by winning the 1,500 free in an automatic Rio-qualifying time of 15 minutes, 13.87 seconds.
The 32-year-old hopes to qualify in the open water 10K later this month in Portugal and earn the chance to defend his Olympic title.
“This is a good race to put under my belt and charge on to that race (in Portugal),” he said. “After (the) London (Olympics), I thought I was done … (but) I love it.”
U.S. open water Olympian Haley Anderson of Trojan won the 800 free in 8:37.93.
The men’s 100 backstroke also delivered Olympic Trials excitement. Former Irvine standout Jeff Natalizio, 34, raced under the standard in prelims with a 56.19 while UC San Diego senior-to-be Michael Cohn dipped under the cut by two one-hundredths of a second by taking the consolation final in 57.17.
