MISSION VIEJO One trademark of Bill Rose’s hall-of-fame coaching career has been his ability to challenge swimmers in ways that unlock potential. But even the Mission Viejo Nadadores’ master motivator doesn’t always know what surprise awaits.
Katie McLaughlin proved that Friday at the TYR Fran Crippen Memorial Swim Meet of Champions.
Responding to a challenge from Rose to race fast in a morning prelim in preparation for the format of the upcoming FINA World Championships in Russia, McLaughlin blasted to the ninth-fastest time in the world this year in the 200-meter butterfly.
The recent Santa Margarita graduate clocked a meet-record time of 2 minutes, 7.93 seconds at the Marguerite Recreation Center to move within four-tenths of Cammile Adams’ U.S. leading time.
Rose and McLaughlin followed their plan to scratch the 200 fly in evening finals but the 17-year-old’s morning time would have placed first by about almost three seconds.
“She went much faster than I anticipated in the morning, which kind of threw a wrench into (my plans),” said Rose, who later watched McLaughlin’s future U.S. teammate Haley Anderson of Trojan win the 200 fly in 2:10.84.
“Wait a minute, if she were to swim it (the 200 fly in finals), you might see something really good but I said, ‘Let’s stick with the plan.’ ”
The move proved wise as McLaughlin dueled fellow Cal signee Abbey Weitzeil in the 100 freestyle. The 18-year-old from Saugus blazed to a meet and pool record 54.42 but McLaughlin touched second in a lifetime-best 55.05.
“I was surprised, too,” McLaughlin said of her 200 butterfly. “I’ve never been that fast in a prelims swim. … When I was younger, I was always awful in prelims so I’ve been working on trying to be better.”
The Nadadores’ Samantha Shelton, 15, is getting better seemingly by the race. The Santa Margarita sophomore-to-be earned Olympic Trials times in the 100 (56.07) and 400 (4:14.72) freestyles, the latter of which earned her third. “It gives me a lot of confidence,” Shelton said.
Corey Okubo, 19, edged Aquazot teammate Daniel Tran by about half-a-second to capture the 200 back (2:02.55).
Grant Shoults of the Nadadores and Santa Margarita finished both his races strong to touch second in the 200 butterfly (1:59.15) and 400 free (3:54.16).
The senior-to-be took second in the 200 fly to Cal sophomore-to-be Justin Lynch (1:58.43), a fellow 18-year-old. Trojans’ Mads Glaesner, a two-time Olympian for Denmark, won the 400 free in a meet and pool record 3:49.19 but Shoults checked in with the second-fastest time in the nation this year by an 18-year-old.
