GREENSBORO, N.C. – University of Evansville junior Alon Baer (Gesher HaZiv, Israel) finished seventh in a closely-contested ‘B Final’ in the men’s 100-Meter Breaststroke on Friday at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships being held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Baer touched the wall with a time of 1:03.55 in a ‘B Final’ which saw the entire field separated by less than half a body-length for much of the race. He finished just over a second behind Australian Angus Menzies, who won the final in a time of 1:02.30.
Baer qualified for Friday night’s final by winning his heat – heat three – of the preliminary round competition in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:03.10. Baer charged hard in the final 25 meters to pull away from an even field and win the heat by 0.76 seconds. His time of 1:03.10 ranked 14th-fastest out of 68 competitors in the 100 Breast.
Baer’s ‘B Final’ qualification capped a strong morning at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships from three Purple Aces. Sophomore Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) finished second in heat one of the men’s 100-Meter Butterfly with a time of 56.73 to drop over two seconds off of his personal-best mark. Fellow sophomore Benjamin Hasanovic (Innsbruck, Austria) also placed sixth in heat five of the men’s 100-Meter Breaststroke with a time of 1:06.36.  The Toyota U.S. Open Championships features hundreds of athletes from around the world, including various Olympians and National Team members.
“I was extremely proud of all three men,” said UE head swimming and diving coach Stuart Wilson. “We had some really good swims this morning, and I am really proud of the job that Alon did tonight in the ‘B Final.’ It was a good swim, and it sets him up well for the 200 Breaststroke tomorrow.
“All three represented our program well today. It is a great experience for all three, and will only help them prepare for the championship meet in March.”
Baer will return to the pool on Saturday morning, as he will compete in the men’s 200-Meter Breaststroke event. Preliminary round swims will begin at 8 a.m. central time on Saturday, with the meet order featuring the 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast and 200 Fly. Finals for each event will take place beginning at 5 p.m. central time. Action in both the preliminary rounds and finals can be seen live on usaswimming.org/watch.
