Kennedy ties for 2nd in 50 free at Bulldog Grand Slam

ATHENS, Ga. – Avon’s Madison Kennedy finished tied for second in 50 meter freestyle at this weekend’s Bulldog Grand Slam meet at the University of Georgia. Kennedy and U.S. Olympic medalist Amanda Weir each swam 25.44 seconds in the 50 meter final. 

They finished behind Kennedy’s SwimMAC teammate Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, a two-time Olympian from the Bahamas, who won the race in 24.67 seconds. Kennedy had finished third in qualifying with a time of 25.73 seconds. 

In the 100 freestyle, Kennedy finished tied for eighth after the preliminaries with a time of 56.97. Only the top eight advance to the final. She didn’t swim in the final or the B final in the 100 free. 

Kennedy also competed in the 100 meter backstroke on Saturday, finishing 24th in the race with a time of 1:06.48. She was seeded 25th in the race. 

The meet was designed to fill a hole in the racing schedule between the final stop on the Grand Prix circuit in Santa Clara in mid-June and USA Swimming’s national championships in less than a month on August 6-10 in Irvine, California.