CHARLOTTE, May 16 – There isn’t much of a margin for error among the fastest swimmers in the world. Avon’s Madison Kennedy swam the fourth fastest time of the evening in the 50 meter freestyle at the Arena Pro Series in Charlotte.
However, Kennedy finished ninth in the event because she missed qualifying for the championship final by 0.02 of a second. She swam a time of 25.77 in qualifying but she was pushed out of the top eight and the championship final by Kelsi Worrell (25.75) and Michelle Williams (25.73).
With her time of 25.25 seconds, Kennedy did win the B final by a significant margin of 0.21 seconds over Sandrine Mainville of Canada and American Amanda Weir in 25.96 seconds.
Kennedy trains with SwimMAC Carolina in Charlotte and her SwimMAC teammate Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas won the 50 free in 24.35 seconds, the third fastest time in the world this year. Another SwimMAC Carolina teammate Katie Meili was fourth in the championship final with a time of 25.31 seconds.
A year ago, Kennedy had her best time ever in the 50 free here at this meet in Charlotte with a time of 24.78 seconds, which was good enough for second place behind Vanderpool-Wallace.
This meet is the fifth of six meets across the nation in the Arena Pro Series, which provides the nation’s best swimmers the opportunity to face top-flight competition on U.S. soil.
Kennedy is slated to swim in the 100 freestyle here on Sunday in the final day of the four-day event. She finished second in the 100 freestyle a year ago with a time of 54.93 seconds. This year, she is the No. 12 seed with a time of 54.72 seconds and is the seventh-ranked American in the race.
Kennedy and her SwimMAC teammates finished second Friday in the 400 meter freestyle relay with a time of 3:45.82 seconds, nearly four seconds behind a club team from Canada. Kennedy swam the leadoff leg for SwimMAC in 56.39 seconds. The Canadian team led from start to finish. Kennedy swam with Meili, Ashlyn Koletic and Vanderpool-Wallace.
Universal Sports Network will have exclusive live television coverage on Saturday and Sunday evening, beginning at 6 p.m. Universal Sports is not available in Connecticut. However, a webcast of the complete meet will be available at USAswimming.org.
Since 2009, the Collinsville Press has been providing award-winning coverage of sports and news in the Farmington Valley and across Connecticut.


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