California natives Molly Hannis, Allie Davis return for nationals

Summer swimming heats up beginning Wednesday with the USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships meet in Irvine, and two former Empire prep greats will be in the pool.

Molly Hannis looks to build on her USA Swimming national team spot and make the squad for the Pan Pacific championships. A breaststroke specialist, Hannis completed a strong junior campaign at the University of Tennessee.

Allie Davis seeks another gain in her growth as a top freestyle swimmer. Davis continued to make strides during her sophomore season at Purdue.

Coming back to California to compete with the nation’s best is a welcome challenge.

“It’s always a great meet, a great atmosphere,” said Hannis, from Santa Rosa High School.

Speed will be at a premium with tougher standards this year to qualify for the national meet.

“It’s going to be a really fast meet, which is really exciting,” said Davis, from Windsor High School

Among the nation’s best in the breaststroke, Hannis wants to be more than consistently good.

Adding four All-American certificates for Tennessee at this year’s NCAA championships, Hannis matched marks from a year earlier. Hannis has earned three Southeastern Conference medals each of her three seasons with the Volunteers.

“This season was good. But I’d like to think I could be faster,” Hannis said.

Hannis has worked on improving her speed with fewer, more efficient strokes. Finding a smoother tempo allows her to sustain stronger strokes over longer distances.

“I’ve gotten stronger with the changes I’ve made to my stroke,” Hannis said.

In a tuneup for nationals, Hannis was in good form at the Charlotte, N.C., Grand Prix. At nationals, she will enter the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke events.

Having come so close at last year’s nationals to making the U.S. team for the world championships, Hannis wants to realize her dream of competing for the U.S. in a major international meet. This week’s top finishers make the USA Swimming squad for the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

“I’d love to get to an international meet. That would be really amazing,” Hannis said.

Davis is a nationals regular seeking a step up following a solid college season.

At Purdue, she led the team in the 500 free at the NCAA championships and was on the Boilermakers’ top relays.

“It just basically fueled the fire to train hard this summer,” Davis said.

A smarter swimmer after two years in the college ranks, Davis is focusing in training on what can help her qualify for the U.S. team. Putting in more distance has made her stronger in all events, in addition to weightlifting and strength training.

“I have a lot more power and strength,” she said. “I’m more prepared for meets.

“I’m definitely more comfortable and confident going into big meets like these,” Davis said. “I’ve matured a lot as an athlete.”