2015 Pro Swim Series – Mesa: Day 2 Scratch Report

2015 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES AT MESA

• Wednesday, April 15 – Saturday, April 18
• Skyline Aquatic Center, Mesa, AZ
• Psych Sheets (as of 4/15/15)
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Thursday AM Heat Sheets
• Live stream
• Live results from Omega
  • Or search “2015 Arena Pro Swim Series – Mesa” on Meet Mobile

Scratches on this morning’s heat sheets were kept to a minimum, leaving each event with a tight, competitive field vying for lanes in the middle of the pool for tonight’s finals.  Get ready to follow the 200m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly and 400m IM events today, with some of the biggest names in swimming on the docket. Michael Phelps, Katinka Hosszu, Allison Schmidt, Michael Phelps, Matt Grevers, Conor Dwyer, Caitlin Leverenz, Katie Ledecky – basically the top echelons of the sport – will all be racing today, Day 2 of the Arena Pro Swim Series at Mesa.

SCRATCH REPORT

• Women’s 200m freestyle – Megan Romano, representing New York Athletic Club, was positioned as the 10th seed with a time of 1:58.99, but is absent from today’s heat sheets.
• Men’s 200m freestyle – Sebastian Rousseau of Gator Swim Club appears on the sheets this morning, but he is currently in South Africa competing at his country’s nationals/world championship trials.
• Women’s 100m breaststroke – Two Southern Methodist swimmers will be missing from this morning’s race, as Tara-Lynn Nicholas and Rachel Nicol do not appear on the heat sheets.  They were ranked 6th and 11th, respectively.  Hosszu has also scratched out of this event, as well as the 100m butterfly, in favor of the 200m freestyle and 400m IM events for her program today.
• Men’s 100m breaststroke – Tucson Ford Aquatics’ Kevin Cordes, the #1 seed in the event, will not be swimming this morning.  His top time of 59.70 was the only sub-minute time listed in the field.  Clubmate Gage Crosby, the 11th seed, is also absent from the lane assignments in the race.
• Women’s 100m butterfly – As mentioned, Hosszu scratched this and the 100m breaststroke in favor of the 200m freestyle and 400m IM events.  Another SMU swimmer will not be competing today, as Marine Erasmus opted out of the event.  Erasmus was the 7th seed in 59.35. And, a special note – top seed Courtney Bartholomew sits in the 1st of the B flight heats, so we will not see her in the first round of A flight right off the bat.
• Men’s 100m butterfly – No notable scratches.  We’re looking at about the most stacked a field as any race can get – Phelps, Grevers, Shields, Lochte, Phillips.  Even Nick Thoman is in on the action, swimming a rather off-event for him.  Scary to think about what time it will take to make the final among these men.
• Women’s 400m IM – Emma Barksdale was positioned as the 12th seed with a time of 4:52.08, but she has scratched the event.  This is going to be another tough battle to make the final, with the big guns of Ledecky, Hosszu, DiRado, Beisel, Leverenz all present and ready to throw down some fierce swims.
• Men’s 400m IM – Sebastian Rousseau again is absent, competing in South African Nationals this week.  The other scratch was Tucson Ford’s Austin Vanoverdam, who was seeded 6th with a time of 4:20.90.