2017 Santa Clara PSS Analysis: Darkhorses Emerge Ahead of U.S. Trials

2017 ARENA PRO SWIM SERIES – SANTA CLARA

• Thursday, June 1st-Sunday, June 4th
• 50-Meter Course
• Prelims 9 am/Finals 5 pm (PST)
• Santa Clara, California
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Live Results

The 2017 Arena Pro Swim Series stop is in the books, as competition concluded with Sunday night’s finals at the George F. Haines Aquatic Center. Several swimmers used this meet as a tuneup for the upcoming U.S. Nationals, which will also serve as the 2017 World Championship Trials. Throughout the meet, a few swimmers made the case that they could surprise us in Indianapolis.

One up-and-comer to watch is Cal’s Michael Jensen, who just finished his freshman season with the Golden Bears. In the men’s 100 free, Jensen demolished his lifetime best, breaking the 50-second barrier for the first time. He brought it down from a 50.08 all the way to a 49.35, finishing 3rd behind only U.S. Olympians Nathan Adrian and Caeleb Dressel.

The women’s 400 free spots will likely be occupied by Katie Ledecky and Leah Smith, but Stanford’s Katie Drabot has emerged as a darkhorse in that race. At the beginning of the season, Drabot’s best time in the event was a 4:13.29. She’s been dropping time throughout the season, bringing it to a 4:11.39 before last weekend. In Santa Clara, she made a huge drop, knocking 3 seconds off her lifetime best to win the event with a 4:08.07.

Fellow Stanford freshman Allie Szekely made huge strides in the 400 IM, and is now shaing up to be a potential finalist at World Champs Trials. Szekely’s best time before Santa Clara was a 4:46.73 from 2012, and the fastest she’d been since that summer was a 4:50.54 in 2015. She obliterated that, clocking a 4:41.10 to place 3rd in the final.

Texas’ Madisyn Cox isn’t really a darkhorse, since she’s one of the fastest swimmers in the nation in this event, but she’s become a major threat in the 200 breast after placing 34th in the event at Olympic Trials last summer. Cox is now in the conversation for a Worlds spot. She’s lowered her time from the 2:27-range down to a 2:25.62 this season. If she hits her taper, she could be battling for a roster spot in that race. In addition, she’s a likely candidate to represent the U.S. in both IM races, so we could see her make the team in 3 events.