2023 U.S. Trials Day 4 Prelims Preview: King Hunting Women’s Breast Event Sweep Today

2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 27 – July 1, 2023
• Indianapolis, IN
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet (updated version, 6/26)
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• How To Watch
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap

FRIDAY MORNING PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

FRIDAY PRELIMS SCRATCH REPORT

FRIDAY PRELIMS SESSION INFO

• Session is scheduled to start at 10:00am

EVENT SCHEDULE

• Women’s 400 freestyle
• Men’s 400 freestyle
• Women’s 100 Breaststroke
• Men’s 100 Breaststroke
• Women’s 100 Backstroke
• Men’s 100 Backstroke

This morning has a slim schedule of events, featuring only the 400 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. The session should be shorter than yesterday’s prelims session, projected to be just over two hours of length according to the timeline.

Of course, Katie Ledecky is by far the favorite in the women’s 400 free today. The race behind her has gotten pretty interesting, however. 16-year-old Claire Weinstein managed to upset Ledecky in the 200 free on Wednesday night, and while it’s incredibly unlikely she would be able to do so again in the 400 free, she might be able to finish second and add another event to her World Champs lineup.

Weinstein’s Sandpipers of Nevada teammates Bella Sims and Katie Grimes are right in the mix in this event as well. After a tough first two days of near misses for Grimes, she finally had the swim she needed last night, winning the women’s 400 IM and punching her ticket to Fukuoka. Meanwhile, Sims finished third in the 200 free on Wednesday night, earning a spot on the 4×200 free relay, but hasn’t yet qualified individually. In fact, Sims scratched the 400 IM and 100 fly on Thursday, signaling that she’s attempting to go all-in on her remaining events, namely the 400 free and 200 IM, to try and qualify individually for the World Champs roster. It won’t be surprising at all if we look up after the 400 free heats this morning and see all three Sanpipers in the ‘A’ final.

That’s not to discount veteran Leah Smith, who is the second seed in the event coming into the day. Smith has swum quite well so far this week, having taken fourth in the 800 free and sixth in the 200 free, both with very solid times. She’s likely to have earned a spot on the Worlds roster with her sixth-place finish in the 200 free, however, a second-place finish in the 400 would get her to Fukuoka individually.

There’s also Erin Gemmell, who came in fourth in the 200 free on Wednesday night. With that swim, Gemmell has earned herself a spot on the 4×200 free relay, and like Smith and Sims, she’s still looking for that individual event berth.

Meanwhile, the men’s 400 free has a slightly different dynamic going on. There’s no real heavy favorite in this field, though if we’re picking one, it would probably be Kieran Smith, since he’s the most accomplished in this event, having earned the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Smith comes in as the second seed, however, trailing Carson Foster by about half a second. Foster has been swimming exceptionally well this week, already having picked up wins in the men’s 200 fly and 400 IM. He put up a great swim in prelims of the 200 free on Wednesday morning before scratching out of finals, so things are definitely looking up for him in this event today.

Foster and Smith are both seeded with 3:45s, while Jake Magahey and Jake Mitchell are close behind with 3:46s. Luke Hobson also presents an interesting case, as he’s only the tenth seed in the 400 free, but also won the 200 free on Wednesday night. Hobson should have some great front-end speed in the 400 this morning and stands a very good chance of making it through to the ‘A’ final.

Having won the women’s 200 breast and 50 breast, Lilly King is looking to complete her sweep of the breaststroke events at these Trials today with a win in the 100 breast. The World Record holder in the event, King comes in as the top seed, though it won’t be an easy path to victory today. She’ll be up against defending Olympic Champion Lydia Jacoby, who came in second in the 50 breast last night. Adding a fun twist to this event, Kate Douglass, who has been on fire this week, has opted to race the event this morning. While she’s only been 1:07.07 in the event, Douglass has swum so well so far at this meet that it would actually be surprising if she didn’t swim a lifetime best today.

After winning the men’s 50 breast last night to punch his ticket to Fukuoka, Nic Fink enters as the top seed in the men’s 100 breast today. He leads Michael Andrew, who he touched out in the 50 breast last night, by a very slim margin on the psych sheet. The race will likely come down to those two, however, Josh Matheny, who came in second in the 200 breast on Wednesday night, is the third seed coming in and the only other swimmer outside of Fink and Andrew to be seeded under a minute. That being aid, 200 breast champion Matt Fallon is set to race the event today as well, though he comes in as the tenth seed in the event.

The women’s 100 back will see Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff go head-to-head once again. Berkoff won the women’s 50 back on Thursday night, touching Smith out by just 0.01 seconds. This morning, the pair will be swimming right next to each other in prelims of the 100 back, which should be a fun race to watch. Smith has been swimming incredibly well this week, having won the women’s 200 back in a 2:03.80 on Wednesday night.

The U.S. is insanely deep with women’s backstrokers currently, so the 100 back is far from a race between just Smith and Berkoff today. Claire Curzan, who came in third in the 200 back on Wednesday, comes in as the second seed in the event, while Rhyan White, who came in second in the 200 back, earning her spot on the Worlds roster, is the third seed. Another swimmer to keep a close eye on is Olivia Smoliga, who clocked a huge lifetime best in the 100 free on the first day of the meet. Phoebe Bacon, Leah Shackley, Isabelle Stadden, Amy Fulmer, and Maggie Wanezek are all seeded under a minute coming into the day as well.

Men’s 200 backstroke champion Ryan Murphy comes into the men’s 100 back this morning as the top seed. The former World Record holder in the event, Murphy is seeded just 0.01 seconds ahead of Hunter Armstrong, who won the event at last year’s International Team Trials. Justin Ress, who won the men’s 50 back last night, is the fourth seed coming into the meet, while Destin Lasco, who came in second in the 200 back on Wednesday night, is in the mix as well.