The two biggest stars in attendance at the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series – Charlotte meet, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps, have each held on to their two individual entries for Saturday’s preliminaries session, according to the heat sheets released Friday by USA Swimming.
Lochte, of the home team SwimMAC Carolina, is the 8th seed in the 100 backstroke, and shortly after that will race as the second seed in the 50 fly (which is seeded based on 100 meter times).
Phelps will also swim the 100 backstroke, as the 4th seed, but he’s going after the longer 200 fly as his other event instead.
Phelps doesn’t have an official result in the 200 long course meter fly since the 2012 Olympic Games, but is entered with a 1:58.08 – a time that doesn’t show up anywhere in his official results list. He’s the 12th seed in a very deep race, and so despite being twice the Olympic Champion, and the World Record holder, in that event, he’ll have to climb up the ladder to make the A-Final.
One of the few female swimmers in the United States with a resume to match the two above is Natalie Coughlin, and unlike her male counterparts, she has dropped an event on Saturday. After time trialing a 1:00.08 on Friday (ranked 9th in the world), Coughlin scratched out of the 100 backstroke to focus on her 50 free on Saturday.
With nothing else to do on Friday, and not much left to prove on a historic scale, the time trial made for crafty planning on Coughlin’s part.
Other Noteworthy Scratches
- Elizabeth Beisel is again scratched from all of her events on Saturday, and we’re told that she’s out for the entire meet.
- Katinka Hosszu has dropped her entry in the 50 free, but still has three big races left: the 200 fly, the 100 back, and the 400 free. She’s the top seed in the first two races and the third seed in the 400 free, where she’ll be chasing Lotte Friis and Cierra Runge. Hosszu already has two wins and $2,000 of prize money in her register.
- Jimmy Feigen was set to start his meet on Saturday with the 50 free, but doesn’t appear on the heat sheets. That sprint field is still loaded, including Brun Fratus, Cesar Cielo, Nathan Adrian, Anthony Ervin, Cullen Jones, Marcelo Chierighini, Paul Powers, and others.
- Michael Phelps’ newest Australian training partner Daniel Tranter is again absent from Saturday’s heat sheets, and has yet to race at PSS – Charlotte.
Hosszu – drops 50 free
Feigen – out??
Bobby Hurley – drops 100 back
Tranter – 200 breast
Too bad. We could have had a remake of the 100 back 2008 olympic final with Coughlin vs Coventry.
When I tell you that meet looks like “back to the future”! 🙂
I am actually surprised how few scatched there have been other than explainable ones for absence or illness or relay duty as with Ryan’s 400im scratch for Swim Max relay duty. Thought Phelps would scratch his 200free B final but no luck. He goes out and drops a 149 flat instead.
As a fan of the sport, I am getting sick of all the scratches at the Pro/Grand Prix meets. What would happen if tennis players constantly pulled out of the tournaments along with pro golfers, etc. Fans pay to watch their favorites. Anyway, enough of the venting.