There were two big scratches from A-Finals in the final session of the 2014 Mesa Grand Prix, and both come from the women’s side of the action.
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17-year old star Katie Ledecky has scratched out of the 200 IM A-Final, where she was set to be the 4th seed. She was a 2:18.17 in prelims, which was a couple of seconds short of the time she swam in Austin in January (her lifetime best). She’ll instead focus on the timed final of the 800 free, arguably her most important race and one in which she’s a World Record holder. That swim comes right after the 200 IM in tonight’s finals session.
That bumps Sonia Wang up into lane 8 in the A-Final.
The other scratch is Jessica Hardy, who was a late entry into this Mesa Grand Prix. She’s dropped the 100 breaststroke where she was the 2nd seed behind Alia Atkinson in prelims with a 1:09.26.
Now that leaves Atkinson, who has really had an impressive two-year run, as a big favorite, though SwimMAC pro Katie Meili and three-time defending NCAA Champion Breeja Larson will be hot on her heels, as will Micah Lawrence, who looked great in the 200 breaststroke: her specialty.
That means that Arizona undergrad Emma Schoettmer, who was a 1:11.48 in prelims, moves into the A-Final.