2019 USA SWIMMING PRO SWIM SERIES – GREENSBORO
- November 6th-9th, 2019
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
- 50m (LCM)
- Prelims at 9:00AM Eastern Time/Finals at 6:00PM Eastern Time (4:00 Eastern for Wednesday timed finals)
- Live Results
We’ve got a fierce competition on the men’s side, while Katie Ledecky holds the top three women’s swims in the early goings of the 2019-2020 Pro Swim Series.
After moving on from its previous scoring system, which awarded points for top-3 finishes across the tour, the Pro Swim Series is in its second year with a FINA point-based model. The top single swims by a woman and a man across the series will earn the $10,000 series bonuses. Swims are ranked based on FINA points, which assign point values based on how close a swim is to the standing world record as of the beginning of the season.
Ledecky hit the three best swims on the women’s side, with her 939-point 800 leading the field. Ledecky also scored 936 for the 400 free and 931 for the 200 free. She didn’t swim the 1500, but probably could have been 900+ there as well. The closes swim to any of Ledecky’s was Kylie Masse‘s 100 back, which scored 908.
It’s the polar opposite on the men’s side, with the top four swims all within nine FINA points and all coming from different athletes. Zane Grothe leads the way by a single point over Luca Urlando. Grothe’s 400 free was worth 889, while Urlando’s 200 fly garnered 888. For reference, if Grothe’s 400 had been eight one-hundredths slower (3:48.88), his swim would have dropped into a tie with Urlando’s. Urlando would have had to be three one-hundredths faster to earn the extra point to tie Grothe’s swim.
Top FINA point swims – 2019-2020 Pro Swim Series
Women:
| Rank | Athlete | FINA Points | Time | Event | Meet |
| 1 | Katie Ledecky | 939 | 8:14.95 | 800 Free | Greensboro |
| 2 | Katie Ledecky | 936 | 4:01.68 | 400 Free | Greensboro |
| 3 | Katie Ledecky | 931 | 1:55.68 | 200 Free | Greensboro |
| 4 | Kylie Masse | 908 | 59.88 | 100 Back | Greensboro |
| 5 | Isabelle Stadden | 907 | 2:08.16 | 200 Back | Greensboro |
| 6 | Simone Manuel | 905 | 53.44 | 100 Free | Greensboro |
| 7 | Simone Manuel | 901 | 24.50 | 50 Free | Greensboro |
Men:
| Rank | Athlete | FINA Points | Time | Event | Meet |
| 1 | Zane Grothe | 889 | 3:48.80 | 400 Free | Greensboro |
| 2 | Luca Urlando | 888 | 1:56.00 | 200 Fly | Greensboro |
| 3 | Anton McKee | 885 | 2:11.90 | 200 Breast | Greensboro |
| 4 | Andrew Wilson | 884 | 2:11.94 | 200 Breast | Greensboro |
| 5 | Carson Foster | 880 | 1:58.93 | 200 IM | Greensboro |
| 6 | Justin Ress | 877 | 54.16 | 100 Back | Greensboro |
949 was needed to win World Cup.
Would Ledecky swim faster if $300,000 were at stake? The common sense suggests that she will. At the end that is what professionals are doing – making money. But she never said that money is a target. Fun, checking status, training, contract obligations, etc are usual answers on a questions of reasoning of here presence at the meet.
Swimming 200, 400 and 800 at 8:13 would guaranty her win of each cluster and grand prize.
Returning to the question what event it would be easier for Ledecky to get 950 points:
1:54.9 or 4:00.56 or 8:13.0. It looks to me like it is a 8:13 despite I believe that her 8:04 record is the most unbelievable and will be broken the last one after 3:56 and 1:52.98
I think her 400 time is more impressive. For reference, her 400 speed is 2.51% faster than her 800 speed. For Wickham it was 2.45% faster, and for Evans it was 1.75% faster.
Wouldn’t Andrew Wilson’s 200 Breast have more FINA points than Carson Foster’s and Justin Ress’s?
More cash to the Kat women.
How to determine which competition is more professional? 😀
By name maybe? ISL avoids mentioning it for some secret(or maybe legal) reason. PSS begins its name underlining the nature of this tournament.
By status of participants? Then in contrast to ISL the PSS is rather competition of amateur swimmers than professionals.
By money paid? Katie Ledecky made $6500 this weakened. That included the appreciation of quality of her swims. That is significantly more than she got at ISL meet. But I don’t know conditions of her contract. Maybe that is where money is coming from mostly.
I actually asked myself a tough question.
One more interesting observation: there were sprinters who dominated (in earnings) at… Read more »
Very few pro leagues (practically none) call themselves pro in their names. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_sports_leagues. I’d guess you’d say PSS is more professional because Hosszu isn’t a headliner.
It’s actually an interesting question. Why has she been skipping this tournament recent years.
ATP, PGA these leagues are used most frequently in discussions as an example of how people want professional swimming association to function.
The word “professional” is the key word in their names.