COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With over 60 Olympians anticipated to compete, the 2020 TYR Pro Swim Series at Des Moines begins tomorrow with high expectations. The event takes place March 4-7 at the MidAmerican Energy Aquatic Center at the Wellmark YMCA in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.

The four-day event will feature over 300 swimmers, including 24 of the 27 American medalists from the 2016 Olympic Games who are still actively competing. The Olympic list is headlined by Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla./Gator Swim Club), Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash./California Aquatics) and Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill./Tuscon Ford Dealers Aquatics), all of whom hold spots on the top-15 leaderboard for Olympic gold medals by an American swimmer.

The women’s field features a decorated field as well, with Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Alto Swim Club), Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich./Sun Devil Swimming) and Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas/Alto Swim Club) leading the way with a combined 18 Olympic medals.

The women’s 100-meter backstroke will likely add another chapter to its ongoing competitive story among American swimmers, as current world-record holder Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Riptide Swim Team) will go up against the duo who swam the event for Team USA at the 2016 Olympic Games, Olivia Smoliga (Glenview, Ill./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) and Kathleen Baker (Winston-Salem, N.C./Team Elite). The men’s 100m freestyle also boasts a talented field as Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Gator Swim Club) and Ryan Held (Springfield, Ill./New York Athletic Club) are among the 19 current U.S. National Team members expected to compete in the event.

Des Moines marks the third stop on the 2020 TYR Pro Swim Series calendar, following previous stops in Greensboro and Knoxville and ahead of future stops in Mission Viejo and Indianapolis. The series previously came to Des Moines in 2019, when Michael Andrew (Encinitas, Calif./Race Pace Club) won seven events, a feat that no male swimmer has done in the competition dating back to 2011.

The action from Des Moines begins at 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 4, with the men’s and women’s 1500m freestyle. Following Wednesday’s distance freestyle event, the competition will follow the same daily schedule, with prelims beginning at 9:30 a.m. CT and finals beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Across the 2019-2020 TYR Pro Swim Series, swimmers may earn increased awards for top‐three finishes. At each meet, $1,500 will be provided for a first‐place finish, $1,000 for second and $500 for third. In addition, one athlete per gender with the highest‐scoring prelim swim in an individual Olympic event based on FINA power points will win $1,500.

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