Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Stars Head to Texas for TYR Pro Swim Series San Antonio
The 2022 TYR Pro Swim Series kicks off today, Wednesday, March 30, and concludes on Thursday, April 2, at the Northside Swim Center, in San Antonio, Texas. This is the final Pro Swim series before the Phillips 66 International Team Trials for the U.S., and can show a strong set up for the 2022 FINA World Championships.
Even with some college stars sitting this meet out to rest from their incredible championship season, we will still see the likes of Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel lighting fires in the pool this week.
Kicking off the meet is the women’s 800-meter freestyle. Three of the top four entries hail from Sandpipers of Nevada, famous for producing some of the nation’s top distancers, if not all around swimmers. Bella Sims, Sierra Schmidt and Claire Weinstein will face the Olympic veteran Longhorn, Leah Smith, who at 26, still has plenty left in her fuel tank and could easily secure another title here. Ledecky’s record is safe from the top seeds in this event, and she has opted to skip the 800, as well as the 1500, for the 100, 200 and 400 instead.
Up next, the women’s 200 free where Ledecky (1:54.4) is within striking distance of Allison Schmitt’s American record of 1:53.61 and quite possibly the World’s (1:52.98). If there are no scratches, she’ll be followed by Smith, Sims and Schmidt, fresh off the 800, along with Olivia Smoliga, Paige Madden, Gabby DeLoof, Hali Flickinger and Melanie Margalis
For the men, the top seed is Olympian Drew Kibler, fresh off a tremendous NCAA Championship. The Texas senior won this event and is hoping to extend his successful taper this week. He’ll be closely chased by Zach Apple, Caeleb Dressel, Zane Grothe and Ryan Held.
It’s Lilly King and Annie Lazor again taking the top two slots in the women’s 100 breaststroke. The training partners and best buds will push each other as they have a decent separation from the rest of he field. Olympic backstroker Kathleen Baker is entered in this race, looking to add a fun event in her lineup.
For the men, it’s no surprise that Michael Andrew is top seed, and fellow Olympians Nic Fink and Cody Miller should be right on his tail. They are all sub-minute and chasing Andrew’s American record of 58.14.
What’s interesting about the men’s 100 breaststroke is that it features some of the oldest stars in the sport, verses any other event. The 50 does feature 30-year old Bradley Tandy (30) and Bruno Fratus (32), but the 100 breast includes, Fink (28), Miller (30), Jorge Murillo (30), Brandon Fischer (33), Chase Kalisz (28); only a handful of teenagers made the lineup.
Next up, it's a game of Hot Potato. The highly-anticipated women’s 100 butterfly will not disappoint, as holding the American Record changes hands almost monthly. The long course meters record is currently held by Olympian Torri Huske (55.66). Fellow Olympian and future Stanford teammate Claire Curzan recently broke the short course yards American record, only to have Kate Douglass re-break it at NCAA’s two weeks ago. Olympian Kelsi Dahlia has owned both yards and meters, as well as owning the short course meters World Record. With Douglass and Huske skipping this meet, look to Curzan and Dahlia, seated three tenths apart to try and break it again. Will we see another record fall? It’s definitely possible.
For the men, Dressel is the only entry with a sub-50. He’s followed by Andrew, Shane Casas, Coleman Steward and Zach Harting.
The top two seeds in the women’s 400 IM are Hali Flickinger and Smith, who have had terrific seasons and will likely take the top two finishes here. The top two men are Jay Litherland and Leon Marchand, also sitting pretty after a successful year.
Flickinger takes the lead again in the 200 butterfly. The 27-year-old veteran has owned this event time and time again. She has the U.S. Open record and within reach of the American record (2:04.14), coming into this with a 2:05.65. On the men’s side, it is Harting who is seeded first, followed by Marchand, Nick Albiero, Kalisz and Zane Grothe.
The splash-n-dash 50’s present the same megastars: Curzan and Dahlia again on the women’s side, and Dressel and Andrew on the men’s. Curzan’s 24.17 is close to Simone Manuel’s American record of 23.97. Erika Brown, Mallory Comerford and Natalie Hinds will join the top women here. Dressel will ought to get a nice push from the field with Andrew, Fratus, Ryan Held and David Curtiss.
The women’s 100 backstroke is loaded with talent. Smoliga, White, Curzan, Phoebe Bacon, Baker, DeLook, Brown and Nelson round up the top eight, with the top five entered with a sub-minute. Casas, Andrew, Stewart are the top three seeds for the men, with Casas leading the way by almost a second.
King and Lazor are back at it in the 200 breaststroke, pushing each other to race the clock as they’re separated from the field by five seconds. Also far in front is Fink on the men’s side, followed loosely by Charlie Swanson, Miller and Andrew.
Back to the distance aces, Ledecky will set the lead in the 400, with Smith, Flickinger and Schmidt to battle for second. In the 1500, Schmidt is top seed by twenty seconds, followed by Madden. Only nine women are entered in this event.
Baker is the top seed in the women’s 200 IM, followed by Margalis, Nelson and Smith. Baker has been posting top times in this event lately should see some heat from Margalis, who is back from a break and hungry for victory.
Andrew, Kalisz, Stewart, Marchand and Dressel should put up a great 200 IM battle. Andrew is about eight tenths off the American record, but this looks be a tight finish for the win among these men.
As in the 100 back, the women’s 200 is also talent-packed. White, Bacon, Curzan, Baker, Flickinger, DeLoof, Smoliga and Smith can all make a good play here for victory, with Curzan and Smoliga making a quick transition to the 100 free right after. They lead that event with Brown, Hinds, Dahlia, Nelson, Comerford and Ledecky, where this race will be much closer for the win.
In the men’s 100 free, it's no surprise that Dressel looks untouchable. He’ll be followed by Held, Becker, Maxime Rooney, Stewart, and Kibler — all under :49.
Even with some college stars sitting this meet out to rest from their incredible championship season, we will still see the likes of Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel lighting fires in the pool this week.
Kicking off the meet is the women’s 800-meter freestyle. Three of the top four entries hail from Sandpipers of Nevada, famous for producing some of the nation’s top distancers, if not all around swimmers. Bella Sims, Sierra Schmidt and Claire Weinstein will face the Olympic veteran Longhorn, Leah Smith, who at 26, still has plenty left in her fuel tank and could easily secure another title here. Ledecky’s record is safe from the top seeds in this event, and she has opted to skip the 800, as well as the 1500, for the 100, 200 and 400 instead.
Up next, the women’s 200 free where Ledecky (1:54.4) is within striking distance of Allison Schmitt’s American record of 1:53.61 and quite possibly the World’s (1:52.98). If there are no scratches, she’ll be followed by Smith, Sims and Schmidt, fresh off the 800, along with Olivia Smoliga, Paige Madden, Gabby DeLoof, Hali Flickinger and Melanie Margalis
For the men, the top seed is Olympian Drew Kibler, fresh off a tremendous NCAA Championship. The Texas senior won this event and is hoping to extend his successful taper this week. He’ll be closely chased by Zach Apple, Caeleb Dressel, Zane Grothe and Ryan Held.
It’s Lilly King and Annie Lazor again taking the top two slots in the women’s 100 breaststroke. The training partners and best buds will push each other as they have a decent separation from the rest of he field. Olympic backstroker Kathleen Baker is entered in this race, looking to add a fun event in her lineup.
For the men, it’s no surprise that Michael Andrew is top seed, and fellow Olympians Nic Fink and Cody Miller should be right on his tail. They are all sub-minute and chasing Andrew’s American record of 58.14.
What’s interesting about the men’s 100 breaststroke is that it features some of the oldest stars in the sport, verses any other event. The 50 does feature 30-year old Bradley Tandy (30) and Bruno Fratus (32), but the 100 breast includes, Fink (28), Miller (30), Jorge Murillo (30), Brandon Fischer (33), Chase Kalisz (28); only a handful of teenagers made the lineup.
Next up, it's a game of Hot Potato. The highly-anticipated women’s 100 butterfly will not disappoint, as holding the American Record changes hands almost monthly. The long course meters record is currently held by Olympian Torri Huske (55.66). Fellow Olympian and future Stanford teammate Claire Curzan recently broke the short course yards American record, only to have Kate Douglass re-break it at NCAA’s two weeks ago. Olympian Kelsi Dahlia has owned both yards and meters, as well as owning the short course meters World Record. With Douglass and Huske skipping this meet, look to Curzan and Dahlia, seated three tenths apart to try and break it again. Will we see another record fall? It’s definitely possible.
For the men, Dressel is the only entry with a sub-50. He’s followed by Andrew, Shane Casas, Coleman Steward and Zach Harting.
The top two seeds in the women’s 400 IM are Hali Flickinger and Smith, who have had terrific seasons and will likely take the top two finishes here. The top two men are Jay Litherland and Leon Marchand, also sitting pretty after a successful year.
Flickinger takes the lead again in the 200 butterfly. The 27-year-old veteran has owned this event time and time again. She has the U.S. Open record and within reach of the American record (2:04.14), coming into this with a 2:05.65. On the men’s side, it is Harting who is seeded first, followed by Marchand, Nick Albiero, Kalisz and Zane Grothe.
The splash-n-dash 50’s present the same megastars: Curzan and Dahlia again on the women’s side, and Dressel and Andrew on the men’s. Curzan’s 24.17 is close to Simone Manuel’s American record of 23.97. Erika Brown, Mallory Comerford and Natalie Hinds will join the top women here. Dressel will ought to get a nice push from the field with Andrew, Fratus, Ryan Held and David Curtiss.
The women’s 100 backstroke is loaded with talent. Smoliga, White, Curzan, Phoebe Bacon, Baker, DeLook, Brown and Nelson round up the top eight, with the top five entered with a sub-minute. Casas, Andrew, Stewart are the top three seeds for the men, with Casas leading the way by almost a second.
King and Lazor are back at it in the 200 breaststroke, pushing each other to race the clock as they’re separated from the field by five seconds. Also far in front is Fink on the men’s side, followed loosely by Charlie Swanson, Miller and Andrew.
Back to the distance aces, Ledecky will set the lead in the 400, with Smith, Flickinger and Schmidt to battle for second. In the 1500, Schmidt is top seed by twenty seconds, followed by Madden. Only nine women are entered in this event.
Baker is the top seed in the women’s 200 IM, followed by Margalis, Nelson and Smith. Baker has been posting top times in this event lately should see some heat from Margalis, who is back from a break and hungry for victory.
Andrew, Kalisz, Stewart, Marchand and Dressel should put up a great 200 IM battle. Andrew is about eight tenths off the American record, but this looks be a tight finish for the win among these men.
As in the 100 back, the women’s 200 is also talent-packed. White, Bacon, Curzan, Baker, Flickinger, DeLoof, Smoliga and Smith can all make a good play here for victory, with Curzan and Smoliga making a quick transition to the 100 free right after. They lead that event with Brown, Hinds, Dahlia, Nelson, Comerford and Ledecky, where this race will be much closer for the win.
In the men’s 100 free, it's no surprise that Dressel looks untouchable. He’ll be followed by Held, Becker, Maxime Rooney, Stewart, and Kibler — all under :49.