COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – More than 500 swimmers are set to compete this week at the 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont. The long-course meters event is scheduled to take place April 12-15 in Westmont, Illinois at the FMC Natatorium. 

Headlining the psych sheet is a plethora of Olympic champions, including Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./Gator Swim Club), Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Texas) and Chase Kalisz (Baltimore, Md./Sun Devil Swimming). These athletes are among the 41 U.S. National Team members slated to compete at the most-highly attended TYR Pro Swim Series meet this year. 

During the inaugural TYR Pro Swim Series stop in Westmont last year, 17-year-old National Team member Leah Hayes (Sugar Grove, Ill./Fox Valley Park District) broke on to the elite swimming scene with wins in the 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley. She returns to swim in these and three additional events  Other Illinois talents registered for the meet include Olympic gold medalists Olivia Smoliga (Glenview, Ill./Sun Devil Swimming) and Ryan Held (Springfield, Ill./New York Athletic Club/Sun Devil Swimming). 

Wednesday’s finals and Saturday’s finals, along with all prelim sessions, will be streamed on www.usaswimming.org/watch. Prelims take place Thursday through Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. CT while finals will be at 5 p.m. CT Wednesday and 6 p.m. for the Thursday-Saturday sessions.

Before racing kicks off, here are five things to look for in Westmont: 

• Collegiate champions in action: Fresh off the NCAA Swimming Championships last month, look for some of the biggest stars of those meets to descend on Westmont, including National Team members Destin Lasco (Linwood, N.J./California) and Luke Hobson (Reno Nevada/Texas), as well as Arizona State’s multi-event winner and NCAA-record holder Leon Marchand of France. 
• Sprinting stars: Look for National Teamers Abbey Weitzeil (Santa Clara, Calif./California Aquatics), Erika Brown (Modesto, Calif./Tennessee Aquatics), Natalie Hinds (Midland, Texas/Gator Swim Club), Gabi Albiero (Louisville, Ky./Cardinal Aquatics) and Smoliga to headline the short distance freestyle events. 
• Opportunities in distance events: With Katie Ledecky and the Sandpipers of Nevada distance swimmers notably absent from the psych sheet, the door is open for new talent to emerge on the distance side, particularly in the women’s field. 
• Backstroke strength: The fields of the backstroke events read like a venerable who’s who in the sport  with TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale champions Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Sun Devil Swimming), Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./California Aquatics), and Hunter Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/California Aquatics), as well as Phoebe Bacon (Chevy Chase, Md./Wisconsin Aquatics/Nation’s Capital Swim Club), Katharine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./NC State/Missoula Aquatic Club) and Shaine Casas (McAllen, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) among those slated to compete. 
• Continuing the momentum: Look for Michael Andrew (Encinitas, Calif/MA Swim Academy) to build on his 50 breaststroke and 50 butterfly wins from the previous TYR Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Smith will also look to build on her 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly wins in Florida as well. Breaststroke stalwart Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) will also look to repeat her stroke sweep in Westmont. 

The TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont marks the competition’s third stop in 2023, following the series meets in Knoxville, Tennessee in January and Fort Lauderdale, Florida in March. The four-part competition brings back the 50m events for the first time since 2019.