2015 Austin Arena Pro Swim Series Psych Sheets: Ryan Lochte to swim first 400 IM since knee injury

(Note: this story is about the Austin Arena Pro Swim Series Events, which was formerly known as the USA Swimming Grand Prix series. You can read about the series’ new name here.)

Psych sheets for the 2015 Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series have been released, and the meet is set up to be a clash of titans in multiple events.

USA Swimming announced many of the American athletes who were entered earlier this week. But one name not in that release was Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, winner of 4 golds at December’s Short Course World Championships and the high-point winner of last year’s Grand Prix circuit.

In typical fashion, Hosszu is entered in every single event in Austin. Pro Swim Series rules used to limit athletes to 7 total events, but for certain pros (including Hosszu), those limits have been lifted, so she is able to swim all of the events if she chooses (much as she did at the Indian Ocean Championships two weeks ago).

Also of note: red-hot U.S. distance star Katie Ledecky will potentially battle Hosszu in several events. Ledecky is set to take on the 200, 400 and 800 frees (where she’s among the world’s best) along with some interesting secondary events: the 100 free, 200 IM, 400 IM and 100 back.

Ledecky has long inspired curiosity about her 400 IM potential, so this race could tell us a lot about whether the Nation’s Capital youngster is looking to add another event to her international lineup (presuming she goes through with swimming the 400 IM in Austin, of course).

The 400 IM on the men’s side could be a big one, too, as multi-time World Champ Ryan Lochte is entered. For Lochte, now 30 years old, this would be his first long course 400 IM in a long while – his last race on record according to the USA Swimming SWIMS database was at the Santa Clara Grand Prix back in 2013.

That means that provided he doesn’t scratch, this would be Lochte’s first 400 IM after the knee injury that cost him much of his 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Some other big names in attendance: Canada has a solid crew, including distance man Ryan Cochrane and Hilary Caldwell. Several of the top college teams have brought their elite swimmers, including California (Ryan Murphy, Noemie Thomas), Texas A&M (Sarah Henry) and Texas (Jack Conger). Other U.S. pros include current series points leaders Elizabeth Beisel and Tyler Clary, among many others. They’ll be joined by some elite age groupers, like NCAP’s Andrew Seliskar and Mission Viejo’s Katie McLaughlin.

USA Swimming also announced via e-mail that prelims will be broken into A and B flights due to the large number of entries. The fastest 7 heats of all events 200 meters or less and the fastest 5 heats of events 400 meters and up will make the A flight, which will swim first. After the A flight of each event has been swum, the remaining heats will swim in the B flight.

Full psych sheets are here

Here’s a quick glance at the event entries for some of the biggest names. All events are long course:

• Nathan Adrian: 50 free, 100 free
• Katinka Hosszu: 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 100 back, 200 back, 100 breast, 200 breast, 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM
• Katie Ledecky: 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 back
• Ryan Lochte: 100 fly, 100 free, 200 free, 400 IM
• Tyler Clary: 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 fly, 400 free
• Conor Dwyer: 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 IM
• Elizabeth Beisel: 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 fly, 200 breast, 200 free, 400 free, 800 free
• Matt Grevers: 100 back, 200 back, 100 free