2023 Pro Swim Series – Knoxville: Cal Group Scratches Last Finals Session

PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

Note: According to USA Swimming, finals tonight will begin at 6:45pm (ET) instead of 6pm due to a technical issue.

The Cal group, including both pro and collegiate athletes, has scratched out of the last night of finals in Knoxville, moving many other athletes up, especially in the men’s events.

18-year-old Kathryn Hazle is out of the 200 IM, where she was seeded 3rd in tonight’s A-final. Alexis Yager now moves up to the A, after getting 9th this morning. In the B, Miranda Tucker and Haley McDonald also scratched, presumably to focus on their events later in the session.

In the men’s 200 IM, Sean Grieshop‘s scratch moves Thomas Cope into the A-final, while Javier Acevedo and Crow Thorsen opted out of the B-final. Andrew Jin, Joel Giraudeau,  and Drew Hitchcock all moved into the B-final as a result.

The women’s 200 back had no scratches in the top 16. The absence of the Cal group takes out Ryan Murphy, Destin Lasco, and Gabriel Jett from the men’s 200 back. Hunter Tapp from NC State also opted out of this event, meaning that Harrison Lierz, Kenneth Barnicle, and Mikolaj Malec are all new additions to the A-final.

The women’s 50 breast also had no scratches in the A, while the men lost Jake Meyer who was seeded 7th. Meyer’s scratch moves Brandon Fischer to the A, while James Lebuke‘s scratch moves Daniel King to the B.

The women’s 100 free A-final will be without Abbey Weitzeil and Katharine Berkoff, who qualified this morning in 1st and 6th, respectively. Natalie Hinds and Bella Sims will  take their place, while Alexa Fulton moves to the B.

The men’s 100 free took a big hit with Cal leaving, as the A-final lost Bjorn Seeliger, Jack Alexy, and Hunter ArmstrongJustin Ress also scratched, meaning Nicolas Albiero, Drew Kibler, Henry McFadden, and Stephen Calkins all moved up to the A.

Other Event Scratches

Men’s 200 Back:

  • #13, Blake Tierney
  • #17, Sebastian Somerset

Women’s 50 Breast:

  • #14, Elizabeth Nawrocki
  • #18, Molly Blanchard
  • #19, Bridget McGann

Men’s 50 Breast:

  • #19, Jason Hamilton
  • #24, Jacques Laeuffe

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Awsi Dooger
1 year ago

That makes sense. I wondered why Murphy was winning a prelim by 3 seconds. Normally he’s a master of judging necessary effort level in each round.

Troyy
1 year ago

So much for Weitzeil being poised to take down the PSS record in the final. I guess she must have given it her all in the prelim.

Eagzforthechip
1 year ago

Alpha move

MIKE IN DALLAS
1 year ago

Anyone care to speculate on why the entire Cal contingent bailed?
Flight? Disappointment? Other?

dscott
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 year ago
  1. Flight arrangements;
  2. @ ASU next Saturday noon local time.
  3. Not sure where the “Disappointment,” note came from; Cal actually swam quite well for a LCM meet at the end of heavy training block in SCY season. They will be “ready” when they need to be.
Admin
Reply to  dscott
1 year ago

MIKE IN DALLAS is a rabid Texas fan. Just keep that in mind and you won’t have as many questions.

MIKE IN DALLAS
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 year ago

Oooops! Mortal sin = rabid Texas fan.
Not a very high brow answer IMHO for ‘Admin’.

ALDASP
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 year ago

Flight sounds like a fairly logical answer here but we shall see

Chachi
1 year ago

Next time someone complains about pro swimming not getting enough airtime, and athletes not getting paid what they should, just rerun this article.

Breezeway
Reply to  Chachi
1 year ago

Exactly!

Hank
1 year ago

This is why no one cares about swimming as a spectator sport. Can’t even rely on the athletes to show up to finals.

Jackson
Reply to  Hank
1 year ago

Or prelims either.

BearlyBreathing
1 year ago

Booo. Now I have to watch football.