2023 U.S. Trials Day 3 Prelims Preview: Grimes Chasing World Champs Berth in 400 IM

2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 27 – July 1, 2023
• Indianapolis, IN
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet (updated version, 6/26)
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• How To Watch
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap

THURSDAY MORNING PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

THURSDAY PRELIMS SESSION INFO

• Start time – 10:00am Eastern Time

EVENT SCHEDULE

• Women’s 400 IM
• Men’s 400 IM
• Women’s 100 fly
• Men’s 100 fly
• Women’s 50 breast
• Men’s 50 breast
• Women’s 50 back
• Men’s 50 back

THURSDAY PRELIMS SCRATCH REPORT

The third day of the 2023 U.S. National Championships will be kicking off shortly in Indianapolis. Today features a fun event lineup, including the 400 IM and 100 fly, as well as the 50 breast and 50 back. Given half the events this morning are 50s, and one of the other two events is a 100, you might be thinking that this will be a short session, however, per the timeline, this is actually projected to be the longest prelims session of the meet. Of course, that’s because there are 15 heats of 400 IMs this morning, which should take a little less than 1.5 hours.

Getting into the meat of this morning’s prelims session, there were a few notable scratches. Most notably, Hali Flickinger has pulled out of the women’s 400 IM. She was the third seed in the event, and her absence actually does a lot to clear a path for Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant, the two swimmers who were seeded ahead of her. Leah Smith also scratched the event, and she was seeded fourth coming into the meet. Now, there is a 3.5-second gap between second-seeded Weyant and now-third-seed Leah Hayes.

Katie Grimes is still chasing a World Championships berth, having finished fifth in the 800 free on Tuesday and ninth in the 200 free on Wednesday. Thankfully for Grimes, the 400 IM is possibly her best event, and she’s the top seed by over four seconds coming into today. Moreover, Grimes won silver in the event at last summer’s World Championships.

In the men’s 400 IM, Carson Foster is looking increasingly good to qualify for World Champs. Foster already won the men’s 200 fly on Tuesday night, and he comes into the 400 IM as the top seed. Chase Kalisz is close behind as the second seed, but there’s a big gap between the top two and third-seed Bobby Finke. We can’t discount Finke, however, as he already had a great swim to win the men’s 1500 on Tuesday night and was off on Wednesday, so he’ll be fresh for this event.

The women’s 100 fly is shaping up to be a great race. Torri Huske, the American Record holder in the event, comes in as the top seed. Huske should still be viewed as the favorite, however, Gretchen Walsh won the women’s 50 fly last night in American Record fashion, so we absolutely can’t count her out in this race. Claire Curzan is the second seed coming into today, and she’s still chasing a World Championships berth. Curzan had a great 200 back last night, but finished third, and she had a disappointing prelims of the 100 free on Tuesday, missing the ‘A’ final. Could the 100 fly be the event where Curzan finally punches her ticket to Fukuoka.

Caeleb Dressel comes into the men’s 100 fly as the top seed, but, at this point we can safely say he’s not likely to win the event. Dressel looked good in the men’s 50 fly last night, but he still finished third, and it just doesn’t seem like he’ll have enough to get over the hump in the 100 fly. Shaine Casas and Michael Andrew are also seeded with 50-points in the event, setting themselves up well. Though, Casas hasn’t been swimming all that well so far this week, so the men’s 100 fly is suddenly looking very open.

MA won the men’s 50 fly last night, so at this point, we should probably view him as the favorite to win the 100 fly today. Dare Rose came in second in the 50 fly last night and is the fifth seed in the 100 coming into the meet, so keep an eye on him.

Lilly King comes into the women’s 50 breast as the top seed after winning the women’s 200 breast last night. Lydia Jacoby is the second seed this morning, having scratched the 200 breast yesterday. That being said, this morning will be our first opportunity to see Jacoby race this week.

Michael Andrew is pulling double-duty today, as he’s in the 50 breast as well as the 100 fly. The US Open Record holder in the event, Andrew already won the 50 fly last night, so perhaps he’ll add another 50 to his World Champs schedule today. MA will have to contend with top seed Nic Fink, however. The American Record holder in the event, Fink is entered with his AR time of 26.45.

Katharine Berkoff enters the women’s 50 backstroke as the top seed. Women’s backstroke is absolutely loaded right now in the U.S., so this should be a great race. Regan Smith is the second seed after swimming a blistering 2:03.80 to win the 200 back last night. Rhyan White, who punched her ticket to Fukuoka last night with a second place finish in the 200 back, comes in as the fourth seed in the 50 back. Olivia Smoliga is the third seed in the 50 back, and she could very easily wind up on top. Smoliga had a great 100 free on Tuesday, swimming a lifetime best.

The men’s 50 back should also be a great race. World Record holder Hunter Armstrong leads the entrants with his WR mark of 23.71. Armstrong should definitely be viewed as the favorite, but he’ll have to contend with fellow sub-:24 Justin Ress (23.92), as well as Ryan Murphy, who won the 200 back last night. A fun twist, 100 free champion Jack Alexy is set to race the 50 back this morning as well.