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
We only have a handful of scratches in the opt 24 to report for Thursday morning’s prelims session at the 2023 U.S. National Championships. However, at least one of those scratches is huge.
Hali Flickinger has pulled out of the women’s 400 IM. The move by the 28-year-old veteran comes after she DNS (did not swim) the 200 free in prelims on Tuesday morning. The presumption was that Flickinger decided to DNS the 200 free in an effort to go all-in on the 400 IM, but that clearly isn’t the case. Of note, Flickinger came in seventh in the 200 fly final on Tuesday night after coming into the meet as a favorite to finish in the top two and earn another World Championships berth.
Flickinger won the 400 IM at the SC World Championships in Melbourne this past December. She was entered third at this meet with a 4:36.46, which put her just 0.46 seconds behind second-seeded Emma Weyant. With the scratch, Flickinger now just has the 400 free left on her event schedule for this meet, but the way things have progressed in the past 24 hours, it seems like she might be done with the meet.
Not only did Flickinger scratch the women’s 400 IM, fourth-seed Leah Smith has also pulled out of the race. Coming in with a 4:36.66 seed time, Smith was right in the thick of it on the psych sheet. Smith has had an up-and-down meet so far. She finished fourth in the women’s 800 free on Tuesday night, which was an event where she had very real potential to earn a spot on the World Championships team, like she did last year. Having missed the team in the 800 free on Tuesday night, Smith then came back on Wednesday in the women’s 200 free, finishing sixth with a 1:56.91. As the sixth-place finisher, Smith is very likely, though not guaranteed, to make the World Champs roster as a member of the women’s 4×200 free relay.
The move by Smith to scratch the 400 IM would seemingly indicate she’s pushing all her eggs into one basket, the 400 free, to attempt to qualify for Worlds individually. There is a strong case to be made that the 400 free is Smith’s best event historically, and she put up good times in both the 200 and 800 free already this week, so if that’s what Smith is doing, it would be very understandable.
Speaking of 400 IM scratches, the men’s 400 IM saw David Johnston pull out of the event. Johnston was seeded fourth in the 400 IM, coming in with a seed time of 4:13.24. That time stands as Johnston’s personal best in the event. Though Johnston as the fourth seed in the event, he was actually a ways off from the top seeds. Carson Foster comes in as the top seed with a 4:06.56, while Chase Kalisz is second in 4:07.47, and Bobby Finke is third in 4:10.57. Given that, it was going to be an uphill battle for Johnston to qualify for Worlds in the event.
After a fourth-place finish in the men’s 1500 on Tuesday night, it would seem Johnston is going to focus on his freestyle races, of which he still has the 400 free and 800 free left on his schedule.
Annie Lazor has scratched the women’s 50 breast after finishing in a distant third in the 200 breast on Wednesday night. Lazor had already announced that this would be her last meet of her career as a swimmer, and she’s already set to begin her coaching career at Florida after the meet is over. The 50 breast has always been Lazor’s worst of the three breast events, so it appears Lazor is scratching it to focus on the 100 breast.
Of course, Kaii Winkeler is out of the meet after sustaining an injury. He was the 17th seed in the men’s 100 fly coming into the meet.
Sims didn’t swim her events today either, is she resting up for the 400 tomorrow?
Pick ‘em contest 3rd day scores 📉
Toast
Um… Did Jacoby just pull out of the meet? She posted an insta story saying see you next year USA swimming for 2024 trials 🧐
Sincerely hope not
She posted a picture of the venue next year for trials. I don’t think she’s pulling out of the meet.
No, I think she was just posting a picture of the venue for 2024 trials (which are in same city, but different location than these ones iirc)
Okay this would make sense, I thought it’d be at the same pool 🤷🏻♀️
They’re doing Trials next year at the football stadium, not at IUPUI. While IUPUI has a still-world class competition pool and decent seating, the rest of the facility is woefully undersized for a meet like Olympic Trials.
She didn’t scratch the 50 breast (not as of 10am anyway).
My favorite swimmer on the women’s side :/ hopefully she rebound nicely in the coming year
So ……… Regan Smith will proceed with the 100 FL/50 BK double.
Really excited for the women’s 50 back…kind of wish it came before the 100 Fly though to see what Gretchen could do fully fresh. Will be a tight double. Berkoff could do something special here too.
It’s a tight double for Regan Smith, as well.
Katharine Berkoff will have the advantage of not having to swim the 400 IM or the 100 FL.
Darn, bummed for both Flickinger and Leah Smith. Wonder why Leah Smith would scratch the 400 IM, too? I think she had a good shot.
Leah Smith is probably saving her energy for the 400 FR on the following day.
Probably feels her 400m free is in a better shape but with the way Claire swam the 200 and also a huge PB in the 800 I am having her as a favorite for the 400 behind Katie.
I follow Flickinger on Instagram. In recent weeks she was posting more about real estate than swimming. Consequently I didn’t expect much from her. I hope she can regain the motivation next year.
Swimmers dont have to post about swimming on their social media to show that they care about it. It is the training in the pool that matters.