2022 George Haines International Swim Meet
- June 9 – June 12, 2022
- Santa Clara, CA
- George Haines International Swim Center
- Long Course Meters
- Meet Website
- Psych Sheets
Psych sheets have been released for the 2022 George Haines International Swim Meet, which will run from June 9 – June 12, 2022, in Santa Clara, California. While the US national team is training in Croatia ahead of the 2022 World Championships, the psychs reveal that several elite swimmers are still set to compete at this meet.
One of the most exciting matchups at this meet will likely be between Tom Shields and Andrei Minakov in the men’s 100 butterfly. Minakov and Shields are the top 2 entrants in this event with a 50.83 and 51.03, respectively. Minakov swam that time a few years ago at the Gwangju 2019 World Championships and finished 4th in the Olympic final in 2021 with a 50.88.
Shields’ PB of 51.03 is from back in 2015, but his fastest swim in recent years is the 51.20 he swam at US Olympic Trials in 2021. Shields went on to place 15th in the 100 fly at Tokyo 2020 with a 51.99. Neither of these two men will be racing in Budapest, Minakov because Russia is banned from the meet, and Shields because of his 32nd finish at Trials with a 55.01.
It will be interesting to see what kind of position Shields is in following that 55 in April. Minakov will be the favorite to win this event, but Dare Rose will also be one to watch in the event with his 51.40 entry time.
Stanford swimmer Lillie Nordmann is also featured in the psych sheets this year and is the top seed in the 50 fly, 100 fly, and 200 fly. Nordman was notably absent from US Trials in April 2022 but raced a few weeks later at the CA Nova Speedo Grand Challenge. Nordman placed 3rd in the 200 freestyle (2:00.32), 3rd in the 400 freestyle (4:18.08), 3rd in the 100 fly (1:00.04), and swam a 2:13.21 in the 200 fly prelims but didn’t race the final.
The 2019 200 butterfly World Junior Championships, Lillie Nordmann just wrapped up her first season at Stanford and collected a 4th place finish in the 200 freestyle at NCAAs, along with a silver in the 4×100 freestyle.
Cal is sending a solid squad of men to this meet including 2022 NCAA champion Destin Lasco. Lasco won gold in the 200 backstroke a few months ago, swimming a 1:37.71. Lasco got close to making the World Championships team a few weeks after NCAAs when he posted a 1:57.31 for 5th place at Trials, trailing second-place finisher Shaine Casas’ 1:55.46.
Lasco also landed on the podium in the 200 IM, in which he swam a 1:38.21 for silver to Leon Marchand‘s 1:37.69. Lasco tied Trenton Julian for 4th place at Trials with a 1:58.42 this year and is entered to race the event at the 2022 George Haines meet. He has also entered in the 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, and 200 freestyle.
Other Cal men who come in as top seeds at this meet include Jack Alexy in the 100 freestyle (48.69), Sean Grieshop in the 400 freestyle (3:49.29), and Gabriel Jett in the 200 butterfly (1:56.58) and 200 freestyle (1:48.12).
Emma Weber missed out on getting into any breaststroke finals at US Trials, finishing 9th in both the 50 and 100 breaststrokes and 16th in the 200. She comes into this meet, however, as the top seed in all 3 breaststroke events. In the 100, Weber holds a PB of 1:07.62 from back in 2021, in the 200 she has a 2:29.05 from 2021, and in the 50 she holds a best time of 31.60 from US Trials where she finished in 9th place overall.
Other entrants to keep an eye on in Santa Clara include Colby Mefford, Rachel Klinker, Neil Simpson, Brandon Fischer, Samantha Pearson, and Bailey Hartman.
