TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE
- January 11-14, 2022
- Allan Jones Aquatic Center, Knoxville, Tennessee
- LCM (50 meters), Prelims/Finals
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream (USA Swimming)
- Day 1 Finals Heat Sheet
A total of five swimmers have scratched out of the 800 freestyle on the opening day of the Pro Swim Series event in Knoxville, which will be the lone event contested on Wednesday afternoon.
Two of those scratches come out of the fastest heat in the men’s race, as #5 seed Marwan El Kamash and #8 ranked Joey Tepper have both withdrawn.
El Kamash, a 29-year-old two-time Olympian for Egypt, was seeded with a time of 7:52.19—one he set en route to victory at the 2020 U.S. Open—while he was even faster this past summer at the 2022 World Championships in 7:52.08, placing 13th overall.
Tepper, currently in his junior year at Tennessee, held the eighth seed with his personal best time of 8:04.65, set at the 2022 U.S. International Team Trials where he tied for eighth.
With those two top-eight scratches, 17-year-old Ilya Kharun of the Sandpipers of Nevada and 20-year-old Jake Narvid out of Tennessee have been bumped up into the fastest heat.
Olympic gold medalist Bobby Finke is the top seed in the event, and he’ll go head-to-head with some heavy-hitters including 400 free Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui, newly-minted short course 400 free world champion Kieran Smith, and two other top U.S. performers in the event over the last few years, Michael Brinegar and Charlie Clark.
17th seed Henry McFadden (8:19.52) is the other swimmer to withdraw from the men’s race.
On the women’s side, the only two scratches come from 17th seed Maren Conze (8:55.95) and 20th seed Chloe Mudadu (9:02.44).
The Sandpipers of Nevada trio of Katie Grimes, Bella Sims and Claire Weinstein occupy the middle three lanes and should have an excellent battle in the fastest heat of the women’s race.
FULL WEDNESDAY SCRATCH LIST
Women’s Race
- #17 Maren Conze, Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- #20 Chloe Mudadu, Sandpipers of Nevada
Men’s Race
- #5 Marwan El Kamash, Egypt
- #8 Joey Tepper, University of Tennessee
- #17 Henry McFadden, Jersey Wahoos
i don’t remember the last time I was excited for a distance free race (distance not my thing), but Finke, Hafnaoui, Smith, Clark and Brinegar is a heck of a lineup to be sure