Michael Phelps Entered in Three Events, Including 100 Back, at 2014 Bulldog Grand Slam

The psych sheets have been released for the 2014 Bulldog Grand Slam that will be hosted in Athens, Georgia from July 10th-13th.

This meet will bring together some of the great clubs from around the state of Georgia and in the whole of the eastern United States, including the Dynamo Swim Club, Club Wolverine, NBAC, SwimMAC Carolina, SwimAtlanta, the Bolles School, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and the hosts of the Athens Bulldog Swim Club.

See Psych Sheets here.

Included among the athletes present are a dozen-or-more who could qualify in early August to represent the United States at the 2014 Pan Pac Championships, and for most of those swimmers, this will be a final tuneup before Nationals.

Count among the stars of the meet Michael Phelps, who according to official psych sheets released today will be entered in three events: the 100 fly, the 100 backstroke, and the 100 free. We’ve seen a couple of swims each from him in the 100 fly and the 100 free, but this will be his first shot at the 100 backstroke since returning to competition in April. Remember that when he was younger, Phelps was one of the best backstrokers in the world before deciding to focus on the butterfly events almost (but not entirely) exclusively at major meets.

For those curious, Phelps’ lifetime best in the 100 back in long course is a 53.01 at the 2007 USA Swimming National Championships. A 53.01 would probably come close to medaling at this year’s Pan Pac Championships. His last time swimming the race in long course was a 55.45 at the 2012 Austin Grand Prix.

He’ll get a good challenge in all of those events. In the 100 fly, he’s the 3rd seed behind rival Ryan Lochte and NCAA All-American Tim Phillips.

That brings up the other superstar of the meet, Lochte. He’s entered in 7 events, but when we spoke to his coach David Marsh earlier this week, they still weren’t certain how many of those would hold up. As he continues to try and recover from a knee injury in late 2013, we can say with some certainty that he’s unlikely to swim all 7. For now, those entries are (in meet order): the 200 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 400 free, 200 IM, 200 back, and 100 free.

The 100 free is shaping up to be a great race. Besides Phelps and Lochte, also entered are names like Karl Krug, Conor Dwyer, Cullen Jones, and Yannick Agnel.

Also in the 100 free, along with the 50 free, the 200 free, the 100 fly, and the 100 back, is Bolles swimmer Caeleb Dressel. He shocked the world with his performances in yards in December, the best ever seen in the sprints in that course, and then almost entirely disappeared for 6 months. He’s slowly been working his times back to where they had been last year, but the clock is ticking on his chances to be competitive for either the 2014 Pan Pacs team or the 2014 Jr. Pan Pacs team.

Another swimmer who, according to psych sheets at least, will be returning from injury is Nick Thoman. The 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the 100 back is entered in only two events: the 100 back and the 100 free. He hasn’t swum a meet since the Austin Grand Prix, after which he dislocated his shoulder in February. He also skipped last year’s World Championship Trials while on a break, choosing to swim at the U.S. Open simply to ensure a spot on the National Team, so it’s been an extended break for the SwimMAC pro. The fact that he’s racing next weekend in Athens, though, indicates that he’ll probably be at this summer’s Nationals, otherwise there would be no reason to push his shoulder now.

Aside from that, there’s a lot of swimmers with a lot of entries at this meet, but it’s hard to draw many conclusions at this stage because so many swimmers are obviously over-entered. We’ll take a crack at a pre-meet preview as the event draws nearer next week.