There have been four scratches of significance for the third day of the 2014 Pan Pac Championships in the Gold Coast, Australia.
All four come from the 400 freestyles. In the women’s race, Australian Madeline Groves, along with Americans Elizabeth Beisel and Haley Anderson have dropped out of the women’s 400 free. While not a primary event for any of those three women, all three had a chance at being one of their country’s top three finishers and earning a second swim in finals.
The other comes in the men’s 400 free, where Canadian Eric Hedlin has dropped the race. He was the 18th seed overall coming in and is Canada’s second-best. He had a shot at making the finals in that race with a lifetime best.
Other than that, the early indicators are that most of the races for day 3 will remain fully entered and intact, including the men’s 100 fly where the Americans have the top five seeds.
The races in prelims on the third day of the meet will be the 100 fly, the 400 free, the 200 back, with a timed final of the 400 free relay being swum in the evening session.
Beisel makes the necessary tough call. Had she not slipped on the start in Irvine and posted the time she was capable of, she would have had the luxury of doing the 400 knowing her 2Back was likely out of reach. But now her chances of leapfrogging the rapidly-improving Baker to get top 2 in the back, while also bettering Runge’s 4:04, are slim, or at least too risky. Good call.
Agreed. Smart choice, smart call. And she can’t wait for those new backstroke starting blocks to get approved.
Her 400 free, while decent, is not world-class and she really had no shot at anything other than the chance to do a best time. The 200 back has been her staple since age 13, so she’s much better off focusing on one event for the day.