Bobby Finke and Leah Smith Scratch the 800 FR: PSS Fort Lauderdale Day 4 Scratch Report

2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – FORT LAUDERDALE

SATURDAY PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

The final prelims session of the 2023 Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale is almost here. This morning, we’ll have prelims of the 100 back, 200 breast, 100 fly, 200 IM, and 50 free. There will also be timed finals of the 800 freestyles today as well.

As was the case earlier in the meet, we have a number of scratches to report for this morning’s session. For this report, we’ll be sticking to scratches within the top 20 seeds.

Perhaps most notably, top seed Bobby Finke has pulled out of the 800 free today. Finke was entered with a 7:39.36, which he swam last summer and is the American Record in the event. Florida pro teammate Kieran Smith also pulled out of the 800. Smith was the tenth seed in the event, coming in with an 8:02.13.

Fernando Scheffer, the 15th seed, and Amadeusz Knop, the 17th seed, also scratched the men’s 800 free today.

The women’s 800 free only had 19 swimmers entered in it to begin with, but it still had four scratches. Most notably, American veteran freestyler Leah Smith pulled out of the race. Smith was the second seed, coming in with an 8:17.52. Tamila Holub, a Portuguese star distance swimmer, also pulled out of the event. She was the fourth seed with an 8:34.25.

Megan Willar and Lydia Kilger, the 11th and 13th seeds respectively, also scratched the women’s 800 free.

Krystal Lara was entered in the women’s 100 back and 100 fly today but scratched both events. Lara was the 20th seed in the 100 back and seeded 16th in the 100 fly. She was also the swimmer seeded in the top 20 in either event to scratch this morning.

The men’s 100 back saw 11th-seeded Liam White pull out of the event. Canadian star Finlay Knox was seeded 15th in the event but also scratched.

In the men’s 100 fly, Djurdje Matic was the only top 20 seed to scratch. He was entered as the 14th seed in the event.

The men’s 50 free saw a number of high seeds scratch as well. Jokubas Keblys, the eighth seed in the event, has scratched. Ian Ho, the tenth seed, also pulled out, as well as 19th-seed Peter Varsaji.

Julia Mansson, the eighth seed in the women’s 200 breast, has scratched.

The men’s 200 IM saw 18th-seed Aidan Paro and 20th-seed Krzysztof Matuszewski scratch this morning.

Nicole Frank was seeded 18th in the women’s 200 IM but has pulled out of the event.

The women’s 50 free and men’s 200 breast didn’t have any swimmers seeded in the top 20 scratch the event.

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chickenlamp
1 year ago

K. Smith and L. Smith both dropped the 800 free for 200 IM this morning, but Finke doesn’t have any other events today. Might have left the meet early?