Cox, Eastin Scratch 200 Free in Mesa to Focus on 400 IM Battle

• Mesa, Arizona
• April 13 – 15, 2017
• Series Points/Money after Indy
• Live stream
• Psych sheets
• Friday prelims heat sheets and timeline
• Live results

8th seed Madisyn Cox and 9th seed Ella Eastin have scratched the 200 free tonight in Mesa, which means that 10th seed Lauren Case will be bumped up into the A final. This move points to a focus on the 400 IM, where Eastin and Cox are seeded 4th and 5th, respectively. A win won’t come easy for either woman, with Katie Ledecky up at the top seed and young Canadian standout Mary-Sophie Harvey right on her heels. They will also tangle with the likes of 3rd seed Melanie Margalis, who typically sticks to the 200 IM but is certainly a threat at this level.

Brooke Forde (seeded 14th) and Nicole Oliva (2:05.59) also took their names out of the 200 free, as Forde is likely looking to be more competitive in the 400 IM A final. 28th seed Riley Scott and 29th seed McKenna Meyer, too, scratched the women’s 200 free.

Also scratching out of A finals tonight are Zach Harting and Jacob Pebley. Harting was the 7th seed in the 400 IM, but he’s going to focus on solely the 200 free tonight, where he has lane 2 in the B final. Pebley, meanwhile, dipped out of the 200 free, where he was the 7th seed there. He’s got the 200 back, where he was the only man under 2:00 this morning (1:58.98).

Matt Grevers, who was just 23.43 this morning for 19th, won’t race tonight in the C final. He has the 100 back tomorrow, his best race. Also scratching the 50 free was Cristian Quintero, who will fight for a win in the 200 free.

Other scratches

• 400 IM
  • Women: Sydney Carlson (19th, 5:03.41)
  • Men: Chris Yeager (24th, 4:43.50), Trent Godfrey (29th, 4:48.37)
• 200 back
  • Women: Bailey Nero (22nd, 2:21.69), Haley McIntosh (26th, 2:23.50)
  • Men: Caleb Harrington (19th, 2:11.27), Henrique Rodrigues (20th, 2:11.30)