Ella Eastin, Luca Urlando, Ryan Lochte Scratch A Finals on Saturday at PSS

2019 USA SWIMMING PRO SWIM SERIES – GREENSBORO

• November 6th-9th, 2019
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• 50m (LCM)
• Prelims at 9:00AM Eastern Time/Finals at 6:00PM Eastern Time (4:00 Eastern for Wednesday timed finals)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Saturday Finals Heat Sheet

US National Team swimmer Ella Eastin has withdrawn from both of her evening swims on Saturday, the final day of the 2019-2020 Pro Swim Series stop in Greensboro.

On Saturday morning, Eastin finished 13th in prelims of the 100 back in 1:03.57 and 6th in prelims of the 200 IM in 2:15.92, which would have put her in the money-eligible A final in the latter, but has scratched them both ahead of Saturday’s finals session.

In the 200 IM, that means 16-year old Grace Sheble jumps into the A-final. Sheble and her twin sister Caroline missed the first few days of the meet, but did make the 3 hour drive from Richmond in time to race on Saturday.

She was one of 3 swimmers who scratched A final swims on Saturday. Also pulling out is Ryan Lochte, who has impressed this week as he continues his return to elite swimming after a 14-month suspension, scratched out of the A-final in the 200 breast. He was 8th in prelims in 2:19.82, which is his lifetime best – albeit in a race that he hasn’t swum in long course since 2007.

That scratch will allow Lochte to focus on the final of his primary event, the 200 IM, at the end of the session. He was the 4th-fastest swimmer in prelims in 2:04.44, behind Carson Foster, Abrahm Devine, and Luca Urlando.

Urlando was the other swimmer to scratch an A final – he dropped the 200 IM A-final, where he was the 3rd qualifier to finals, in favor of the 100 fly, where he was the 2nd qualifier to finals (53.21). While he’s a lower seed in the 200 IM, the field in that event has ‘bigger names’ and is more comparable to what he might face at next year’s Olympic Trials for a spot on the Team to Tokyo.

Other Scratches:

• Javier Acevedo (9th seed – 56.48), Dylan Carter (12th seed – 56.64), and Jay Litherland (15th seed – 56.92) have all scratched the B final of the men’s 100 back. Litherland will swim in the A final of the men’s 200 IM, Carter will swim the A final of the men’s 100 fly, and Acevedo is done racing for the weekend.
• Simone Manuel scratched out of the women’s 100 fly B final after qualifying 15th in 1:01.87 – about a second short of her best time in the race. That will let her focus on the session-ending 50 free, where she had the fastest time of the morning in 24.96.
• Ruzlan Gaziev scratched the B finals of both the 100 fly (16th qualifier – 56.15) and 50 free (13th qualifier – 23.08). He has no other evening swims.