Hali Flickinger Scratches 800 Free at Pro Swim Series – Knoxville

2020 PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

There are a handful of top 10 scratches for the first day of the 2020 Pro Swim Series that kicks off Thursday in Knoxville, Tennessee. The meet marks the opener of the new Pro Swim Series season and a return to Knoxville as part of the new-feel Pro Swim Series. Racing for the first day of competition begins at 4PM Eastern and will feature the women’s and men’s 800 freestyles (which are both now Olympic events). For the final 3 days of the meet, the evening sessions will begin at 6:30 Eastern.

In the women’s race, the biggest scratch is that of the 4th seed Hali Flickinger. Flickinger  hasn’t swum this race more than a couple of times each season since the end of her high school career in 2012, but did post a lifetime best last season in March at the Pro Swim Series stop in Des Moines. Her time of 8:29.96 from that meet ranked her in the top 30 in the world last season, even without a taper swim. Flickinger, who is now training at Arizona State as part of Bob Bowman’s post-grad group, has 8 other entries at the meet. She’s also scheduled for the 200 free, 100 fly, 400 IM, her specialty event the 200 fly, 100 back, 400 free, 200 IM, and 200 backstroke.

Erica Sullivan, Mariah Denigan, and Emma Weyant, all teenagers, are the top 3 seeds in the women’s race.

Also scratching the women’s 800 free is the 8th seed Bella Sims from Sandpipers of Nevada and 10th seed Claire Tuggle from DART. Both Sims, 14, and Tuggle, 15, are Olympic Trials qualifiers – among the youngest competitors eligible for that meet.

The only high-seed scratch in the men’s 800 free is Egyptian swimmer Akaram Mahmoud, who was the 2nd seed behind Zane Grothe. Mahmoud represented his native country at the 2019 World Championships where he finished 19th in his only event, the 1500 free. He currently trains at NC State in the Wolfpack Elite post-grad group.

 

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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