Kelsi Worrell Leaves 100 Free on the Table for Over-Entered ACC Champs

Psych sheets have been published for the 2016 ACC Championship meet, and the defending double butterfly NCAA Champion is entered in four events, much like she was in 2015.

Full Psych Sheets here.

Specifically, Worrell is entered in the 100 fly and 200 fly, where she’s the defending national champion; the 50 free, that she swam at NCAA’s last year; and the 100 free in which she’s the defending ACC Champion, but didn’t race at NCAA’s.

This is the same lineup of 4 events that she entered at last year’s meet when she ultimately wound up swimming the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly – and took victories in the latter two and a runner-up finish in the former. 2016, however, brings a different perspective as she enteres the meet as the defending NCAA Champion in the 200 fly.

Also appearing on the psych sheets is Virginia’s Kaitlyn Jones. Jones broke the school record in the 100 fly at her team’s mid-season invite, but then broke her hand in warmups. She’s made one appearance so far in 2016, swimming at the team’s last meet against North Carolina State and UNC. In those races, she swam 54.15 in the 100 fly, 1:59.56 in the 200 fly, and 2:00.32 in the 200 IM. While those are well short of her season-bests, they’re not abnormally so for this time of year, and she’s already earned an NCAA qualification thanks to an “A” time in the 200 IM prior to her injury in December.

Jones is entered in the 100 fly, the 200 fly, the 200 IM, and the 400 IM at ACC’s, and is the top seed in both IM’s. She’s also the #2 seed in the 100 fly, where in-form she’s the best candidate to challenge Worrell for the title. The 400 IM and 100 fly fall back-to-back in the event schedule, and so that’s where the most likely drop will come.

Other notables:

• Defending NCAA Champion in the 500 and 1650 Leah Smith will try to defend her ACC titles in the three longest freestyles: the 200, 500, and 1650.
• Double ACC backstroke champ from 2015 Courtney Bartholomew will swim the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM this season. She scored 91 individual points at last year’s ACC Championship meet (on C-Final scoring)