2022 SPEEDO SECTIONALS
- Thursday, February 10th – Sunday, February 13th
- Rosen Aquatic Center, Orlando, Florida
- LCM (50m)
- Psych Sheets
- Livestream
The 2022 Speedo Sectionals bound for Orlando, Florida kick off tomorrow with several top-tier elite swimmers slated to take to the Rosen Aquatic Center pool.
The meet spans Thursday through Sunday and is long course, giving swimmers a chance to establish a baseline of times for the 2022 calendar year.
We’ve seen the shakeup of the global international racing calendar, with the 2022 World Championships set for Fukuoka, Japan, delayed until next year. Then FINA revealed an inserted replacement 2022 World Championships bound for Budapest.
With the cancellation of January’s Pro Swim Series stop in Knoxville, this is the first big racing opportunity for many non-collegiate swimmers in 2022. As such, athletes are taking advantage of every racing opportunity to tune up their craft ahead of a packed lineup of competitions ultimately headed to Paris 2024.
In Orlando, that means we’ll see both Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel jam their schedules with big-time, as the former will dive in 5 times to the latter’s 6.
Ledecky is entered in the women’s 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m free events in addition to the 400m IM. Dressel is taking on his bread-and-butter sprint events of 50m/100m fly, 50m/100m free, as well as the 200m free and 50m breast
Natalie Hinds, who just rejoined the Florida training group earlier this year, is another one to watch here, leading the women’s 50m fly, 50m free and 100m free. She is also slated to race the 200m free for a 4-event lineup.
Former Florida Gator Mark Szaranek is also entered, as the University of Stirling swimmer is set to take on the 200mfree, 200mIM and 400m IM, the latter of which he is the top seed.
Michael Andrew is once again entered in the 400m IM, an ‘off-event’ for the 22-year-old multi-Olympic finalist as a sign he is still testing out his training regimen.
Andrew raced the 400m IM last month in yards, producing a time of 3:54.16, so we’ll see what he has in store for long course meters.
A surprising entry comes from Canadian 15-year old Summer McIntosh. A native of suburban Toronto, McIntosh is her country’s brightest young talent after finishing 4th in the 400 free at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at just 14 years old. She is the fastest swimmer in that event at her age globally in history, and the fastest Canadian woman ever at any age.
McIntosh is listed as unattached with the Sarasota Sharks and has a single entry, the 100 fly, on her schedule.
Finally, in the age group set, National Age Group record holder Liam Custer has signed himself up for a mega-portfolio of events, spanning the 800m, free, 200mfree, 400mIm, 200m IM, 400m free and 200m fly.
Custer is SwimSwam’s #3 ranked recruit in the boys’ high school class of 2022, bound or Stanford as his college of choice.
I wish Caeleb were doing the 200 IM rather than the 200 free. He just casually did a one-off during ISL and became the 6th fastest man in the 200 IM in (granted, short course) history.
I like how the headline features Hinds instead of MA, but the comment section is the complete opposite.
Can’t wait to see MA in 4 IM LC. Wish I could see it in person!
Excited to see National teamer (Blair Stoneburg), and Jr Team member (Cadence Fort) compete! Both great 800/1500 types and beasts in open water! Future of swimming, and wi the Haley and Ashley retired, may make that worlds trip this year
Upvote if you think Ledecky will go faster than MA in the 400 IM. Downvote if you think MA will be faster.
I think one or both will scratch
Heaviest piano to be dropped on someone’s back…
Where is Giles smith and brad Tandy?
MA is really going in a complete 180