The 2018 Pro Swim Series opens this weekend in Austin, and while the psych sheets include most of the expected pros, they also feature a surprising number of NCAA athletes and some international surprises.
The Pro Swim Series runs in long course meters, and many college swimmers choose to focus on short course yards until the conclusion of college season. But that’s not stopping a wide array of college swimmers from entering the Austin meet. Most of Texas A&M’s top women are in attendance, taking advantage of a high-level meet happening in-state. Some Texas women are on the psych sheets, but most of the big-name Longhorn men don’t appear to be competing. Meanwhile NC State brought down some of its best swimmers, and some big names like Louisville star Mallory Comerford and Cal flyer Quah Zheng Wen will also be competing.
Internationally, there’s a strong Chinese delegation, which is a bit of a surprise. Young distance sensation Li Bingjie is entered, as are flyer Zhang Yufei is entered, freestyler Shen Duo and breaststroker Yan Zibei. Bingjie was the World Champs silver medalist behind Katie Ledecky in Budapest, but won’t get to swim Ledecky head-to-head in Austin.
Full Austin Psych Sheets Here
We’ll start tallying some of the bigger names we see entered below. This is not an exhaustive list. Note others you see in our comment section:
Internationals
- China:
- Li Bingjie
- Zhang Yufei
- Shen Duo
- Yan Zibei
- Zhou Yilin
- Ai Yanhan
- Canada:
- Rebecca Smith
- Taylor Ruck
- Great Britain
- Alys Thomas
- Luke Greenbank
- Chloe Tutton
- Bahamas
- Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace
NCAA Swimmers
- Sydney Pickrem
- Bethany Galat
- Mallory Comerford
- Anton Ipsen
- Quah Zheng Wen
- Zach Harting
- Andreas Vazaios
- Lisa Bratton
- Quinn Carrozza
- Justin Ress
- Ryan Held
- Hannah Moore
- Beryl Gastaldello
- Maxine Wolters
- Genevieve Pfeifer
- Joanna Evans
Pros
- Leah Smith
- Chase Kalisz
- Madisyn Cox
- Tom Shields
- Jack Conger
- Hali Flickinger
- Ryan Murphy
- Jacob Pebley
- Matt Grevers
- Melanie Margalis
- Josh Prenot
- Zane Grothe
- Clark Smith
- Nathan Adrian
- Olivia Smoliga
- Pace Clark
- Katie Meili
- Molly Hannis
- Breeja Larson
- Dana Vollmer
- Sarah Gibson
Notable Age Groupers
- Regan Smith
- Carson Foster
- Reece Whitley
- Michael Andrew
- Jake Foster
- Alexei Sancov
- Dakota Luther
- Claire Tuggle
Yay, AVW’s back! Also surprised to see Meili (thought she was out for now with grad school).
Also, sorry if I am misinformed, but I thought Ai Yanhan was suspended for doping?
No ai yanhan has never been suspended for doping.
Ai Yanhan isn’t suspended. You might be remembering reports that one of her previous coaches is currently suspended because one of his other athletes failed a test: https://swimswam.com/chinese-coach-liu-haitao-suspended-liu-zixuans-doping-ban/
Thanks for correcting me Jared!
Before talking if Li Bingjie can be of any threat to Katie Ledecky she has to prove if she can be faster than Leah Smith. These swimmers will swim head-to-head and if they take it personally we may see an interesting competition and good times. It reminds me the race between Katie Ledecky and Sarah Sjostrom at 200 in the same pool couple years ago. Katie paid special attention to this meet trying to prove that her title at this distance wasn’t just lucky circumstances.
I anticipate with the interest W200FR competition. Great company: Leah Smith, Shen Duo, Margalis, Comerford, Ruck, Li Bingjie. They aren’t leaders at this distance but this race can be a great indirect indicator of… Read more »
When did Ashley Neidigh decide to move to Mission Viejo? I thought Indiana was working well for her, anyone have any ideas?
It seems like Zane Grothe also moved to MVN? Whats going on here?
At 46 years of age, I will be the oldest male swimmer by nineteen years at the meet in Austin. I am the USMS M45-49 national record holder in the LCM 50 Breast and SCM 50 Free and 100 IM. I will be swimming the 50 and 100 Breast, the 200 IM and the 50 Free. I was second in the 100 Breast, 200 IM and 50 Free and fourth in the 50 Breast at FINA Masters World Championships in August . I have been 24.63 in the LCM 50 Free and the national record is 24.29 by Paul Smith in 2006. Russian Vladimir Predkin holds the world record at 23.98 set in 2014. It is quite a thrill to… Read more »
Good luck bro! Have fun!!
Thanks. It would be nice if SwimSwam helped elevate the competitive side of US Masters Swimming by taking note. They have categories for “Internationals”, “Pros”, “NCAA” and “Notable Age Groupers”. I think “Masters” swimmers who can qualify for such a meet deserve recognition, too. I was pretty excited when I realized I made the cut in the 100 yard breast: 57.69. In 1992, while swimming for Yale, I went 56.77 off a relay and 58.44 flat start. So here I am 25 years later swimming faster than in college. I also went 20.89 in the 50 free in college and last year at USMS Spring Nationals I went 21.33. And that’s after not hitting the pool for 18 years! That’s… Read more »
I’m looking forward to seeing MP go 46 (in the LCM 1free) at 46 y.o. 😉
46 at 46 should be his mantra!
Best of luck, Siphiwe – have fun!
One counter point – unless you are training at a tiny rec pool, you probably have better facilities now than you did at Yale. (Sorry, couldn’t help the dig;-)
But Kiphuth Pool is amazing! LOL
That’s very encouraging and inspiring. I myself am in my 20s, and never finished up my NCAA eligibility. I am very much still in love with the sport, and am very confident that I will be able to reach best times whenever I decide to commit to a consistent practice schedule. I might even try finishing school one day in a D2 setting. There was an article about a women in her 30s on here that was very encouraging.
So cool!
When do they announce the swimsquad lineups? I assume it will be sometime soon. It might be fun to speculate who they will choose. They get one per stroke, including IM and one flex pick, correct?
Thanks for the meet preview and psych sheets. Could add Kayla Sanchez’s name to the Canadian women’s contingent. Looking forward to the meet. 🙂
PS – Jade Hannah too.
And Faith Knelson, all going to Commonwealth Games
How’d we miss this. Zane Grothe swimming UN-MVN?
All of the Indiana pros seem to be listed as the same. My guess is a NYAC/badger set up. They are definitely still training at Indiana.
So they are. So what’s in it for MVN? What’s in it for IU? I assume what’s in it for the athletes is $$
I don’t see any benefit to mvn or Indiana. Just the athletes imo
I hope Comerford and Ruck get to swim the 200m. That would be interesting.