Sandpipers Sims, Grimes, and Weinstein Headline 2023 Fran Crippen SMOC Psych Sheets

2023 CA FRAN CRIPPEN SWIM MEET OF CHAMPIONS

• April 13-16, 2023
• Marguerite Aquatic Center, Mission Viejo, CA
• Hosted by Mission Viejo Nadadores
• LCM (50 meters)
• Psych Sheet

PSYCH SHEET

Mission Viejo Nadadores is set to host the annual Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions (SMOC) this week at the Marguerite Aquatic Center. The prelims/finals meet is set to kick off on Thursday (4/13) and will run through Sunday (4/16).

ORDER OF EVENTS

THURSDAY (4/13)

• 200 Medley Relay
• 1500 Free
• 200 Free Relay

FRIDAY (4/14)

• 50 Back
• 200 Fly
• 100 Free
• 200 Breast
• 400 Free
• 400 Free Relay

SATURDAY (4/15)

• 50 Breast
• 200 Free
• 200 Back
• 50 Free
• 400 IM
• 800 Free Relay

SUNDAY (4/16)

• 50 Fly
• 100 Breast
• 100 Back
• 100 Fly
• 200 IM
• 800 Free
• 400 Medley Relay

This year’s SMOC is running at the same time as the Pro Swim Series in Westmont, IL, but even so, there are plenty of elite swimmers set to compete in Mission Viejo this week. Perhaps most notably, the Sandpipers of Nevada have elected to send all their swimmers to SMOC, rather than sending some to the Pro Swim Series. As such, 2022 World Championships medalists Bella Sims, Claire Weinstein, and Katie Grimes are all set to be in attendance.

All three Sandpipers stars are entered in six events this week. Starting with Bella Sims, who is set to swim the 200 fly, 400 free, 200 free, 400 IM, 100 breast, and 800 free. She comes in as the top seed in the 200 free, 400 free, and 800 free. Notably, Sims is seeded second in the 200 fly and 400 IM, coming in behind Grimes in both events. Sims is also set to swim the 100 breast, where she is seeded way down on the psych sheet with her yards personal best of 1:04.12. Her LCM personal best currently sits at 1:19.12, a time which she swam last May. Given her yards personal best, we can expect to see Sims drop from that 1:19.12, however, the question is whether she’ll be able to make some noise in the event.

Katie Grimes is entered in the 1500 free, 200 fly, 200 breast, 200 free, 400 IM, and 800 free. Of note, she’s opting not to swim the 400 free at this meet, even though she’s set to race the 200 and 800 frees. As previously stated, Grimes is the top seed in the 200 fly and 400 IM. She’s also the top seed in the 1500 free, coming in 31 seconds ahead of the #2 seed, which happens to be Weinstein. Grimes is currently the #2 performer in the world this year in the women’s LCM 1500 free, having swum a 15:56.27 back in March.

Maybe the most interesting event for Grimes will be the 400 IM, however. Grimes is possibly the USA’s top women’s 400 IMer currently, having swum a 4:32.67 at the World Championships last summer. On the heels of fellow teenage star Summer McIntosh setting a new World Record in the event about two weeks ago with a 4:25.87, all eyes will now shift towards Grimes, who probably has the best chance of anyone in world at challenging McIntosh in the event this summer at the World Championships.

Claire Weinstein is swimming a similar lineup to Grimes. She’s also set to swim the 1500 free, 200 fly, 400 IM, and 800 free. Where they differ is that Weinstein is also swimming the 400 free, as well as the 200 back. Her top seeds come in the 400 free and 1500 free, where she is seed seconds in both. Weinstein is also the #3 seed in the 800 free.

Fellow Sandpiper Macky Hodges, who is now deep into her first season with the team, is another name to watch. Hodges, who has traditionally been a bit more of a sprint/shorter distance-oriented swimmer, is swimming a distance-heavy lineup this week. She’s only entered in four events, but those events are the 1500 free, 400 free, 200 back, and 800 free. Her lifetime bests in the 800 free, 1500 free, and 200 back were all set this year, with the 200 back and 800 free coming at the Knoxville Pro Swim Series in January, and the 1500 free coming at the Fort Lauderdale PSS in early March.

Trenton Julian is seeded in seven individual events this week. Of those events, he comes in as the top seed in one, the men’s 200 IM. Julian has improved greatly in his LCM racing over the last few years, rising up to the level of being one of the top American men in a number of events now. Julian has a lifetime best of 1:57.86 in the LCM 200 IM, though he’s seeded with a 2:00.08.

On top of the 200 IM, Julian is set to swim the 200 breast, 400 free, 50 breast, 50 free, 400 IM, and 100 breast. It’s an interesting lineup for Julian, featuring some events we rarely see him swim. For example Julian hasn’t raced the LCM 100 breast often in recent years, however, he did set a new career best of 1:05.15 earlier this year. Similarly, Julian hadn’t raced the LCM 50 free since 2015, that is until earlier this year, when he clocked a new career best of 23.64. According to USA Swimming’s database, Julian hasn’t raced an LCM 50 breast since 2014, when he was just 15 years old.

Fresh off her freshman season at USC, Justina Kozan is entered in the meet as well. Kozan is swimming a thin lineup, only having entered in the women’s 100 free and 200 free. She comes in as the second seed in the 100 free, while she’s #3 in the 200 free, where she’s trailing Bella Sims and Katie Grimes.

16-year-old Teagan O’Dell out of Mission Viejo is set to swim five events this weekend. O’Dell is the top seed in the women’s 100 free, coming in just ahead of Kozan. She also leads the psych sheet in the women’s 100 back, where she’s the top seed by a sizable margin. O’Dell is set to race the 200 free, 50 free, and 200 IM as well.

La Mirada Armada 14-year-old Kayla Han is another name to keep an eye on. The rising star is set to race in the women’s 1500 free, 200 fly, 400 free, 200 free, 400 IM, 100 breast, and 200 IM. Han comes in as the #3 seed in the 1500 free and 400 IM.

Evolution Racing Club 18-year-old David Schmitt is all over the top of the men’s psych sheet in fly events. Schmitt, a Harvard recruit, leads the psych sheet in the men’s 100 fly and 200 fly. He swam his lifetime bests of 53.32 and 1:58.82 respectively at Summer Junior Nationals last summer, both of which were fast enough for Schmitt to earn top seeds for this meet. He’s also set to swim the 50 fly, 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free.