USA Swimming Releases Updated Psych Sheet for PSS With Many Scratches

PRO SWIM SERIES – SAN ANTONIO (#2)

• March 3-7, 2021
• North East ISD Blossom Athletic Complex, San Antonio, TX
• LCM
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Session Timelines
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Live Stream (Olympic Channel)
• Start Times (Central Time): Women’s Prelims: 10 AM / Men’s Prelims: 90 minutes after women’s prelims (between 12:45-1:00) / Finals: 6:00 PM

USA Swimming has released an updated version of psych sheets for this week’s Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio, Texas and there have been a spate of scratches.

This was not unexpected based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and there will likely be more no-shows throughout the week.

Among the big names that are scratching are a number of male swimmers from Pac-12 schools. With this year’s Pac-12 Championships moved to Houston, Texas, about a 3-hour drive from San Antonio, there were some hopeful entries from Pac-12 swimmers.

The Pac-12 Championships wrap on Wednesday which means swimmers could have arrived in time for Thursday’s morning session, but the vast majority of them have pulled out.

That includes Reece Whitley, Bryce Mefford, Daniel Carr, Trenton Julian, Zach Yeadon, and Sean Grieshop from Cal, plus US National Teamer Daniel Roy from Stanford.

There was some thought that the Cal swimmers might try to race, given that at least once previously, Dave Durden has actually had his top swimmers skip the Pac-12 Championships for a Pro Swim event.

One Pac-12 swimmer, Harry Homans of USC, is still entered for this weekend’s Pro Swim, where he’s seeded 2nd in the 200 IM, 11th in the 200 fly, 5th in the 200 back, and 18th in the 100 fly. He’s swimming a short course 200 fly on Wednesday at Pac-12s.

At least one big name from the women’s Pac-12 Championships that ended Sunday, Stanford’s Brooke Forde, is still intending to swim in San Antonio this week. Cal’s Izzy Ivey, another Olympic hopeful, is not entered.

Other Big Names that have scratched on the latest psych sheets:

• 14-year old distance phenom Claire Weinstein will still race, but has swapped an entry in Wednesday’s 1500 free for one in the 100 free on Thursday morning.
• Trinidadian swimmer Dylan Carter, a Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, and World Short Course Championships medalist, has scratched the meet. He was only entered in one event, the 100 free.
• Four-time Olympic relay medalist Amanda Weir, who was entered to swim the 100 and 200 free this week, has scratched the meet.
• NC State’s Swedish breaststroker Sophie Hansson has dropped out of the meet, though she’s now a couple of weeks clear of the ACC Championships and two weeks until the NCAA Championships. Her highest seed was 6th in the 100 breaststroke. Another high seed from those breaststrokes, 17-year old Lydia Jacoby, has also dropped out. She was seeded 7th in the 100.
• Brazilian breaststroker Felipe Lima has dropped the meet. He was the 3rd seed in a deep men’s 100 breaststroke field.
• Luca Urlando, who was a big favorite to make the Olympic team in at least the 200 fly before a shoulder injury in 2020, has dropped out of the meet. Currently a freshman at Georgia, Urlando is another college swimmer withdrawing, though he’s well clear of his college championships in either direction.
• 2016 US Olympian and relay gold medalist Gunnar Bentz has scratched the meet. Most of his racing in the last few years has been during the International Swimming League season, though he did race one Pro Swim just before the pandemic exploded in March 2020, and also swam January’s Pro Swim in San Antonio.
• Ecuadorian swimmer Tomas Peribonio, the 7th seed in the 400 IM, has scratched the meet.

There have also been a number of big names added to the sheet, including internationals Zheng Quah (Singapore) and Marius Kusch (Germany).

Quah, who trains with the Cal post-grad group, is entered in the 100 fly, 200 fly, 100 back, and 100 free. That includes a 5th seed in the 200 fly.

Kusch, a member of Team Elite, is entered in 3 races: the 100 fly, 50 free, and 100 free, including as the #5 seed in the 100 fly.

And finally, US National Teamer Ally McHugh, a former NCAA Champion for Penn State who is now training at Wisconsin, has made a small swap to her schedule. She’ll now swim the 400 free on Thursday instead of the 200 fly. McHugh is a National Teamer in four events: the 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free, and 400 IM.

While she is a better 400 freestyler than 200 butterflier, the logjam at the top of the 400 free (Katie and Ledecky and Leah Smith) will make it a challenge for anybody to take an Olympic spot. The 400 IM is the smoother path to Tokyo for her, though the shift of her entries might indicate she may still be focused on picking off a slot in that 400 free.