Led By Andrei Minakov, U.S. Nationals Will Feature Strong International Field
Next week’s United States Nationals will feature a strong international field, including the presence of Great Britain’s Max Litchfield and Russian Andrei Minakov. Litchfield opted to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games while Minakov was ineligible for the recent World Championships due to FINA sanctions against Russia due to its invasion of the Ukraine.
Litchfield will compete in the 200-meter butterfly, 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. The Brit is the No. 1 seed in the 400 IM at 4:10.20. As for Minakov, he’s the top seed in the 100 freestyle at 47.71 and is the second seed in the 100 butterfly with an entry time of 50.88.
A quality Australian contingent is paced by distance standout Maddy Gough, who is the fastest entry in the 400 freestyle at 4:05.60 and among the top seeds in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle. Meanwhile, Poland’s Kasia Wasick is seeded first in the 50 freestyle at 24.11 and will battle with Americans Abbey Weitzeil and Claire Curzan.
University of Texas standout Caspar Corbeau, who represented the Netherlands at the World Championships, is among the leading performers in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. Dutchwoman Kira Toussaint is slated to race the 100 backstroke, where she is the third seed off an entry time of 58.99.
Japan’s Shinri Shioura and Italy’s Santo Condorelli are slotted in the top six of the 50 freestyle.
Here is a look at the preliminary psych sheets.
Can I ask why there are athletes from other countries swimming at US Nationals? We just had the World Championships. I thought this was a US only event?