Ryan Lochte will be the headliner of this weekend’s sectional meet on the campus of the University of Georgia, getting in some final racing preparation before the world championships.
Lochte is slated to swim five events in Athens: 200 IM, 50 free, 200 free, 400 free and 100 fly. The two events of note will be the 200 IM and 200 free, as those are the events he’ll be swimming at the world championships in Russia next month.
Lochte will be joined in Athens by several other members of Team USA’s squad for worlds, including a few of his SwimMAC Carolina teammates. Micah Lawrence, slated to swim the 100 and 200 breaststrokes in Russia, will be the one to watch in those events, while Cammile Adams will be rehearsing for her 200 butterfly races this weekend. Tim Phillips, who landed on the world championship team in the 100 butterfly after Michael Phelps’ DUI arrest, will have a showdown with Lochte in the 100 fly.
Club Wolverine’s Connor Jaeger, a medal hopeful in the distance freestyle events, is not in the 800 or 1500 freestyles, but will be in the other freestyle events and will show off some versatility in the 200 IM. He’s part of a strong team from Ann Arbor, including South African Dylan Bosch, Australian Bobby Hurley and Japan’s Junya Koga.
The host team will also feature some top talent. Nic Fink, one of the country’s top breaststrokers, will hone his racing strategies before heading to worlds. Melanie Margalis, who is headed to her first world championships in the 200 IM, will have SwimMAC’s Kirsty Coventry as a top rival this weekend, and will give Lawrence some competition in the 100 breast as well.