U.S. Nationals: Torri Huske Tops in Loaded 100 Butterfly Field (Heat Sheet – Day 3 Prelims)
The third morning of preliminary action at U.S. Nationals will include the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 50 breaststroke and 50 backstroke. The session begins at 10 a.m. ET in Indianapolis.
Click here to view the full heat sheet.
The 400 IM begins the session with Katie Grimes as the top seed after she took silver at the World Championships last year and threatened the American record earlier this year. Grimes is not yet on the team after disappointing results in the 800 free and 200 free, but she is the top seed here by five seconds. Leah Hayes will swim next to Grimes in the final heat while Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant and NCAA 400-yard IM champion Alex Walsh are other contenders. Both Leah Smith and Hali Flickinger scratched the event.
Carson Foster, already on the team in the 200 fly, is the top seed in the 400 IM. Foster is swimming in lane four in the final heat after Olympic champion Chase Kalisz. Distance ace Bobby Finke will race next to Foster in the last heat.
The women’s 100 fly is a loaded heat with reigning world champion and American-record holder Torri Huske swimming in the final heat. Huske is likely on the Worlds team after her fifth-place finish in the 100 free, but she can secure an individual spot here. She will swim next to Kate Douglass, already the winner of the 100 free and 200 breast. Claire Curzan and Gretchen Walsh will race in the second-to-last heat after Regan Smith and Alex Shackell are the top names in the previous heat.
Meanwhile, with Caeleb Dressel, Shaine Casas and Trenton Julian all struggling at this meet, the men’s 100 fly has become a wide-open affair. Look out for Michael Andrew, Aiden Hayes and teenage Worlds team member Thomas Heilman in the first circle-seeded heat while Dare Rose and backstroke specialist Ryan Murphy are in the second heat.
American-record holder Lilly King and world champion Nic Fink are the top seeds in their respective editions of the 50 breast while Katharine Berkoff, Regan Smith and Olivia Smoliga each lead a heat of the women’s 50 back. Finally, look for another showdown between Hunter Armstrong and Justin Ress in the men’s 50 back with the two men each swimming in separate heats at the end of the session.