2023 Pan American Games: Guilherme Costa Leading Men’s Freestylers (Psych Sheets)

2023 PAN AMERICAN GAMES

• October 21-25, 2023
• Santiago, Chile
• Meet Central
• Entries (Psych Sheet)
• Live Results
• Live Stream
  • Fubo TV (subscription required)
  • PanAm Sports Channel (USA, Canada, Jamaica)

PSYCH SHEET

The psych sheets for the 2023 Pan American Games are here for your viewing pleasure. The meet is set to kick off tomorrow in Santiago, Chile and will last five days. Many of the top swimmers in North and South America will be competing, including a stout Canadian roster and a U.S. roster that nearly exclusively features college swimmers.

One of the highest-profile swimmers in the meet, Canadian Maggie MacNeil is leading Team Canada into this meet. MacNeil is, of course, the top seed in the women’s 100 fly this week, coming in with a 56.36. That time makes her the top seed by over a second, and we know there’s a chance MacNeil could pop a 55 at this meet.

In addition to her usual 100 fly, MacNeil is also set to race the women’s 50 free and 100 free at this meet, which we don’t typically get to see her do at this level. MacNeil is seeded 2nd in the 50 free and 3rd in the 100 free. It should be exciting to get to see MacNeil, who is an exceptional SC yards sprint freestyler, race the 50 and 100 free in this setting.

Speaking of those events, American Catie DeLoof comes in as the top seed in both the women’s 50 free and 100 free. DeLoof has been swimming really well since making the move to train at Loughborough, England in mid-2022. She’s clocked career bests of 24.68 ties her PB) in the 50 free and 53.75 in the 100 free already in 2023, both of which are serving as her seed times for this meet as well.

DeLoof will be challenged by American teammate, Gabi Albiero, however. Albiero is the #2 seed in the women’s 50 free, coming in with a 24.69, which is just 0.01 seconds off DeLoof’s time. Between DeLoof, MacNeil, and Albiero, the women’s 50 ought to be a really exciting race.

Brazilian Stephanie Balduccini is set to make some waves as well. A freshman at the University of Michigan in the U.S., Balduccini comes in as the #3 seed in the women’s 100 free, entering with a 54.10. This meet will be our first look at Balduccini in a suited, high-level meet environment since beginning her training at Michigan under new head coach Matt Bowe a few months ago.

On top of Balduccini being 3rd in the 100 free, she comes in as the top seed in the women’s 200 free. Her seed time sits at 1:57.54, putting her just ahead of Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey. While Balduccini is certainly chasing a gold medal, she has a chance to pick up her first individual Brazilian Record as well. The Brazilian Record in the event stands at 1:57.28, which Manuella Lyrio set back at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Of note, Lyrio’s time also stands as the South American Record in the event.

On the topic of excellent Brazilian freestylers, Guilherme Costa is the only swimmer in the meet who is coming in as the top seed in three events. Costa, who has steadily risen in the ranks of the men’s top 400-and-up freestylers over the last handful of years, is now without question of the premier distance freestylers in the world. He’s the South American Record holder in the men’s 400 free (3:43.31), 800 free (7:45.48), and 1500 free (14:48.53), all three of which records he set at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest. At the 2023 World Champs in Fukuoka earlier this year, Costa came in 4th in the 400 free and 7th in the 800, though he didn’t compete in the 1500 free.

South America is really developing some top-notch distance swimmers currently. Argentine 15-year-old Agostina Hein is looking like a real threat in the women’s distance events. She’s entered in the 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free, most notably coming in as the top seed in the 800. At her young age, Hein has already been 8:29.62 in the 800.

Hein will also be in the women’s 1500 free at the end of the meet, which is looking like a much faster field than you might expect to find in that event at a Pan Ams. Brazilian 23-year-old Beatriz Dizotti comes in as the top seed with a 16:01.95. While she’s the top seed by a decent margin, she won’t be without challengers. Fellow Brazilian Viviane Jungblut comes in as the #2 seed, entering at 16:09.27. Kristel Kobrich, a Chilean 38-year-old competing in her record 6th Pan American Games, comes in as the 3rd seed at 16:10.58. Then comes Hein, entering as the 4th seed with a 16:14.19.

Behind Hein is where it gets interesting. The 5th seed is American Erica Sullivan, who won silver in the event at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago. Not only did Sullivan take silver at the Olympics, she’s also the #5 performer all-time in the event, swimming a 15:41.41 to earn that medal. The tricky part is Sullivan really hasn’t been anywhere near that time since she swam it in Tokyo. However, if we’re ranking specifically off career bests, Sullivan is the top swimmer in this field, and it isn’t close.

The women’s 200 IM has become one of the most exciting events in the world currently. Canadian Sydney Pickrem is among the best at it and she enters this meet as the top seed. Pickrem comes in with a 2:08.61, leading teammate Mary-Sophie Harvey, who is 2nd with a 2:09.65. Pickrem pulled out of the World Championships this summer but it looks like she’s good to go for Santiago this week. That’s great news not just for Canada, but swimming fans in general, as Pickrem really is one of the elite women’s IMers out there right now, especially in the 200. Of note, she is not entered in the 400 IM at this meet, but she is in the 200 breast.

American Jake Foster comes in as the top seed in the men’s 200 breast, entering with a 2:08.23. Foster has really come into his own in the event in recent years and he enters this meet a little over half a second off the Pan Ams Record of 2:07.62.

Kennedy Noble (USA) is another top swimmer coming into the meet. Noble is the top seed in both women’s backstroke events and comes in at the top convincingly in both events. She’s an excellent 200 backstroker, having been 2:06.54 in the event. She and fellow American Reilly Tiltmann (2:08.65) are the only swimmers in the field entered under 2:12. Noble is also the top seed in the women’s 100 back, coming in at 59.11.