2023 Pro Swim Series – Knoxville: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

• January 11-14, 2023
• Knoxville, Tennessee
• LCM (50 meters)
• Prelims/Finals
  • Prelims: 9:00 AM (EST)
  • Finals: 6:00 PM (EST), Day 1 4:00 PM
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Psych Sheets
• Ways to Watch
• Storylines to Follow

After this meet was cancelled last year due to COVID-19, we’re back in Knoxville for the start of the 2023 Pro Swim Series. There will be four stops on the series this year: Knoxville, TN, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Westmont, IL, and Mission Viejo, CA.

Racing gets underway with timed finals of the 800 freestyle, which will be swum fastest to slowest, alternating heats of women and men.

In the women’s race, the Sandpiper trio of Katie Grimes, Bella Sims, and Claire Weinstein lead the psych sheets. The three were some of the biggest breakout age groupers for the U.S last year, and after watching them face off in yards at Winter Juniors – West, we get to see them battle it out in meters.

Sims especially was on fire in yards and short course meters at the end of 2022, so watch to see how that speed translates into the big pool.

On the men’s side, we’ll see one of the breakout stars of 2021, Ahmed Hafnaoui, return to racing. After winning gold in the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, Hafnaoui doesn’t appear to have raced at all in 2022, in part thanks to being ruled a partial qualifier based on academics, meaning he had to sit out of the 2022-23 collegiate season in academic residence.

In his return to competition, he’ll take on 800/1500m freestyle Tokyo gold medalist Bobby Finke. The Florida pro is seeded with his American record time of 7:39.36. He e likely won’t be that fast, he’ll be the person Hafnaoui and the rest of the field, which includes his teammate Kieran Smith, the Ohio State duo of Charlie Clark and Michael Brinegar, and Sandpiper Ilya Kharun.

Watch Day 1 of the Knoxville Pro Series below:

Women’s 800 Freestyle — Timed Finals

• World Record: 8:04.79 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2016)
• World Junior Record: 8:11.00 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2014)
• American Record: 8:04.79 — Katie Ledecky (2016)
• U.S. Open Record: 8:06.68 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2016)
• Pro Swim Series Record: 8:06.68 — Katie Ledecky, USA (2016)

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Katie Grimes (SAND) – 8:27.73
2. Claire Weinstein (SAND) – 8:32.60
3. Bella Sims (SAND)- 8:34.04
4. Jillian Cox (TXLA) – 8:34.26
5. Maddie Waggoner (JW) – 8:43.10
6. Sierra Schmidt (SUN) – 8:43.12
7. Kristen Stege (TENN) – 8:43.13
8. Caroline Pennington (UN) – 8:45.32

It was a 1-2-3 for the Sandpipers in the opening (and fastest seeded) heat of the women’s 800 freestyle. By the 200, Katie Grimes had separated herself from the field, over a second ahead of Bella Sims. Sims took the race out with Grimes, but by the 300, was running third behind both Grimes and Claire Weinstein.

They held those positions through the rest of the race, with Grimes continuing to extend her lead, building a 4+ second gap over Weinstein. She touched first in 8:27.73. At the 600, Jillian Cox began to creep up and over the final 100, she made a big push to overtake third from Sims. Ultimately, Cox ran out of room and touched .22 behind Sims in 8:43.26 for fourth. Her last 50 split was a blazing 29.99

There was a tight race behind them, as fifth through seventh were separated by .03 seconds.

In the second heat, Caroline Pennington built up an early lead that she was able to hold through the entire race. Pennington transferred to Florida this season but has yet to compete for them collegiately and she’s swimming unattached in Knoxville. She won her heat in 8:45.32, leapfrogging her into the top 8.

Heat three was a 1-2 finish for the home team Tennessee Vols, with Kate McCarville and Lauren Wetherell going 1-2. 19-year-old McCarville won the heat in 8:47.84, using a strong back-half to gap Wetherell, who touched in 8:53.51. That’s a huge lifietime best for McCarville, improving on the 8:52.07 she swam less than two months ago at the 2022 U.S Open.

Sandpiper and USC commit Macky Hodges won heat 4, the final heat of the women’s 800 freestyle, in 8:55.78. Hodges did not have a registered time on USA Swimming, which makes this a lifetime best for her. She was the only one in the field under the 9 minute mark.

Men’s 800 Freestyle — Timed Finals

• World Record: 7:32.12 — Lin Zhang, CHN (2009)
• World Junior Record: 7:43.37 — Lorenzo Galossi, ITA (2022)
• American Record: 7:39.36 — Bobby Finke (2021)
• U.S. Open Record: 7:43.32 — Bobby Finke (2022)
• Pro Swim Series Record: 7:49.96 — Michael McBroom, USA (2014)

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) – 7:53.10
2. Bobby Finke (SPA) – 7:56.97
3. Charlie Clark (OSU) – 7:58.16
4. Kieran Smith (RACT) – 8:03.63
5. Michael Brinegar (OSU) – 8:03.69
6. Jack Little (TENN) – 8:12.40
7. Rafael Ponce de Leon (TENN) – 8:13.03
8. Luke Whitlock (FAST) – 8:15.06

In his return to racing, Ahmed Hafnaoui touched first in the fastest heat men’s 800 freestyle, clocking 7:53.10. Hafnaoui was at the front the entire race, taking over the lead quickly then continuing to grow it. At the 200, he was just .65 seconds ahead of Bobby Finke, and by the 700 he was 3.01 seconds ahead.

Today, Finke didn’t seem to have the sensational closing speed he’s known for–instead of closing the gap to the leading Hafnaoui over the second half of the race, it only got bigger. Typically, his closing 50 is the fastest in the field; here, his 29.11 was fifth-fastest behind Michael Brinegar (27.32), Charlie Clark (28.18), Hafnaoui (28.32), and Kieran Smith (28.71). Regardless, he was able to touch second in 7:56.97, comfortably ahead of Clark. Clark had a great back half of the race to finish third, the only other swimmer under 8 minutes.

There was a great race in heat 2, as the lead changed hands several times between Rafael Ponce de Leon, Luke Whitlock, Dillon Wright, and Joaquin Vargas. By the 700, Ponce de Leon and Luke Whitlock had separated themselves from the other two swimmers. They turned for the final 100 separated by only two-hundredths.

Tennessee’s Ponce de Leon had a huge final 100, splitting 58.57 to Whitlock’s 1:00.58. The Vol won his heat in 8:13.03, a lifetime best by over a second. That time launches him up into the top 8, with Whitlock, a Louisville 2024 commit, right on his best in 8:15.06 to finish eighth.

Ponce de Leon and Whitlock’s swims pushed 2018 Pan Pacs gold medalist Zane Grothe (8:18.12) out of the top 8. Ultimately, Grothe finished 12th.

The Sandpipers of Nevada picked up another heat win with Luke Ellis winning heat 3. He touched in 8:17.05, which is a 7.20 second drop from his previous lifetime best of 8:24.25, done at the Mission Viejo Pro Series last spring. Two lanes over, Connor LaMastra had incredible closing speed. Lamastra closed a 2.85 second gap over the final 100. He nearly caught Ellis, posting 8:17.50 for second, just .45 seconds back from Ellis.

From the final heat, Tennessee’s Jack Little cracked the top 8, finishing sixth overall in 8:12.40. Little, who was seeded with a yards time, won decisively with a lifetime best. His previous best was 8:15.61 from a summer 2021 club meet.