2023 U.S. Trials Day 1 Prelims Scratch Report: 9th-Seed Gormsen Pulls Out of 800 FR

2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 27 – July 1, 2023
• Indianapolis, IN
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet (pre-scratch)
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Day 1 Prelims Live Stream

TUESDAY PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

The first session of the 2023 Phillips 66 National Championships is set to kick off tomorrow morning. USA Swimming has posted the heat sheet for Tuesday morning’s prelims session, which includes heats of the 200 fly and 100 free, as well as timed finals of the women’s 800 free and men’s 1500 free, so let’s take a look at the scratches for the morning.

There weren’t all that many scratches for this morning, just 12 in all by our count. Most weren’t all that notable, with just a couple of exceptions. Long Island Aquatic Club’s Cavan Gormsen, who is set to start her collegiate career at Virginia in the fall, has pulled out of the women’s 800 free. Gormsen was the ninth seed in the event, meaning she would have been the top seed out of the early heats that will take place Tuesday afternoon. Boasting a personal best of 8:35.48 in the 800 free, it appears Gormsen and her coaches have made the determination that the best plan is to go all in on the 100 free for Tuesday. Gormsen is the 48th seed in the 100 free, which she is still entered in. As a sprint free event, as well as a relay event, the 100 free is an event ripe for selection to international rosters, so it makes sense that Gormsen is choosing to put her focus there.

Just a fun little sidenote: Gormsen’s younger sister, Lily Gormsen, is set to race the 800 free on Tuesday, where she’ll be in the first heat.

The women’s 800 free also saw veteran Ashley Twichell pull out of the event. Now 34 years old, Twichell is a US distance swimming veteran who has primarily excelled in open water events. She’s won five World Championships medals in open water events over the course of her career. Twichell also took home silver in the women’s 800 free at the 2011 Pan American Games. Twichell was seeded with a yards time, coming in as the 35th seed.

Ohio State’s Maya Geringer (23rd seed) and Rockville Montgomery Swim Club’s Madison Smith (48th seed) also pulled out of the women’s 800 free.

We’ve received reports that NAG record holder Kaii Winkler has pulled out of the meet with injury, though he’s still on the heat sheet for Tuesday morning. We’ll know for sure the status on Winkler tomorrow morning, when he either does or doesn’t compete in the men’s 100 free. If Winkler has in fact pulled out of the meet, it would be a significant scratch to the men’s 100 free. Winkler was the 12th seed in the event, making him a very high-profile candidate for a roster spot at one of the meets in the event.

There is one other scratch in the men’s 100 free. Jack Dahlgren, who was the 29th seed in the event, has scratched out of the race. Dahlgren has scratched the 100 free in order to focus on the 200 fly, where he’s the 11th seed.

The men’s 1500 free also saw a few scratches. Auburn’s Mason Mathias, the 12th seed in the event, has pulled out of the race. Mathias was seeded with a 15:29.11, which would have put him in a very tight field in the fastest of the early heats in the event tomorrow.

TSM Aquatics’ Ivan Puskovitch (20th seed) and Auburn’s Michael Bonson (34th) seed have also scratched the men’s 1500.

Elmbrook Swim Club’s Maggie Wanezek has scratched the women’s 100 free. Wanezek was low on the psych sheet, coming in as the 68th seed in the event. She isn’t entered in any other events on Tuesday.

Jersey Wahoos’ Henry McFadden and Stanford’s Lillie Nordmann have both scratched the 200 fly in order to focus on the 100 free. McFadden was the 24th seed in the men’s 200 fly and has pulled out of the race to focus on the men’s 100 free, where he’s also the 24th seed. Nordmann was the 25th seed in the women’s 200 fly and will instead be going all in on the women’s 100 free on Tuesday, where she is the 15th seed. Once again, choosing to focus energy into the 100 free makes a lot of sense from a selection standpoint because A) there are many more roster spots up for grabs in the 100 free due to it being a relay event, and B) the sprint free events are priority selection events for Pan Ams and the U23 LEN meet, though McFadden isn’t eligible for the latter meet.

Blair Regional Y’s Leah Shackley has scratched the women’s 200 fly as well. She was the 26th seed in the event and isn’t entered in any other events on the day.