2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – WESTMONT
- April 12-15, 2023
- FMC Aquatic Center, Westmont, Illinois
- Long Course Meters (50 meters)
- Event Central
- Pre-Scratch timeline
- Psych Sheets
- Live Stream
Night one of the Westmont Pro Swim Series will feature a short distance session, consisting of the men’s and women’s 800 freestyles. The 800s will be swum as timed finals and will alternate between women and men by heat, starting with the fastest heat and ending with the slowest.
Katie Ledecky was originally scheduled to headline this session but had to pull out of the meet due to illness. The top two seeds in the women’s event will be Olympic medalists Leah Smith and Erica Sullivan. Both Smith and Sullivan are currently training with the Texas Longhorns and have entered this event with an 8:17.52 and 8:24.02, respectively. They will be joined by Turkish national teamer Deniz Ertan (8:24.94), Sierra Schmidt (8:27.54), Kristel Kobrich (8:32.58), and others.
In the men’s event, the reigning Olympic champion and American record holder Bobby Finke holds the top seed with a 7:39.36. He posted that time en route to a gold medal at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He’ll be the favourite to win the fast heat of the men’s 800 freestyle tonight, but Charlie Clark (7:50.07), Marwan Elkamash (7:50.33), Yigit Aslan (7:51.20), and more will all be in the race as well.
Women’s 800 Freestyle
- World Record: 8:04.79 – Katie Ledecky (2016)
- American Record: 8:04.79 – Katie Ledecky (2016)
- Pro Swim Series Record: 8:06.68 – Katie Ledecky (2016)
- US Open Record: 8:06.68 – Katie Ledecky (2016)
Top 8 (After Heat 2)
- Leah Smith – 8:28.23
- Beatriz Dizotti – 8:32.93
- Kristel Kobrich – 8:37.18
- Sierra Schmidt – 8:39.60
- Erica Sullivan – 8:40.23
- Ching Hwee Gan – 8:41.54
- Erin Gemmell – 8:42.13
- Caroline Pennington – 8:42.23
In the first and fastest heat of the women’s 800 freestyle, Leah Smith started off strong and established a lead for herself ahead of the rest of the field. She flipped at the 400 meter mark at a 4:12.68, which was more than 3 seconds quicker that Erica Sullivan who was #2 at the halfway mark.
In the second half, Leah Smith kept her lead and ultimately touched the wall with an 8:28.23 to take the gold medal. That time makes Smith the 11th-fastest woman in the world this season behind Anastassia Kirpitchnikova‘s 8:27.98.
Smith’s strong back half allowed her to win the heat by almost 10 seconds as Kristel Kobrich took second place in an 8:37.18. Kobrich holds the South American record in the short course version of this event at an 8:08.02 from back in 2009. She holds the Chilean national record in the long course 800 free at an 8:26.75, which she swam in 2013 at the World Championships. Kobrich is a long-time national teamer for Chile and has raced at the past five Olympic Games for the country.
Sierra Schmidt came in right behind Kobrich with an 8:39.60 to dip under 8:40 and get into the wall ahead of 4th-place finisher Erica Sullivan who hit an 8:40.23. That time for Schmidt was a bit more than 10 seconds slower than her entry time of 8:27.54 and her lifetime best of 8:27.13 from 2019. Sullivan was also well off her best time of 8:23.02, which she swam at the 2021 Olympic Trials in Omaha.
Erin Gemmell, Caroline Pennington, and Deniz Ertan had a close race for the 5th place position in the first heat of this meet and each touched in the 8:42 range. Chase Travis rounded out the top 8 in heat one with an 8:43.67.
In the second heat, the only woman to break into the top eight of the event was heat-winner Beatriz Dizotti who swam an 8:32.93 to surpass everyone in heat one except for Smith. Dizotti won her heat by nearly 10 seconds, out-swimming Ching Hwee Gan‘s 8:41.54. This time is a new best time for Dizotti whose former PB came in the opening split of her 1500 freestyle at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest. She split an 8:35.04 in that race to beat her entry time at 2022 Worlds of 8:40.10.
Men’s 800 Freestyle
- World Record: 7:32.12 – Lin Zhang (2008)
- American Record: 7:39.36 – Bobby Finke (2022)
- Pro Swim Series Record: 7:48.50 – Ahmed Hafnaoui (2023)
- US Open Record: 7:43.32 – Bobby Finke (2022)
Top 8 (After Heat 1)
- Bobby Finke – 7:53.96
- Charlie Clark – 7:57.97
- Tommy-Lee Camblong – 8:01.02
- Kieran Smith – 8:01.14
- Batuhan Filiz – 8:01.70
- Mert Kilavuz – 8:02.96
- Aryan Nehra – 8:03.15
- Zalan Sarkany – 8:04.08
American record-holder and Olympic champion Bobby Finke didn’t need to hit a best time to win the heat here, hitting a 7:53.96 to place first. Finke has cracked 7:50 five times in his career, peaking at the 7:39.36 American record he set last year to win World Championships gold. This time of 7:53.96 is right around the 7:54.07 he hit mid-season in December 2021 and the 7:54.02 prelims time he delivered at Olympic Trials in 2021.
Finke made his 800 freestyle season debut a few weeks ago at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series, hitting an 8:04.04, making this his first sub-8:00 in the 2022 – 2023 season. Finke got into the wall a few seconds ahead of his 2022 teammate Charlie Clark who swam the 800 and 1500 freestyles at the World Championships last year.
Clark hit a 7:51.59 at the World Championships to place 12th overall during prelims. He was a bit quicker a few months earlier than that, however, when he set his best time at US Trials in April 2022 with a 7:50.07.
French swimmer and Georgia Bulldog Tommy-Lee Camblong was #3 in heat one of the men’s 800 freestyle with an 8:01.02. Camblong has cracked 8 minutes several times throughout his career, including last year at the 2022 Pro Swim Series in San Antonio. His best time comes from 2019 when he hit a 7:53.59 at the 2019 World Junior Championships.
Turkish swimmers Batuhan Filiz and Mert Kilavuz took the 4th and 5th spots, respectively with their times of 8:01.70. Filiz won a silver medal last year at the 2022 World Junior Championships with a time of 7:55.61 and holds a PB of 7:55.57 from earlier in 2022. Kilavuz has also been under 8 minutes before, holding a lifetime best of 7:52.19 from 2021.
In heat two of the men’s 800 freestyle, Kieran Smith hit an 8:01.14 to replace Filiz as the 4th-fastest man in the field. Smith didn’t quite crack the 8-minute mark, which he did for the first and only time thus far in 2021 with a 7:59.27 at the San Antonio Pro Swim Series. Aryan Nehra also worked his way into the top eight from heat two, posting an 8:03.15.
15 yo Madi Mintenko setting a new PB if she keeps improving she could be in the contention for a spot in the 800 free relay next year
I see that Regan is in the psych sheets, glad that there’s no lasting Covid effects
Zhang Lin’s WR will be the oldest surviving WR.
That WR is nuts
Someone needs to be able to swim 3:45 back to back to break it
I wonder how it compares to Ledecky’s? Back to back 3:46 felt like back to back 4:02 to me at first since theyre both approximately 6 seconds off the WR in the 400, but sub 3:46 is A LOT more common than 4:02 and probably matches up more with like a 4:05. Still makes it around an 8:10 in women’s though which is still significantly faster than anyone non Ledecky has gone
but sub 3:46 is A LOT more common than 4:02
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It will be interesting to know if men’s 400 free is a lot more competitive than women’s so we can compare it.
3:46.0 matching up with 4:05.0 for example would put Winnington’s WC winning time from last year at a 3:59.8, which I think is reasonable? Even comparing these times, there are a more guys that have been sub 3:46 than women sub 4:05 (16 each in 2021/2022 for men, 13 each for women)
It would put the Biedermann/Thorpe/Yang times at like a 3:58 mid which feels like a more accurate comparison than comparing their times to Titmus/Ledecky/McIntosh. Biedermann’s time would be over a second faster than Pellegrini’s and Thorpe would have held the world record on the women’s side all the way until Ledecky breaks it in Rio.
Based on this, it would seem that Ledecky’s WR is a lot stronger than Lin’s WR, which makes it doable. We just need to wait for the next distance generation talent.
I think the 800free WR is lot more achievable than at first glance.
Mellouli was 7:35low in the 800free when he was 3:41.1/14:37 the same week.
Sun Yang in 2011 was 7:38mid in the 800free when he was 3:43.2/14:34 the same week (taking it out slowly).
Had Sun Yang swam this event in London 2012, when he was 3:40.1/14:31, extrapolation puts him around 7:35 or a bit faster.
This is STILL 2-3 seconds off from Zhang’s WR, but it probably suggests the first guy who can simultaneously go sub 3:40 and sub 14:30 would come within 1-2 seconds of it, depending on how far under those barriers he can go.
A year ago, I would’ve thought the likelihood of… Read more »
I don’t understand why Sierra Schmidt gets so much hate. She’s so kind, nice, and a great representative of USA swimming. Why bother to critique her on something that makes her happy? I’d like to see you go in and swim an 800 in under 8:40.
It’s generally people with their own issues projecting hate onto someone enjoying life. Some people unfortunately don’t like other people happy, if their lives suck.
Honestly why is Sierra Schmidt still swimming? She’s been around forever and has had little to no improvement in years, like, that can’t be sustainable as your ‘job’
Part of me feels like USA swimming just keeps her around so she can do her goofy dance before getting somewhere between 4th and 10th for the 119th time.
I never understood this mentality.
She enjoys it. She can make it work. She’s still good enough to qualify for the meets. Why stop?
truthfully, I think she is definitely my favorite for multiple medals at Pan-American games, 8:27 in the 800 free is incredibly elite and I think that we tend to forget how amazing a sub 8:30 swim is. Ledecky, Grimes, and Smith make the rest of the American distance swimmers look really weak. 8:27 would make the worlds team by over 10 seconds in Canada. It’s similar to the argument on Isabelle Stadden in a staked backstroke field, compared to Smith, White, Curzan, Baker, etc.
Just think there’s a time and place to move on. Swimming isn’t exactly an affordable hobby at this level/age, especially with probably little to no sponsorships
There might be, but it’s probably up to her to decide when that is, not you.
You sure seem to have deep, powerful knowledge of her finances and career, and apparently clear psychic access to her goals, life plans and personal ideas of success, failure and happiness. Amazing.
Because it seems it would take some real inside knowledge, and near-miraculous skills in mind-reading, to so authoritatively declare an athlete is wasting her life doing a sport she apparently enjoys at a high level. Otherwise you’d merely be one of those particularly lame and sorta creepy trolls who spout off on things of which they have zero knowledge, or who laughingly pretend they know more about what’s best for a person than the person themselves–complete strangers even–as a means to single out someone, make judgements and cast… Read more »
Some people write things they think but perhaps should keep to themselves. Lol.
People had this same attitude when Serena stopped winning slams. It’s like… 99% of players will never win a slam. If she’s good enough to still qualify for them then why doesn’t she deserve to enter even if she doesn’t win?
People have too much time on their hands to criticise.
Shes 24?? Thats not impossibly old for a swimmer anymore
Interesting takes…how is she different from others who make sports their jobs but not always won their races or matches? In any case, she still put in the work and is able to maintain her times, which were still faster than a lot of the other competitors.
With your reasoning, if you have been around forever and have little to no improvement in your line of work, is that work still sustainable as your ‘job’?
Troll comments like yours on social media are why elite athletes struggle mentally. Does it make you feel better about yourself when you try to tear down an athlete who is enjoying her sport and still able to swim at an elite level?
So rude. Maybe some people swim because they enjoy it and not so they can have a Michael Phelps income?
They should hand out a Sierra Schmidt bobblehead doll at the next pro meet and send the left overs to WV swammer
Some people just like swimming?
USMS is filled with tons of former elites (including former WR holders and Olympic gold medal winners) who never hung up their goggles, with a good number of those swimmers continuing to swim at comparatively elite levels decades after their younger glory days.
If she can make the finances work out, is enjoying swimming at an elite level, and and can still hit her times, why would she stop?
The pool is big enough for everyone to find their own route to fulfillment following the black line without needing people like you to gatekeep.
Mistake for 8-free, Ching Hwee Gan got 6th!
A pretty big controversial, opinion, that I have is that I truthfully think that what Ron does with his girls is a bit overkill, using Sullivan as an example, it seems as if his athletes get super good at a young age, but then aren’t able to maintain that type of training when they get to college. That is the opposite of what a club team is supposed to do. Maybe a little bit too hard and too fast and young age?
She wasn’t that young by distance swimmer standards when she won her medal. She deferred a year and then the games got deferred another so she is now equivalent to a college senior. She probably got to Tokyo at the exact best time give or take a year so Sandpipers did their job I doubt she is complaining about only winning silver. Probably just coasting right now If her injury is still holding her back she is getting close to being done.
Very few of Ledecky’s best times came after getting to college. Does that make what Gemmell was doing overkill? There’s an amount of time that goes into being an elite distance athlete. It takes more than 20 hours per week of work, and there’s fewer programs that go above that with extra voluntary time. Simply can’t get many people to buy into that with everything else on their plate in college.
Them homeschooling to allow them to travel and train more is a little strange to look at, but it’s also not atypical for elite teens who’s parents have the means to go all in on their athletics. Think Erica’s priorities now are not the same as when she… Read more »
As a college coach I would say that most college teams are not working hard enough for those events. Especially for women to maintain their best form.
It has nothing to do with club coaches over doing it.
Look at the women’s distance at NCAAs this year. It was a joke. Most of the club swimmers going faster than that aren’t more talented, they’re just working harder.
College coaches are STILL stuck in the 80’s mindset. Sometimes less can be more.
You can’t honestly believe that. The reason we suck in distance compared to the Europeans is because they are doing way more.
The same reason club kids are going faster than college kids in distance. They are doing more.
I’m talking strictly about distance. The women’s distance at NCAAs is slower than it was 10 years ago yet at the club level kids are going faster than ever in those events.
Blame the 20 hour rule if you want. But it’s just a fact that most college teams are not doing enough to compete at a world class level in distance.
That logic then would also go with Janet Evans, most NBAC swimmers (Anita Nall, Beth Botsford, Whitney Phelps), Jilen Siroky, Jenna Street, Christine Swindle, Rhi Jeffrey, and so many others. It can be just that some swimmers put it all together physically and mentally before college. And college can alter both those.
A pretty big controversial, opinion, that I have is that I truthfully think that what Ron does with his girls is a bit overkill, using Eric or Sullivan as an example, it seems as if his athletes get super good at a young age, but then aren’t able to maintain that type of training and they get to college. That is the opposite of what a club team is supposed to do. Maybe a little bit too hard and too fast and young age?
Cody Miller and Bowe Becker went on to win Olympic Gold years after leaving the Sandpipers.
Any females?
How many clubs have more than 2 former swimmers go on to become gold medalists in the past decade? What an absurd bar.
They didn’t train in the d lane
You know, I had (probably still have) the same mentality… that logevity is important, that it’d be great if everyone talented becomes a ‘career swimmer’, because it’d be great for the sport etc.
But I had this very discussion with someone a while ago and he said “what does it matter whether the athlete wins an Olympic medal when they’re 16 or 26?”
And it’s true on many levels. Mostly, swimming is not really a sport where you can make enough money to support yourself long term. Outside of the U.S. it’s not even a sport that can help you in college. There is no shame in taking the medal in your teens and then deciding to get… Read more »