5 Storylines, All The Links You Need For the 2016 Arena PSS – Orlando

2016 Arena Pro Swim Series at Orlando

• Thursday, March 3 – Saturday, March 5, 2016
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (Eastern Time)
• YMCA Aquatic Center, Orlando, Florida
• Psych Sheet
• Live results
• Live video

Schedule

Thursday:

• 200 free
• 100 breast
• 100 fly
• 400 IM

Friday:

• 200 fly
• 50 free
• 100 back
• 200 breast
• 400 free

Saturday:

• Women’s 800 free
• 200 IM
• 200 back
• 100 free
• Men’s 1500 free

PRIZE MONEY/SCORING SYSTEM

Every individual, Olympic-distance event gives out prize money and series points to the top three finishers:

• 1st place: $1000, 5 points
• 2nd place: $600, 3 points
• 3rd place: $200, 1 points

At the end of the series, the male and female points leaders will win $10,000 each, plus a 1-year lease of a BMW (though the BMW is only available to U.S. citizens).

Current Point Standings

Men:

1. Nathan Adrian – 20
2. Michael Phelps – 19
3. T-3 Conor Dwyer – 13
4. T-3 Chase Kalisz – 13
5. Ryan Lochte – 11

Women:

1. Katie Ledecky – 34
2. T-2 Katinka Hosszu – 18
3. T-2 Missy Franklin – 18
4. T-2 Sarah Sjostrom – 18
5. Becca Mann – 16

5 Storylines To Watch

1. Brazil’s sprint prowess on full display: Internationally known for its legions of strong sprinters, Brazil’s national team has shown up nearly in full force in Orlando. That includes Worlds bronze medalist Bruno Fratus, junior world record-holder Matheus Santana and world record-holder Cesar Cielo. With Brazil’s national championships, the Maria Lenk Trophy, serving as the final Olympic qualifier next month, most of that group will have to be getting close to end-of-season form, especially Cielo, who dropped out of the Brazil Open Olympic qualifier in December and still must earn his spot at Maria Lenk.

2. Caeleb Dressel converts to long course: Speaking of sprinters, how about young American Caeleb Dressel? The Florida sophomore broke Cielo’s U.S. Open and NCAA records last week with a blistering 18.23 in the short course 50 free. Now Dressel will try to convert that speed into the long course pool after fans spent much of the SEC meet trying to project exactly how fast he could go in the Olympic format. It’s hard to say what Dressel’s preparation will be – he might be continuing a taper straight through to NCAAs, or he may have returned to some heavier training after SECs – but there’s no one currently carrying more momentum than the Gator.

3. Simone Manuel takes an international field in the 50: Let’s stay on the theme of sprinters for yet one more storyline. Simone Manuel is Dressel’s rough counterpart on the women’s side – the top collegiate sprinter last year and one of the best rising hopes for the U.S. to compete internationally in the splash and dash. Manuel hasn’t yet competed in 2016, with her last meets coming at U.S. Winter Nationals and Duel in the Pool back in December of 2015. She gets to start her 2016 off in the toughest environment possible – she’ll take on 2012 Olympic silver medalist Aleksandra Gerasimenya of Belarus and Brazil’s rising sprinter Etiene Medeiros in the 50 free.

4. Men’s 100 backstroke: It’s almost a running joke at this point that the men’s 100 backstroke field at any Arena Pro Swim Series meet is ridiculously loaded. The deepest event in the United States at the moment, the 100 back in Orlando pits two of the Olympic favorites against an interesting outside challenger. Returning Olympic gold medalist Matt Grevers represents the old guard, while California’s NCAA star Ryan Murphy plays the role of the rising young threat. Murphy is entering this meet instead of the Pac-12 Championships, which are taking place this week in Washington. Meanwhile, Olympic icon Michael Phelps is entered in the event – he swam the 100 back at the Minneapolis Pro Swim Series back in November, but before that, hadn’t swum the race since 2014.

5. Taylor Ruck & The Next Generation: Every Olympic cycle, a handful of young swimmers emerge from the pack to earn Olympic berths for their nation and kickstart the next generation of the elite swimming establishment. A handful of those swimmers might be appearing in Orlando. One great candidate is Taylor Ruck, the double junior world champ who could turn out to be a difference-maker for Canada at the Olympic level. Ruck is set to swim a full lineup of almost every freestyle distance (50, 100, 200 and 400) plus the 100 and 200 back and the 400 IM. A few other highly-seeded young swimmers to watch: Arianna Castiglioni of Italy; Michael Andrew, Becca Mann, Courtney Harnish, Meghan Small, and Austin Katz of the U.S.; Lara Bate of Great Britain’ and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey.