2019 U.S. National Championships: Day 4 Prelims Preview

2019 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 31 – August 4, 2019
• Prelims 9:00 AM/Finals 5:00 PM (U.S. Pacific Standard Time)
• Avery Aquatics Center (Stanford, CA)
• LCM (50 Meter Pool)
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheet
• Pre-scratch timeline
• TV & Livestream Schedule
• Omega Results

Day 4 prelims heat sheets.

Day 4 prelims of the 2019 U.S. National Championships will feature the 400 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke. Though current American swimmers hold the World Records in every event this morning except the men’s 400 free, none of those World Record holders will be racing in Palo Alto today.

Day 4 Prelims Races:

• Women’s 400 Freestyle – Prelims
• Men’s 400 Freestyle – Prelims
• Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Prelims
• Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Prelims
• Women’s 100 Backstroke – Prelims
• Men’s 100 Backstroke – Prelims

Some swimmers we will not see racing today include Regan Smith, Olivia Smoliga, and Hali Flickinger in the 100 back, Caeleb Dressel in the 100 breast, Kaersten Meitz in the 400 freestyle, who withdrew because of appendicitis, and Zane Grothe in the 400 free.

Day 4 Prelims Storylines to Follow:

• Bobby Finke returns in the men’s 400 freestyle seeking his 3rd National Title of the week. Finke has already won the 1500 and last night, the men’s 400 IM. He might be called the favorite if he wasn’t going up against 200 freestyle champion Elijah Winnington from Australia and Grant Shoults, who swam this event at the World Championships for Team USA.
• Emma Weyant, the women’s 400 IM champion last night, will race the women’s 400 freestyle today, where she could win another gold medal. Weyant has proven she is a dominant freestyler at these National Championships, posting the 4th-fastest 200 freestyle time overall despite swimming in the ‘B’ final Thursday, and also with her 1:02.77 freestyle split in the 400 IM last night, which got her to the wall first.
• Open water specialists Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell will also race the women’s 400 freestyle today.
• After winning the 200 breaststroke but placing 5th in the 400 IM, Madisyn Cox will vie for the National Championship in the 100 breaststroke today. 100s are a little short for Cox, though without Lilly King and Micah Sumrall this event is wide open.
• Reese Whitley and Daniel Roy, the gold and silver medalists in the 200 breaststroke, return to race the 100 today, where they are joined by the only man to ever break 50-seconds in the yards version of the race and World University Games gold medalist Ian Finnerty.
• Rye Ulett dropped nearly 4 seconds in the 200 backstroke on Thursday to finish with a time of 2:09.70 to win the ‘B’ final. Ulett is only 14-years-old and a rising star in teen swimming in the United States. She and her sister Tristen Ulett are seeded with a pair of 1:02-lows this morning but may yet vie for a lane in either the ‘A’ or ‘B’ finals, based on how they’ve been performing this week.
• Austin Katz is the American backstroker on the cusp right now. On Thursday, Katz won the 200 backstroke, despite slipping on the start and then hitting the lane line on the final 50. In order to win today he will have to get past Dean Farris, the 2019 NCAA Champion in the 100 yard backstroke, John Shebat, the 2019 NCAA Champion in the 200 yard backstroke, Carson Foster, runner-up in the 400 IM last night, Shaine Casas, runner-up in the 200 backstroke two nights ago, and top seed Yohann Ndoye Brouard of France.