Two time Olympic bronze medallist Arkady Vyatchanin will be pulling out of US Nationals due to a nagging shoulder issue after swimming his first event of the meet during day two prelims.
The former Russian Olympian who is currently representing Serbia in international competition swam a 54.34 to take the fourth seed in the 100m backstroke this morning. That time was well off his season-best 53.69 that he swam at the Arena Pro Swim Series at Charlotte in May.
Although Vyatchanin is pulling out of the meet he is still listed on the heat sheets for tonight’s final. Vyatchanin told Swimswam however that he will not be participating in the final which will feature fellow Olympians Junya Koga of Japan and Nick Thoman of the United States.
Vyatchanin was scheduled to swim both the 100m butterfly and 200m backstroke later in the competition. Vyatchanin was entered in the 100m fly as the 52nd seed overall with an entry time of 54.40.
In the 200m backstroke, which is one of his best events, Vyatchanin had the fastest entry time out of any of his competitors. With a 1:56.26 seed time Vyatchanin had a great opportunity to final or even medal in the event.
Vyatchanin told Swimswam that he will be flying home tomorrow on Saturday August 8th.
Flew on his plane back to Florida yesterday. Great guy and is going to work hard to rehab the shoulder. He will be a force in Rio. The dudes a beast.
I’m so sad to hear this news! He’s one of my favorite swimmers, and I’ve been waiting for him to finally have the big meet he deserves. I sure hope he can recover in time to perform at his best in Rio!
Bummer. I always root for him. He impressed me with his resilience when he was without a country.