Caeleb Dressel Entered In 6 Events At 2023 Atlanta Classic

2023 ATLANTA CLASSIC

• Friday, May 12 – Sunday, May 14, 2023
• McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets

Psych sheets have been posted for the 2023 Atlanta Classic, which gives us the first peak at what the World Record holders in attendance might be swimming. That list of superstar swimmers includes Canadian wunder-teen Summer McIntosh, 7-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, and the return to competition of Caeleb Dressel, who will race for the first time since leaving last year’s World Championships mid-meet.

Dressel is entered in six races, though given the circumstance and his history, it’s unlikely that he’ll swim all six.

Dressel’s Entries:

• 200 free (1:47.58 – #3 seed)
• 100 fly (53.75 – #5 seed)
• 200 fly (1:58.45 – #2 seed)
• 50 free (22.13 – #2 seed)
• 200 IM (1:59.97 – #2 seed)
• 100 free (49.80 – #6 seed)

Note: we have ignored incorrect seed times in the listing above, which is why those rankings might not match what’s on the psych sheets.

In his primary events, the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, he is seeded with less-than-best times, though his personal bests would make him the top seed in each of those races.

Dressel has been back in the pool training in 2023, but after a long break away from the sport, and with such a veil of privacy around him over the last year, there is tons of anticipation and curiosity about where Dressel will be in his results.

Ledecky, who also trains in the pro group at the University of Florida, has a more modest three-event entry list, paring down her event list a little as Trials approach. She will race the 200, 400, and 800 freestyles, her three primary events, though she’s not entered in the 1500 free. She skipped that race at the most recent Pro Swim in Fort Lauderdale too, and it’s an event where she’s still essentially unchallenged globally.

McIntosh, the 16-year-old Canadian who is training with the Sarasota Sharks in Florida, will also be in attendance. The incredibly-versatile McIntosh is back in action for the first time since breaking World Records in the 400 IM and 400 free at Canadian Trials just over a month ago.

McIntosh won’t swim either event this week in Atlanta, though – and in fact, will avoid all head-to-head matchups with Ledecky – though the women’s 400 free between the two and others is one of the most-anticipated races of the summer’s World Championships.

McIntosh’s Entries:

• 100 Breast (1:10.39 – #5 seed)
• 100 Fly (57.92 – #1 seed)
• 50 Free (26.27 – #9 seed)
• 100 Back (1:00.25 – #1 seed)
• 200 Breast (2:29.56 – #3 seed)
• 200 Back (2:07.15 – #1 seed)

While she won’t swim any of the races in which she’s likely to break a World Record this year, her six-event lineup brings an almost more-intriguing set of swims to the meet, given its non-championship nature.

She’s going to swim a lot of races that she hasn’t swum in a while, and ones that people are very curious to see her abilities in. For example, there has been some wondering from the public about whether she could be Canada’s solution on the breaststroke leg of an otherwise-lethal medley relay.

There has also been a lot of interest in her abilities in the 200 back after swimming some previously unheard of backstroke splits on her record-setting IMs earlier this year.

Her seed time in the 50 free, as another example, is actually the opening 50 split from her 100 free at March’s Pro Swim in Fort Lauderdale.

Other Big Names Scheduled to Swim in Atlanta:

Among the other big names attending are Josh Liendo after a big Canadian Trials meet, and Zane Grothe, who has sent some ambiguous messages about his future in the sport. Grothe is entered in the three shortest freestyle events at the meet, though he’s best known as a distance swimmer.

• Josh Liendo (100 fly, 200 fly, 50 free, 100 free)
• Bobby Finke (200 free, 400 IM, 200 fly, 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free)
• Kieran Smith (200 free, 400 IM, 100 back, 400 free, 200 IM, 100 free)
• Emma Weyant (200 free, 400 IM, 200 fly, 200 breast, 400 free, 200 back)
• Jake Mitchell (200 free, 400 free, 200 back, 100 free)
• Natalie Hinds (100 fly, 50 free, 100 free)
• Isabel Ivey (200 free, 50 free, 200 IM, 100 free)
• Gabby DeLoof (200 back, 100 back, 100 free)
• Zane Grothe (200 free, 50 free, 100 free)