Indy GP Preview: Another 400 IM for Phelps?

The 2012 version of the Indy Grand Prix already hit controversy before the meet even started. The requested entries for the meet, that will held at the legendary IUPUI natatorium, were overwhelmed well before the entry deadline, and as a result USA Swimming established a second meet in nearby West Lafayette at the Purdue pool (which is a very nice facility by its own right). An exception was made for swimmers in the world’s top 50.

Psych Sheets available here.

The Purdue option was a good one for many of the swimmers who wanted to enter the meet, but as the meet was a late addition, it didn’t receive the FINA approval for Olympic Qualifying. That’s where a lot of the international entries in this week’s Canadian Trials have come from – swimmers who couldn’t make the cut into Indianapolis seeking another nearby meet at which to earn, or improve, their Olympic qualifying times.

Aside from that little hiccup, this is going to be an absolutely spectacular meet. Nearly all of the big names will be in town for this meet, including the biggest name: Michael Phelps.

Phelps is entered in the 100/200 fly, the 100 free, and the 200/400 IM. Yep, you read that right, the 400 IM. This isn’t the first time he’s swum the race since swearing the race off forever, but now just 3 months out of this summer’s Olympic Trials, one might expect that he would be honing his schedule. I think it’s time to officially declare that Phelps is considering officially adding this 400 IM back to his schedule and taking on a third Olympic showdown with Ryan Lochte. This will probably be the last big test of his IM, and I would expect that if all goes well in this race, that we’ll be seeing an official announcement of the move not too long after.

Lochte will be at this meet, though he won’t be swimming the 400 IM – he rarely races the event in-season. His schedule for this meet will include the 100/200 free, the 100/200 back, the 100 fly, and the 200 IM.

There will be no Lochte-Phelps show down in that 400 IM, but what we will see is a Phelps-Tyler Clary showdown. Suddenly, if Phelps does in fact add the 400 IM back to his schedule, Clary’s Olympic hopes become a bit tighter – the 400 IM was going to be the easiest path to London for him. In reality though, he could be the roadblock to Phelps making the event. Clary, back from an injury in December, is reported to be training as hard and as focused as he ever has, and in this meet he will swim the 200/400 IM, the 200 back, the 200 fly, and the 400 free.

The few names that I could find missing from this meet were Natalie Coughlin, who is traveling to race a whole lot less these days, Rebecca Soni, and Eric Shanteau. Both were at the last meet, earlier in March, in Columbus. And then of course the swimmers from Auburn, who will be on their way back from France where they raced at the French Olympic Trials.

The men’s sprint battle will be a great battle. Nathan Adrian is racing for only the second time this year (and first since January’s Austin Grand Prix). He will be duking it out with training partner Anthony Ervin (who also hasn’t raced since Austin – where he was better than anyone expected that early). There will be a lot of other big names in the 50/100 freestyles – Garrett Weber-Gale, George Bovell, Nick Brunelli, Roland Schoeman, Cullen Jones, Josh Schneider, and Jason Lezak. American sprinting on the top end may not be keeping up with much of the rest of the world, but there’s no shortage of depth – especially when international swimmers training in the US are included.

We’ll also get our first look at the newly-engaged Jessica Hardy of 2012. She and her longtime-beau Dominik Meichtry (a Swiss Olympian) were engaged a few weeks ago, and then he left shortly thereafter for his country’s Olympic Trials and she left for a training camp at the Phoenix Swim Club.  Dominik is back in the country (though not swimming at this meet), but for Hardy this is her first meet since the Duel in the Pool. She will race the 50 and 100 freestyles, as well as the 100 breaststroke, and test out the new “explosiveness” that she said that she’s been working on in Arizona.

Among Hardy’s competition will be another swimmer who we haven’t heard much from since she made a huge impact in late 2011 – Asphalt Green’s Lia Neal. But that’s not because she hasn’t been racing – she’s stayed close to home with lots of yards races and a few more local meters races. She’s still working on extending her versatility beyond the 50/100 – her 200 free, that didn’t appear until late last year, has continued to look very strong (she’s been a 2:01.9 in long course in 2012 in January). At this meet, she will be swimming the 50/100/200 freestyles, the 100 fly, and the 200 IM. The 100 fly could be another good event for her down the line – she was a 1:02.6 this year at a meet that she seemed to give no special focus to. We have to remember that though she’s 17 (and in women’s swimming, 17 is the new 22), she’s nowhere near as far along in her training as other young swimmers like Franklin and Liz Pelton (who will also be at this meet) who have been training like Olympians since they were 13.

Dara Torres will also be in town, swimming just the 50 free that is all we’ll probably see her race for the rest of her career.

Amanda Beard is also making her 2012 debut, and will swim the two breaststroke races along with the 200 IM.

Missy Franklin, Kara Lynn Joyce, and a couple of their Colorado Stars teammates, are amid a tough week of training in the Florida keys. Don’t expect great times from them as they’re going to be exhausted, but it will be a good chance to race tired. No 400 free this time for Joyce, but she will swim the 200 just for the training effect.

Chloe Sutton, after scratching the Columbus Grand Prix, isn’t entered for Indy. Kate Ziegler, however, will be at this meet, making her big coming-out party since returning to train at the FISH club where she grew up (she had been at FAST for quite a while).

And another swimmer making a pseudo-debut will be Ariana Kukors. She’s another former FAST trainee, who is now working out of the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. We got just a taste at the Orlando Sectionals meet, where she swam a 2:12.86 in the 200 IM. Now, she’ll swim a full schedule, where she’s entered in the 200 free, 100/200 breast, 200/400 IM, and 100 fly. She’s back in full-on Olympic IM mode.

And let’s not forget that there is $20,000 on the line here. As of now, Michael Phelps is leading the competition with 56 points, but his training partner Allison Schmitt is not far behind at 48. She will have a chance to pick up big points at this meet. Schmitt and Franklin (35 points) sit 2nd-and-3rd, and they are both amateurs (for now). That basically means that Phelps is a huge lock to take home the money. Matt Grevers is the next-closest professional swimmer with 24 points, and he’s not swimming this meet. That pretty well seals it for Phelps.

With a field as stacked as this, there’s dozens of storylines to follow, so check out the psych sheets and then get ready to watch the action, kicking off Thursday.