Kalisz, Farris, Berkoff Highlight Greensboro US Open Stop (psych sheets)

2020 US OPEN Championships – Greensboro

• November 12-14, 2020
• Greensboro, North Carolina
• LCM (50 meter), 4 Timed Finals Session
• Full Series Details
• Greensboro Psych Sheets

This edition of USA Swimming’s US Open meet is going to be vastly different than most years, as the meet will occur in nine different locations more or less simultaneously, in an effort to reduce both travel and the actual number of swimmers at any one site.

The psych sheets for the Greensboro site of the meet were recently released, highlighted by several Olympic Medalists, US National Team Members, and age-group standouts. 

Topping a majority of the events on the psych sheet are the NC State swimmers, including US National Team members Eric Knowles and  Katherine Berkoff, along with standout Ross Dant. Knowles currently sits atop the rankings in the 400 freestyle , 1500 freestyle, and 200 freestyle, while ranking 2nd in the 800 freestyle behind Dant. Likewise, Dant also holds the second fastest entry in the 400 freestyle behind Knowles. 

Berkoff currently sits atop the rankings in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, her signature events. In 2019, Berkhoff won the 100 backstroke at the World University Games, and she was a member of the Pan Pacific Championship Team in the 200 backstroke in 2018. 

Several pros are also slated to make an appearance at the meet, including Singaporean Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, Olympic silver medalist Chase Kalisz, World Championships silver medalist Jay Litherland, and World Championships medalists Micah Sumrall and Farida Osman. 

Schooling is slated to swim multiple events throughout the weekend, including the 100 butterfly, where he is currently seeded second behind Wolfpack Elite’s Jack Saunderson, the 100 freestyle, where he is seeded second, and the 200 IM, where he is seeded 3rd. Schooling is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the event from 2016 when he defeated Michael Phelps to take the title and Olympic record. 

Kalisz, who won the Olympic silver medal in the 400 IM in 2016 and was the World Champion in both the 200 IM and 400 IM in 2017 is looking to continue his redemption year on a high note after a lackluster 2019 where he did not even final at the World Championships in the 400 IM. He is currently seeded 1st in the 200 IM and 2nd in the 400 IM behind Litherland, who was a surprise silver medalist in the event at last year’s World Championships. Both men represented the United States in the 400 IM at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and are the favorites to join the team going into Tokyo. 

Sumrall is looking to continue her comeback streak heading into the Tokyo Games after missing making the Olympic Team in 2016, where she came .54 behind Molly Hannis to finish 4th. She is entered to swim both the 200 and 100 breaststroke. In the 200, she holds the top seed with a time of 2:25.17, while she is seeded 2nd in the 100 behind Rachel Bernhardt. 

Osman, an Egyptian Olympian, is only entered in the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle. In the 100 freestyle, she holds the top seed, while in the 100 butterfly, she is seeded 2nd behind age-group standout Claire Curzan. 

Curzan leads a very strong contingent of age-groupers swimming at the meet, as she is currently seeded in the top 3 in 4 different events. The 16 year-old Curzan’s highest seed is 1st in the 100 butterfly, where she is looking to chase Tori Huske’s 15-16 National Age Group record of 57.48. Her best time in the event currently stands at a 57.57. Curzan is also seeded second in the 50 freestyle and 100 Backstroke, while she holds the third seed in the 100 freestyle. Notably, Curzan is also set to chase the NAGs in the 50 and 100 freestyle after breaking the short course records in both events in July, posting times of 21.51 and 47.23, respectively. 

Joining Curzan is teammate and fellow 16-year-old Charlotte Hook, who is a member of the US National Team. Hook is currently seeded 1st in the 200 butterfly by over 6 seconds with her best time of 2:07.87. On Friday morning, Hook is currently scheduled to do a tough double with the 400 IM and 100 butterfly back-to-back. In both events, she is seeded 4th overall.

The sprint freestyle events on the men’s side may be some of the most anticipated races of the entire meet. 18-year-old US National Teamer David Curtiss currently stands atop the 50 freestyle rankings with 200 yard freestyle American record-holder Dean Farris seeded second. Farris took a redshirt from Harvard last season to train for the US Olympic Trials under Eddie Reese at Texas, shifting his focus to long course for the time being. Lurking in the 50 freestyle field are also Aiden Hayes, the top recruit in SwimSwam’s rankings of the class of 2021 and Schooling.

Although Farris is not entered in the 200 freestyle, he holds the top seed in the 100 freestyle and is seeded 2nd in the 100 backstroke.