Murphy, King & Huske Headline Stacked Field At Mission Viejo Pro Swim (Psych Sheets)

2023 Pro Swim Series – Mission Viejo

• May 17-20, 2023
• Marguerite Aquatics Center, Mission Viejo, California
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets

Psych sheets have been released for the fourth and final leg of the 2023 Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, with a stacked lineup of U.S. stars set to converge at the Marguerite Aquatics Center next weekend.

The lineup will feature five defending world champions from the U.S., with Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink and Justin Ress highlighting the men’s side and Lilly King and Torri Huske among the big names for the women.

Murphy, Ress and multi-time World Championship medalist Hunter Armstrong make for a very strong field in the men’s backstroke events, while Fink is clearly the top male breaststroker entered at the competition, though he will have to contend with Jake Foster in the 200-meter event.

The men’s side will also feature an intriguing sprint freestyle group that includes NCAA stars Bjorn Seeliger and Jack Alexy, plus one of the fastest Americans in the 100 free for the last number of years, Ryan Held, and the man who recently reemerged in the U.S., Santo Condorelli.

We’ll also see Trenton Julian and Gabriel Jett go head-to-head in the men’s 200 fly, and two other names to watch coming off impressive NCAA seasons are Cal’s Destin Lasco and Texas’ David Johnston.

On the women’s side, Huske leads strong fields set to compete in the sprint free and fly events, with her Stanford teammate Claire Curzan also in the field, with the two swimmers having recently announced they’ll be redshirting the 2023-24 collegiate season to prepare for the Olympics.

In the women’s 50 and 100 free, Huske and Curzan will be taking on a lineup that includes Olympians Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil and Olivia Smoliga, while Poland’s Kasia Wasick, the 2022 World Championship silver medalist in the 50 free, will also be in attendance.

In the 100 fly, Huske and Curzan will take on the likes of Kelly Pash and Dakota Luther, while Pash and Luther will have Charlotte Hook and Rachel Klinker to contend with in the 200 fly.

Other key names in attendance include the Sandpipers of Nevada trio Katie Grimes, Bella Sims and Claire Weinstein, backstrokers Isabelle Stadden and Rhyan White, and Canada’s Taylor Ruck.

Grimes, the 2022 World Championship silver medalist in the women’s 1500 free and 400 IM, will not be taking on those events, but has instead entered the 200 and 400 free, 100 and 200 back, 200 breast and 200 IM. Sims has a similar lineup, though she’ll race the 100 and 800 free and not the 200 breast.

Update: Grimes and Weinstein have pulled out of the competition, per the updated psych sheets.

Although a number of swimmers who train at the University of Texas will be competing, the likes of Carson Foster and Shaine Casas have not entered the meet.

There are also some ASU pros, such as Held, Manuel, Smoliga and Grant House, but not all of them, with names like Regan Smith and Chase Kalisz missing.

This event marks the final PSS of the season, with the U.S. qualifying event for the 2023 World Championships, the National Championships in Indianapolis, scheduled for six and a half weeks later from June 27-July 1.