The Arena Pro Swim Series at Orlando is set to host a slew of huge names, including Olympic stars Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Missy Franklin, plus American record-shattering collegiate sprinter Caeleb Dressel.
The meet is interesting timing for Dressel, especially, after the Florida sophomore smashed American records in the short course yards 50 and 100 freestyles at the SEC Championships last week. Dressel will also compete at the NCAA Championship just a few weeks after the Orlando Pro Swim Series meet, but Orlando will give him an early opportunity to replicate his unprecedented short course swims in the Olympic-distance pool.
Full psych sheets should be on their way this week.
The full press release courtesy of USA Swimming:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Approximately 40 members of the USA Swimming National Team, including Olympic champions and world record-holders Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.), Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md.) and Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), are expected to compete at the March 3-5 Arena Pro Swim Series at Orlando.
Held at Orlando’s YMCA Aquatic Center, the long-course meters meet opens Thursday, March 3 and continues through Saturday, March 5, with daily prelims at 9 a.m. Eastern followed by finals at 6 p.m. Single- and all-session tickets are on sale now online.
Television coverage from Orlando will air on same-day delay on Friday, March 4, from 10-11:30 p.m. Eastern on Universal HD and Saturday, March 5, from 7:30-9 p.m. Eastern on NBC Sports Network. In addition, NBC Sports Live Extra will stream March 4-5 finals live. A live webcast of the entire meet also will be available at usaswimming.org.
Additional U.S. Olympic champions expected to swim in Orlando include the likes of Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.), Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.).
On the local front, a number of swimmers with Florida ties are expected to compete, including Olympic medalists and University of Florida alumniElizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) and current Gator sprint standout Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla.), who set American records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at last week’s Southeastern Conference Championships.
In total, more than 500 swimmers are slated to compete in Orlando.
The Arena Pro Swim Series at Orlando is the third of seven stops of the 2015-16 Arena Pro Swim Series. As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with swimwear leader Arena, the circuit will feature a record $350,000 in overall prize money. Swimmers may earn awards for top-three finishes in all individual Olympic events across the series. At each meet, $1,000 will be provided for a first-place finish, $600 for second and $200 for third. In addition to the single-event prize money, the overall male and female winners of the season-long Series will earn a $10,000 bonus.
For the third consecutive season, longtime USA Swimming partner BMW will award the grand prize of a one-year lease of a BMW vehicle to the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmers.
Male and female overall Arena Pro Swim Series champions will be honored at the conclusion of the 2015-16 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the seven meets. Participants will be awarded points in each individual Olympic event throughout the duration of the Series (Five points for first, three for second, one point for third place).
Ledecky currently leads the women’s Arena Pro Swim Series standings with 34 points, while Adrian tops the men’s standings with 20 points.
Serious line-up ; can’t wait to see the 50 and 100 free with Dressel in those finals . I will be very focused on what Grevers can deliver as well and all the others …. Super Meet in perspective
IMHO, it makes great sense. I think the Olympics is far more important than NCAAs. I know this might bother some people, but the Olympics only roll around every 4-years, they are the pinnacle of the sport, Dressel is hot now, and the potential for lucrative sponsorships for swimmers are rare. He should capitalize on his current success.
Murica!
Dressel is the consummate team guy, and I think part of why he has gotten so fast is because he cares so much about the team aspect of collegiate swimming and lifting others up. Just as Lochte and Beisel did, I can almost guarantee he will swim NCAA all four years regardless of what monetary opportunity exists for him to go pro before he graduates in 2018.
Do you think Dressel should give up the opportunity for a $2M – $3M sponsorship to swim his last 2 years at Florida. It may be a fun experience for him, but dude, he would never have to work again. He could be retired or a professional swimmer.
Making serious money as a swimmer is damn near impossible. I could see Dressel doing either and I would support either decision. He should really think about taking the money if its on the table.
If Dressel is going to score any major endorsements, he better clean up his Instagram. Lots and lots of photos with guns. That, coupled with the crazy Bible verses written on his face, give him a very southern, white trash persona. Not sure if that’s going to resonate with the American public..
Probably many if not all of Brazilian olympics will be at the meet, and there is high chance Cielo will swim it also.
Cielo will be there.
And with the whole Brazilian team, I wonder if relays will be in dispute.
Cielo x Adrian x Dressel x Fratus on 50 free and Cielo x Adrian x Dressel x Chiereghini on 100 can be good races, 100 back might be fun, same for 50 free girls. 100 back if Thoman Murphy and others are there too and 200 IM
Ceilo probably wont even final in the 50 and a 100 is too far for him 🙂
Once again American television broadcasts only 2 days out 3….
It’s so stupid considering they are in Orlando. Why not the first day too?
Bein Sports France has bought the TV rights for the US GP season and as they depend on the pictures they receive from American television, they are also forced to show only 2 days out of 3.
Fortunately USA swimming offers a free live stream of the entire meet and finals are posted on youtube.
However, that TV choice is very stupid!
Imagine they show only the first 2 days of a meet and a world record is broken on the 3rd day! They would look very foolish!
NBC is not stupid, they just have a completely different agenda than we might expect. Here is how I rationalize the way these meets are televised:
NBC broadcasts of the Arena GP in the US do not really target an audience that is knowledgeable or concerned about swimming generally as sport, because that audience would be far too small. The broadcasts are actually used as a sort of infomercial to help build a broader audience for the Olympics, and the rights are managed is to continue to build name recognition of a handful of athletes that a mass audience might begin to care something about when Rio rolls around.
Don’t think of it so much as live sports broadcasting… Read more »
Well written – makes sense, yet I agree with BOBO on an emotional level. When the network cuts away from the middle of the 800 final during the Olympics to run commercials it is a business decision but on an emotional level it drives me insane.
I agree, this used to make me sort of crazy too, but once I’ve started looking at it in this admittedly more cynical way, it’s become the source of some comical amusement. I don’t mind it too much as I can still watch the entire live stream or youtube posts of the races I want to see.
Interesting to see Caeleb Dressel compete at a long course meet in between conference and NCAAs. I can’t recall any other athlete doing that before. I think it makes sense considering that it’s an Olympic year and that the meet is relatively close by.
Matt Targett did it as well in 09 as Austraillian Trials were inbetween SEC’s and NCAA’s that year I believe. Didn’t work out too well for him at NC’s individually but again that’s Austriallian World trials (with time difference and flights) and this is the Orlando Grand Prix (essentially swimming in his backyard). Doubt this will tax Dressel much
I think Dressel can win the 50 and maybe the 100 without being at his best at NCAAs. He has a real shot to make the Olympic team and win a medal. That is where I would be focusing if I were him. Tapering for NCAAs, trials, and the Olympics does not seem like it would set him up for success.
He has 2 more years in college to see how low he can take the 50 and 100 records. I never thought a 17 second 50 free was in the realm of possibility. Now, I think we will see it soon.
Let’s be honest, tapering for the 50/100 in March isn’t going to affect his 50/100 in the summer.
Ya think? That’d give him 3 tapers in pretty short order.
I assume he’ll rest a little bit for NCAAs, but if previous Florida stars are any indication, he won’t completely rest. Which seems smart.