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Ft Lauderdale PSS: 5 Storylines to Watch (Plus a Bonus)

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By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – FORT LAUDERDALE

The 2023 Pro Swim Series will head to Fort Lauderdale, Florida this week for its second stop. Most of the US National Team that is not still competing in the NCAA system will be in attendance, including the top two swimmers in SwimSwam’s Top 100 Women for 2023 ranking: Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh.

That means there are a ton of highlight races – frankly, every race of the meet is a highlight – to watch. But we picked out our favorites below:

1. The Women’s 100 Free

Penny Oleksiak is a late entry, and that elevated this early-meet event from a great race to a spectacular showdown.

The list of names is a hall-of-fame lineup. Oleksiak and Simone Manuel, in a rematch of their Olympic tie from 2016; the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Siobhan Haughey; Kasia Wasick coming up from the 50; Summer McIntosh coming down from the 200; Abbey Weitzeil resurging in the new year; Erika Brown and Natalie Hinds and Olivia Smoliga and Katie Ledecky are all in that field.

This race goes deep. Gabby DeLoof is the 14th seed. Isabel Ivey is the 17th seed. Bella Sims isn’t a sprinter, but with the way things have been going for her lately, she’s bound to pop a 54-or-better.

Someone is going to be left out of this A-final and still have a chance at a World Championship final this summer.

After diminutive attendance during and coming-out-of COVID, this is the kind of race that the Pro Swim Series needs to reinject some energy.

2. The Women’s 200 Free

As if the 100 wasn’t good enough, the 200 might be even better. The top three are Katie Ledecky, Summer McIntosh, and Siobhan Haughey, which is enough to make this a can’t-miss race.

But then there’s 16-year-old rising star Claire Weinstein, double Olympic medalist Leah Smith, Oleksiak, all of the Sandpiper stars, Ella Jansen from Canada, and Regan Smith who is not usually a freestyler but who is training under a coach now (Bob Bowman) who values versatility.

Simone Manuel, who is often forgotten for how good she was at the 200 free at her best, is also entered as the 19th seed, which would be a nice bonus onto a stacked race.

3. Diogo Ribeiro Makes His US Debut

Portuguese swimmer Diogo Ribeiro, swimming under the clever pseudonym “Diego Ribeiro,” will be making his debut on American soil.

The 18-year-old from Benfica is er-child, literally, for a rise in Portuguese swimming under new national team head coach Alberto Pinto da Silva. He broke a surprise World Junior Record in the 50 fly last summer, swimming 22.96 to climb to 11th in the all-time rankings.

Fort Lauderdale will be the unofficial start of his 2nd act, and his first time swimming on American soil.

Ribeiro has swum in three meets since his World Junior Championship gold medal, all on Portuguese soil. He’s had strong results at those competitions, but now will step on to a bigger stage against stiffer competition.

He’s seeded with his 100-meter time in the 50 fly, which means he’ll have to wait until finals to race against the primary competition there. That includes Michael Andrew and Dylan Carter, who have both been 22 seconds in this race and are veterans of the circuit who know how to get up and swim fast in finals, along with names like Marius Kusch, Zach Harting, Coleman Stewart, Ilya Kharun, and Ryan Held.

But Ribeiro will be eager to show that he’s got the chops for the Olympic stage too. He’ll race in the 50 free (#5 seed – 21.92), 100 free (#10 seed – 48.52), and 100 fly (#5 seed – 51.61). Based on his success in the short course season (including a 46.6 in the 100 free), some of those times could fall by the wayside.

4. Summer McIntosh‘s First 200 Fly Since Winning a World Title

Summer McIntosh has done a bunch of racing since her breakthrough World Championships last summer, where she won gold medals in the 200 fly and 400 IM, plus silver in the 400 free and bronze in the 800 free relay. She’s raced in short course, she’s raced in long course, she’s raced in yards.

But she hasn’t swum a long course race in the 200 fly since winning the World Championship (she did swim the 400 free and 400 IM at the US Open in December).

She swam the 200 fly at the World Cup in Indianapolis in short course meters (2:03.40); she swam the 200 yard fly at Winter Juniors – East (1:51.40). But she hasn’t swum it in the most important course for a Canadian, long course meters, in 8 months.

But she’s lined up to swim it this week!

It’s been easy to gauge McIntosh’s overall progress since moving to Florida to train with the Sarasota Sharks: it’s been great. But this will be a good first test of her progress in that 200 fly, specifically.

5. Can Michael Andrew Get Back on Track?

It’s hard to really understand where Michael Andrew is right now with his training. He used to be reliable to go out and swim fast at every Pro Swim, every money meet, every World Cup, and everything in between.

But more lately, he’s been good sometimes (PB in the 50 free at LC Worlds, PB in the 50 free at SC Worlds), and not-as-good other times. He doesn’t race anywhere near as often as he used to.

We don’t really know what this means yet. Is it a change away from the truest form of USRPT that he has made famous? Is it just his version of the ‘break’ that we’ve seen lots of swimmers take since the Tokyo Olympics?

I don’t really know. His swims in Jalisco, Mexico, last weekend weren’t great, but that’s a different kind of meet. With Trials for the Fukuoka World Championships just a few months away, this will be a crucial measuring stick for him.

Bonus: Zach Harting in the 50 Back

Last December, Zach Harting raced World Record holder Hunter Armstrong in a 50 backstroke in short course meters. It was presented as kind of a stunt, with the loser having to sing a karaoke song on Instagram, but…what if it wasn’t? What if that was a real swimoff for a leg on a medley relay?

And what if Harting shocked himself, and others, with how close he got to Armstrong, who is the fastest-ever in the 50 back in long course?

Harting is entered in the 50 back at this week’s PSS meet. He swam it in Knoxville too (26.48), and was 16th in prelims. He had never swum the race before, but is now making it a regular part of his schedule. Will the 200 butterflier find a change-of-stroke in the back-nine of his career?

 

SwimSwam: Ft Lauderdale PSS: 5 Storylines to Watch (Plus a Bonus)

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