Caeleb Dressel, Regan Smith to Make 2024 Racing Debuts at TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont
The next stop of the TYR Pro Swim Series will take place next weekend in Westmont, Ill., which will host some of the best American swimmers for the third consecutive year. Plenty of top American swimmers are due to compete in Westmont, although Katie Ledecky plus most of the members of the U.S. team at last month’s World Championships in Doha have opted to skip this meet to continue their training.
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Among the most prominent entries are Caeleb Dressel, who will be competing for the first time in 2024 and the first time since becoming a father. Dressel is swimming the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle plus the 100 butterfly, and he is the top seed in the 50 free and 100 fly. Also swimming for the first time this year is Regan Smith, who withdrew from the Knoxville meet because of illness. Smith is the first seed in the 100 and 200 backstroke plus the 200 fly while she will face off with former Stanford teammate Torri Huske in the 100 fly.
Ahmed Hafnaoui is the top seed in three events, the 400, 800 and 1500 free, and he is scheduled to race for the first time since failing to advance out of prelims in any of his events at last month’s Worlds. Also on the men’s side, Ryan Murphy leads the way in both backstroke events while Chase Kalisz is first in the 400 IM. Shaine Casas, the only member of the Worlds team in attendance in Westmont, is the first seed in the 200 IM.
Most swimmers targeting the upcoming NCAA Championships will pass on the long course meet, but the Cal quartet of Jack Alexy, Dare Rose, Destin Lasco and Gabriel Jett will skip the Pac-12 Championships to attend the Westmont meet. Cal has made this decision with its top athletes in the past, prioritizing a long course Pro Series meet over the conference championships, and this makes sense with all four swimmers looking to advance their chances of qualifying for the Olympic team.
Alexy leads the field in what is sure to be an exciting 100 free race, which also includes Dressel, Ryan Held, Brooks Curry, Justin Ress and Blake Pieroni while Rose, the World Championships bronze medalist in the 100 fly, will face Dressel and Casas in that event.
For the women, Lilly King highlights the breaststroke events while Claire Weinstein is the top seed in the 200 and 800 free while Sandpipers of Nevada teammate Katie Grimes heads the pack in the 400 free and 400 IM. One notable collegian, Phoebe Bacon, is entered in the meet, and while the sprint freestyle fields are missing Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Claire Curzan, Huske will face top seed Abbey Weitzeil and other top contenders in the 50 and 100 free.
More meet information can be found here, and the full list of top seeds is available below.
Wednesday, March 6
- Women’s 800 Freestyle: Claire Weinstein
- Men’s 800 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui
Thursday, March 7
- Women’s 200 Freestyle: Claire Weinstein
- Men’s 200 Freestyle: Drew Kibler
- Women’s 100 Breaststroke: Lilly King
- Men’s 100 Breaststroke: Cody Miller
- Women’s 100 Butterfly: Torri Huske
- Men’s 100 Butterfly: Caeleb Dressel
- Women’s 400 IM: Katie Grimes
- Men’s 400 IM: Chase Kalisz
Friday, March 8
- Women’s 200 Butterfly: Regan Smith
- Men’s 200 Butterfly: Thomas Heilman
- Women’s 50 Freestyle: Abbey Weitzeil
- Men’s 50 Freestyle: Caeleb Dressel
- Women’s 100 Backstroke: Regan Smith
- Men’s 100 Backstroke: Ryan Murphy
- Women’s 200 Breaststroke: Lilly King
- Men’s 200 Breaststroke: Antonio Rodriguez
- Women’s 400 Freestyle: Katie Grimes
- Men’s 400 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui
Saturday, March 9
- Women’s 1500 Freestyle: Beatriz Pimentel Dizotti
- Men’s 1500 Freestyle: Ahmed Hafnaoui
- Women’s 200 IM: Leah Hayes
- Men’s 200 IM: Shaine Casas
- Women’s 200 Backstroke: Regan Smith
- Men’s 200 Backstroke: Ryan Murphy
- Women’s 100 Freestyle: Abbey Weitzeil
- Men’s 100 Freestyle: Jack Alexy
