Michael Phelps swims backstroke during practice in Mesa, Ariz. on Wednesday ahead of the 2014 Mesa Grand Prix. (Matt York/AP)
Thursday morning’s prelim heat sheets are out, and Michael Phelps will swim his first race of his comeback in a familiar lane. Phelps’s pre-retirement time of 50.86 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly ranks him first in the event in Arizona at USA Swimming’s Mesa Grand Prix. As a result, he’ll have lane four in heat 14 of 14.
Official Thursday AM prelims heat sheets
Phelp’s will be flanked by former Olympic teammate Matt Grevers (52.69) and defending National Champion Eugene Godsoe (51.66). Also in the heat is North Baltimore Aquatic Club training partner Tom Luchsinger in lane seven. The three certainly give Phelps a degree of familiarity for his first race since 2012, and a nice veteran presence to welcome back the 22-time Olympic medalist.
A tentative prelims timeline has the event starting at 2:42 p.m. Eastern time. This is Phelps’s only event on day one in Mesa after scratching the 100 freestyle Wednesday. Watch the live webcast here. Find all the links you need to follow the meet here.
Ryan Lochte, the second overall seed with a time of 51.48, will swim in lane four in the heat prior (13). Lochte is also returning to competition after being away, albeit a much shorter duration, from the competition pool. Lochte will also swim 100 freestyle in which he is seeded fourth overall with a time of 48.58. He’ll have lane five in heat 15 of 15, directly next to top-seeded Nathan Adrian (47.52).
Also competing Thursday morning at the Skyline Aquatic Center, Katie Ledecky, 15, will step onto the blocks for two events. Ledecky is the top seed in the women’s 400 freestyle with her American record time of 3:59.82 set at last year’s world championships.
Directly below her is Lotte Friis, the Danish swimmer who pushed Ledecky to world records in the 800 and 1,500 in Barcelona last summer. Friis trains a short drive up I-95 from Ledecky at NBAC. Isabella Rongione, 14, will be in lane one (4:15.79).
In the first event of the meet, Ledecky will swim in heat 13 of the women’s 100 freestyle. She’s seeded in lane six with a time of 55.57 (12th overall). Her heat is relatively stacked with Margo Geer (54.39), Allison Schmitt (53.94) and Jessica Hardy (55.28) directly above her in lanes five, four and three.
Two heats later in the 15th and final heat, Amanda Kendall will also swim in lane six (55.38). She’ll take on 17-year-old Simone Manuel (53.86), Natalie Coughlin (54.04) and Karlee Bispo (54.63) in another veteran-laden seeded heat. Kendall will also swim in the circle-seeded heats of the 100 butterfly — heat 13 of 15 — in lane four as the third overall seed with a time of 59.20.
Carsten Vissering, 16, will also appear in heat six of eight in the men’s 200 breaststroke (2:15.85). He should get into the A-final if he can hang with No. 2-overall seed Mike Alexandrov in lane four (2:11.62). Vissering is on NAG record watch in this event. He needs to shave less than 1.2 seconds off his best to unify the 100 and 200 records in the boys’ 15-16 age group under his moniker.
Local schedule:
Women’s 100 free
Annie Boone, 16, NCAP – H3 L5
Hannah Linsey, 16, ASA – H4 L2
Marina Falcone, 26, NCAP – H7 L3
Caroline McTaggart, 17, ASA – H12 L8
Katie Ledecky, 17, NCAP – H13 L6
Amanda Kendall, 23, T2 – H15 L6
Men’s 100 free
Owen Van Krimpen, 17, NCAP – H5 L1
Matthew Hirschberger, 15, NCAP – H5 L2
Carsten Vissering, 16, NCAP – H6 L4
Women’s 200 breast
Allison Goldblatt, 15, FISH – H1 L5
Reni Moshos, 15, NCAP – H2 L4
Men’s 200 breast
Greg Song, 17, NCAP – H2 L3
Carsten Vissering, 16, NCAP – H6 L5
Women’s 400 free
Katie Ledecky, 17, NCAP – H5 L4
Isabella Rongione, 14, NCAP – H5 L1
Men’s 400 free
Matthew Hirschberger, 15, NCAP – H2 L6
Women’s 100 butterfly
Annie Boone, 16, NCAP – H3 L7
Marina Falcone, 26, NCAP – H5 L3
Reni Moshos, 15, NCAP – H6 L8
Hannah Linsey, 16, ASA – H7 L1
Allison Goldblatt, 15, FISH – H7 L7
Isabella Rongione, 14, NCAP – H9 L1
Caroline McTaggart, 17, ASA – H11 L7
Amanda Kendall, 23, T2 H13 L4
Men’s 100 butterfly
Owen Van Krimpen, 17, NCAP – H4 L7
Greg Song, 17, NCAP – H5 L6
Women’s/Men’s 400 free — B-flight
Owen Van Krimpen, 17, NCAP – H12 L5
Allison Goldblatt, 15, FISH – H15 L6
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