{"id":243549,"date":"2017-03-01T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=243549"},"modified":"2017-03-01T08:44:48","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T15:44:48","slug":"5-swimmers-to-watch-at-arena-pro-swim-series-indianapolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/5-swimmers-to-watch-at-arena-pro-swim-series-indianapolis\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Swimmers to Watch at Arena Pro Swim Series Indianapolis"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the heart of college championship season, this weekend will feature a little bit of long course action to break up the back-and-forth of short course yards. Plenty of Olympians will be in action this weekend<\/a> at the Arena Pro Swim Series meet in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

By now, you might know some of the basics:\u00a0Nathan Adrian\u00a0<\/strong>will compete for the first time since the Olympics in Rio, and\u00a0Adam Peaty\u00a0<\/strong>will be in town along with a host of other British nationals. Even Ye<\/strong> Shiwen<\/strong>, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in both IMs whose highest finish in Rio was eighth, will be in attendance.<\/p>\n

But here are a few names you might have missed while scanning through the psych sheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Cullen Jones<\/h3>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher\/USA Today Sports Images<\/p><\/div>\n

You think it’s been awhile since\u00a0Nathan Adrian<\/strong> was in the competition pool? It’s been even longer for\u00a0Cullen Jones<\/strong>, who has not raced since finishing third in the 50 free at Olympic Trials in July. Jones, now 33\u2014even if his birthday is actually Feb. 29\u2014has returned to his alma mater, NC State, to train with sprint coach\u00a0Todd DeSorbo<\/strong> and work on finishing his college degree. Jones explained that move in a November interview at Golden Goggles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jones’ first race back won’t be a walk in the park. Among those he’s racing in the 50 free: new training partner and Short Course World Champion\u00a0Simonas Bilis<\/strong>, Adrian, Olympic finalist\u00a0Bruno Fratus<\/strong>, Russian speedster\u00a0Vlad Morozov<\/strong> and former NCAA champion\u00a0Josh Schneider<\/strong>. Seeded further down the psych sheet (No. 80) is Peaty, at 24.88. (Sure, it’s not breaststroke, but hey, with those great athletes, you never know!)<\/p>\n

2. Seth Stubblefield<\/h3>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike Jones,\u00a0Seth Stubblefield<\/strong>\u00a0has<\/em> competed since finishing third at Olympic Trials (in his case, in the 100 fly). But only once: at the Nation’s Capital Winter Invitational two weeks ago, when he posted a time of 45.93 in the 100 free. Needless to say, the competition in Indy will be a step up from that.<\/p>\n

At Trials, Stubblefield finished third in the 100 fly, four one-hundredths behind then-training partner\u00a0Tom Shields<\/strong>, after coming into the final as the top seed. Since then, he’s gotten married. How much has he been training, and where? We’ll find out this weekend.<\/p>\n

3. Cassidy Bayer<\/h3>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Here we’ve got yet another third-place finisher from Olympic Trials. (Noticing a theme here?) But unlike the other two, Bayer had no plans for an extended break.\u00a0Cassidy Bayer\u00a0<\/strong>even swam at Junior Pan Pacs in late August, where she won a gold medal in the 200 fly. But the fall didn’t go so smoothly for the 17-year-old, as she explained at the Nation’s Capital Invitational in December.<\/p>\n