AP

Michael Phelps could swim up to four events at next week’s U.S. Championships, and he may face Ryan Lochte in all of them.

Here are the top U.S. swimmers’ listed events on psych sheets (entry lists) released Thursday:

Phelps — 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
Lochte — 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
Missy Franklin — 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke
Katie Ledecky — 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley

The U.S. Championships serve as a qualifying meet for the year’s biggest international meet, the Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia, from Aug. 21-24. Both the U.S. Championships and Pan Pacs serve as qualifying meets for the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

Swimmers who make the team for Pan Pacs (essentially those who finish in the top two of an individual event at Nationals) are open to enter other events at Pan Pacs.

Therefore, it’s not a big deal for swimmers such as Phelps, Lochte, Franklin and Ledecky to swim a packed schedule at Nationals. The priority is making the team for Pan Pacs in one event, and they can add to their plates in Australia.

What’s more, swimmers (Lochte especially) tend to enter more events at Nationals than they plan to swim to be safe. Expect some or all of the big names to scratch out of events next week (Ledecky surely must).

So, with those caveats in mind, here are some takeaways:

The most interesting news is what Phelps isn’t entered in — the 200m freestyle. He’s the third-fastest American in the event this year (full U.S. rankings here) and finished second to French training partnerYannick Agnel in the 200m free at the Santa Clara Grand Prix on June 21.

It wouldn’t be surprising at all for Phelps to swim the 200m free at Pan Pacs, assuming he makes that team of course.

Lochte, coming back from an aggravation of his November knee injury, is entered in all of the events he’s been known to swim at major international meets, except the 400m IM, which he swore off after the London Olympics but swam in at least one domestic meet in 2013 (but not at Nationals or Worlds).

Franklin’s events are unsurprising as well. She won all four of those events at last year’s Nationals and won three of them at the World Championships.

Ledecky would have to be Superwoman to swim in all of her entered events (she might be, actually, if you’ve seen her times this year).

Watch to see if she swims the 200m free. She finished second to Franklin in it at last year’s Nationals but dropped it for Worlds because it jammed her schedule. Ledecky has been faster than the World champion Franklin and Olympic champion Allison Schmitt in the 200m free this year.

Ledecky has never raced the 50m free or 100m free at Nationals, nor the IMs. Expect her to scratch those and focus on, at most, the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles.

Here’s the broadcast schedule for Nationals, from Irvine, Calif.:

Wednesday — 9-11 p.m. ET, Universal Sports
Saturday — 4-6, NBC
Sunday — 4-6, NBC
Sunday — 11-midnight, NBCSN

USA Swimming will also have a live webcast of the entire meet here. Daily prelims start at noon ET, with finals at 9 p.m. ET.

U.S. Swimming Stars Set to Compete at Phillips 66 Nationals in Irvine

Five-day meet set for Aug. 6-10 at William J. Woollett, Jr. Aquatics Center

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Nearly 1,000 swimmers, including Olympic gold medalists and world-record holders Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md.), are expected to complete at next week’s USA Swimming’s Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, California.

The five-day meet opens Wednesday, Aug. 6, and continues through Sunday, Aug. 10, at the William J. Woollett, Jr. Aquatics Center. Prelims begin each day at 9 a.m. PDT, followed by finals at 6 p.m. PDT. Tickets are required for each session and can be purchased at novaquatics.org.

“Swimmers from the elite level to those just starting on that path know the prestige that competing Phillips 66 National Championships brings. This meet is a key determinant for representing Team USA over the next two years,” USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch said. “Irvine and Orange County are swimming-rich areas that have been fantastic hosts for numerous USA Swimming events, and the fans will enjoy the incredible performances throughout the week.” 

The star-studded field is expected to feature more than 30 members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team and nearly 100 USA Swimming National Team members.

Additional Olympic gold medalists scheduled to swim in Irvine include the likes of Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.), Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.), Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Anthony Ervin (Valencia, Calif.), Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.), Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) and Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich.).

National titles and roster spots for next month’s Pan Pacific Championships will be on the line, as this meet decides who will represent the U.S. in the pool at the Aug. 21-25 Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia.

The winner of each Olympic event will claim a spot on the Pan Pacs roster, and a complete team selection procedure is outlined at usaswimming.org. In addition, results from the Phillips 66 Nationals and Pan Pacs determine the Team USA roster for the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.

Extensive television coverage of the event will be aired on the NBC family of networks. Click here for broadcast details. In addition, a live webcast of the entire meet will be streamed online via usaswimming.org.

The William J. Woollett, Jr. Aquatics Center previously hosted Nationals in 2005, 2006 and 2010, and also hosted the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships and 2005 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool.

About USA Swimming

As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.