2024 US OLYMPIC TRIALS
The Paris Olympic field promises to expand considerably this evening, with five of the six events on tonight’s program being finals, and two of them with relay places up for grabs.
The evening will begin with the women’s 400 IM final, where Tokyo silver medalist Emma Weyant and double silver medalist at the World Championships Katie Grimes are the heavy favorites to win the two spots on the American roster after reaching the top two seeds this morning.
Next we see the men’s 200m freestyle, the first relay selection final of the competition which will be a must-see showdown.
The first three seeds, Luke Hobson, Kieran Smith And Drew Kiblerall broke 1:46 in the semifinals and appear to be the three men fighting for the two available individual spots at the Games, while the rest of the field will battle for the remaining relay spots.
A man looking for one of these spots is Blake Pieroni, the 28-year veteran who briefly retired from the sport and returned with new enthusiasm over the past year. Pieroni has a chance to qualify for his third consecutive Olympics if he finishes inside one of the relay spots, which will officially be in the top four tonight and likely in the top six at the end of the competition .
Tokyo Olympians Curry Brooks And Jake Mitchell400 free Olympic qualifiers Aaron Shackell and one of 100 free favorites, Chris Guiliano will be the other swimmers in the hunt. Shackell advanced to the final after winning a hotly contested elimination match on Sunday night.
The third final of the evening will be that of the men’s 100 backstroke, where Ryan Murphy aims to secure his third consecutive Olympic berth and begin his quest to reclaim the gold medal he won in Rio. At the last Tokyo Olympics, Murphy won bronze behind the Russians Evgeny Rylov And Kliment Kolesnikovwho will be absent in Paris.
Fighter Armstrong should clinch the other Olympic spot in this event, after placing 9th at the Tokyo Games (missing the final by 0.01). Armstrong heads into tonight’s final having avoided a semi-final scare, sliding out of the blocks and rallying to erase an early deficit.
One of only seven men in history to break 52 seconds, Armstrong will be eliminated in lane 6 tonight after clocking 53.57 in the semifinals, behind Adam Chaney (53.08) and Jack Aikins (53.23) who both had the best times in the semi-final.
The final of the women’s 100 breaststroke promises to be interesting, with the favorite of the local public Lilly King leading the charge after a dominant semi-final performance. Reigning Olympic champion Lydia Jacoby is ready for a confrontation with Kaitlyn Dobler And Emma Weberand maybe even Kaelyn Gridley And Alex Walshfor second place after the five were separated by just 45 hundredths in the semi-final.
The finale of the session will surely bring fireworks with Katie Ledecky And Claire Weinstein ready for another showdown and Simone-Manuel she probably has another trick up her sleeve in the women’s 200 freestyle.
Manuel will have another opportunity to provide some smoke on the outside, as the two-time Olympian will be located in lane 8 tonight after showing incredible speed in the semifinals. However, these are Ledecky, Weinstein and potentially Paige Madden And Erin Gemmellin the battle for individual places.
The four other women will fight for the last two relay places: Katie Grimes, Alex Shackel, Anna Peplowski and Manuel.
We’ll also see the women’s 100m semi-finals tonight, and the world record watch will be in effect after Regan Smith made her preliminary swim of 57.93 look far too easy.
400 WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL IM – FINAL
- World record: 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2024 Canadian Trials
- American Record: 4:31.12, Katie Hoff – 2008 US Olympic Trials
- US Open record: 4:28.61, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – US Open 2022
- Junior world record: 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2024 Canadian Trials
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Emma Weyant4:33.81
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 4:38.53
- Katie Grimes (SAND), 4:35 p.m.
- Emma Weyant (FLOR), 4:35.56
- Lilla Bognar (TG), 4:37.86
- Lea Smith (TXLA), 4:39.87
- Lea Hayes (TIDE), 4:41.32
- Lucy Bell (ALTO), 4:41.40
- Zoe Dixon (FLOR), 4:42.01
- Audrey Derivaux (JW), 4:46.89
Lucas Oil Stadium was back on its feet over the final 100 meters of a thrilling women’s 400 IM final as an early leader Katie Grimes was caught by Emma Weyant And Little Bognar on the breaststroke leg and the three swimmers competed on their way home to see who would land a place on the Paris Olympic team.
After leading by more than three seconds in the 200, Grimes suddenly found herself in 3rd place at the 300-meter turn, but she didn’t panic. Grimes had the best freestyle split on the field to edge Bognar, then engaged in a stroke-for-stroke battle with Weyant, getting the better of her in the final meters to take the win in 4:35.00.
Although the time fell well short of her lifetime and season’s best, the performance secured Grimes a place on the Paris pool swimming roster after qualifying in open water last year .
Weyant, a silver medalist in Tokyo, produced a strong performance to earn second place and another Olympic berth, touching in 4:35.56. The swim is her fastest this season by more than three seconds.
Team Greenville’s Bognar shaved more than three seconds off her personal best, clocking 4:37.86 to place 3rd and move up to 9th all-time in girls 17-18 years. The 17-year-old had already clocked 4:40.97 last year at the Junior Worlds.
The 29-year-old veteran Lea Smithwho suffered a torn labrum earlier this year, went from 7th in the 250m to 4th in 4:39.87, while the 14-year-old Audrey Dérivaux took advantage of the crowd’s momentum to place 2nd early before falling back to 8th in 4:46.89 – still a very impressive performance after her big fall this morning.
MEN’S 200m Freestyle — FINAL
- World record: 1:42.00 — Paul Biedermann (GER), 2009
- American record: 1:42.96 — Michael Phelps2008
- US Open record: 1:44.10 — Michael Phelps (United States), 2008
- Junior world record: 1:42.97 — David Popovici (ROU), 2022
- 2020 US Olympic Trials Champion: Kieran Smith1:45.29
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 1:47.06
- Luke Hobson (LAC), 1:44.89
- Chris Guiliano (ND), 1:45.38
- Drew Kibler (ACNY), 1:45.60
- Kieran Smith (RAC), 1:45.61
- Curry Brooks (CAL), 1:45.89
- Blake Pieroni (ISC), 1:46.09
- Jake Mitchell (FLOR), 1:46.48
- Aaron Shackell (CSC-IN), 1:47.37
WOMEN’S 100 BACKS – SEMI-FINALS
- World record: 57.33, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2023 World Cup – Budapest
- American record: 57.51, Regan Smith – NOVA Speedo Grand Challenge 2024
- US Open record: 57.51, Regan Smith (United States) – NOVA Speedo Grand Challenge 2024
- Junior world record: 57.57, Regan Smith (United States) – 2019 World Championships
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: 58.35, Regan Smith
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 59.99
Final qualifications:
MEN’S 100 BACKGROUND — FINAL
- World record: 51.60 — Thomas Cecon (ITA), 2022
- American record: 51.85 — Ryan Murphy2016
- US Open record: 51.94 — Aaron Peirsol (United States), 2009
- Junior world record: 52.53 — Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2018
- 2020 US Olympic Trials Champion: Ryan Murphy52.33
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 53.74
WOMEN’S 100 BREASTFEED — FINAL
- World record: 1:04.13 — Lilly King (United States), 2017
- American record: 1:04.13 — Lilly King2017
- US Open record: 1:04.45 — Jessica Hardy (United States), 2009
- Junior world record: 1:04.35 — Route Meilutytė (LTU), 2013
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Lilly King1:04.79
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 1:06.79
Women’s 200m Freestyle — FINAL
- World record: 1:52.23 — Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 2024
- American record: 1:53.61 — Allison Schmitt, 2012
- US Open record: 1:54.13 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2023
- Junior world record: 1:53.65 — Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2023
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Katie Ledecky1:55.11
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 1:57.26