2024 US OLYMPIC TRIALS
Day six of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials begins with another fast-paced preliminary session. There are only three events on the program this morning: the women’s 200 backstroke, the men’s 50 freestyle and the men’s 200m IM.
But that’s not all that’s on offer. After the preliminaries of these three events, Catie DeLoof And Erika Connolly (née Brown) will qualify for the sixth and final available spot for the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay in Paris.
In the 200 backstroke, the only women’s event of the session, Regan Smith will prepare to face the dirty double of the 200 fly final and the 200 back semi-final tonight.
Smith is on fire this week and has been impressive even in her morning swims, but she probably won’t do more than she needs to do this morning. Like the women’s 100 backstroke, this is a stacked race and both Phoebe Bacon And Rhyan White– the women who beat Smith in this event in 2021 – are back on the court. In particular, Bacon had an under-the-radar 100 backstroke, so she could be headed for something special here. It is the same thing for Kennedy Noblewhose exploits in the 100 back were much more notable as she swam a 58, but the 200 back is really where she shines.
Then it will be time for the men to splash and sprint. The four members of the new 4×100 freestyle relay for Paris will be on the field with the aim of adding another event to their list. After such great swims in the 100/200 freestyle, Chris Guiliano could move up from 10th place. Caeleb Dressel is seeking an individual Olympic berth and Jack Alexy will aim to safeguard her 2023 Worlds silver medal later in the rounds.
The last preliminary event of the session is the men’s 200 individual medley. Newly named Olympian Carson Foster will begin her quest to sweep the medley after winning the 400 IM on night two. Michel Andréa Tokyo Olympian in this event, was eliminated, but Foster still has plenty of challengers to watch. Shaine Casas comes in at the top of the series and you never know what he has in store for us. Chase Kalisz will want to join Foster in the IM double, while swimmers like Destiny Lasco, Maxime WilliamsonAnd Trenton Julien all still hope to book a ticket to Paris.
200 WOMEN’S BACKGROUND — PRELIMINARIES
- World record: 2:03.14 — Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2023
- American record: 2:03.35 — Regan Smith2019
- US Open record: 2:03.80 – Regan Smith (United States), 2023
- Junior world record: 2:19.64 – 2:03.35 — Regan Smith (United States), 2019
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Rhyan White2:05.73
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 2:10.39
Semi-final qualifying:
- Isabelle Stadt (CAL), 2:08.53
- Katie Grimes (SAND), 2:08.68
- Claire Curzan (TAC), 2:08.90
- Phoebe Bacon (UW), 2:09.14
- Regan Smith (TXLA), 2:09.30
- Rhyan White (WOLF), 2:09.66
- Teagan O’Dell (MVN), 2:09.76
- Lilla Bognar (TG), 2:09.94
- Kennedy Noble (WOLF), 2:09.99
- Krista Marlin (OSU), 2:10.26
- Caroline Bentz (NCAP), 2:10.47
- Audrey Derivaux (JW), 2:10.89
- Maggie Wanezek (EBSC), 2:10.95
- Catie Choate (FLOR), 2:11.18
- Sarah Rodrigues (JAC), 2:11.37
- Josephine Fuller (TENN), 2:11.42
The 200m backstroke heats started quietly this morning. In heat 4, Vera Conique swam a lifetime best of 2:12.09, to the first set of circles, where Isabelle Stadt won in 2:08.53, bringing the best time of the morning well below 2:10 for the first time.
Stadden’s time was just shy of his season best (2:08.53), but it held up over the final two runs as the morning’s best time.
During the next round, Claire Curzan got ahead Josephine Fuller at the 100 meter mark, splitting 32.09 in the 50 seconds to take a lead of half a body length. She continued to pace the field throughout the second half of the race, taking the heat victory in 2:08.90, good for 3rd place overall heading into the semifinals.
Katie Grimes withstood a half-reverse push from the American record holder Regan Smith in the last round. Grimes took the win in 2:08.68, starting to close in on her personal best of 2:08.01. Smith pushed from the back of the race but still looked smooth, posting a time of 2:09.30 to place safely in 5th.
She is sandwiched between the Tokyo Olympians in this event. Phoebe Bacon ranks 4th after a morning swim of 2:09.14, while Rhyan White finished 2nd behind Stadden in their heat with a time of 2:09.66.
In total, it took 2:11.42 to come back, which is the fastest time in history for a semifinal at this competition, according to the announcer in the arena.
MEN’S 50m FREEstyle — PRELIMINARIES
- World record: 20.91 — Cesar Cielo (BRA), 2009
- American record: 21.04 — Caeleb Dressel2019 / 2021
- US Open record: 21.04 — Caeleb Dressel (United States), 2021
- Junior world record: 21.75 — Michel André (United States), 2017 / 2017
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Caeleb Dressel21.04
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 21.96
Semi-final qualifying:
- Michel André (TIME)/Ryan held (SUN), 9:70 p.m.
- —
- Jack Alexy (CAL), 21.74
- Chris Guiliano (ND), 21.83
- August lamb (CA-Y), 21.87
- Quintin McCarty (WOLF), 21.98
- Matt King (TFA)/Caeleb Dressel (CGC), 10:00 p.m.
- —
- Johnny Kulow (SUN), 22.01
- Jack Dolan (SUN), 22.07
- David Curtiss (TAC), 9:18 p.m.
- Payton Sorenson (CDOG), 10:19 p.m.
- Matthew Jensen (CAL), 10:24 p.m.
- Adam Chaney (FLOR), 10:26 p.m.
- Drew Salls (WOLF)/Daniel Baltes (OSU), 10:28 p.m.
- —
Six men broke 22 seconds in the men’s 50 freestyle preliminaries. Michel André was the first man to go under the mark, scoring 21.70 in the first of three seeded circle heats. This represents a hundredth of his record from the previous season.
In the last round, Ryan held matched Andrew’s time, placing them tied for fastest qualifier. Held has already been as fast as 21.68 this season.
Last night’s 100 freestyle individual qualifications Jack Alexy And Chris Guiliano joined the sub-22 top pair this morning. Alexy won his heat with a season best of 21.74. Meanwhile, Guiliano continues to roll in this encounter. He took 0.13 seconds off his lifetime best with a 21.83.
that of Virginie August lamb also set a lifetime best in the preliminaries, crushing his previous personal best of 22.23, which he set in 2021. There were signs that Lamb had something big in store this week; at the NCAP Elite Invite a few weeks ago, he swam 22.31, his best time in three years.
Caeleb Dressel easily qualifies for the semi-final, with a time of 22:00 to place tied for 7th with Johnny Kulow.
Payton Sorenson, 31, took a big swim out of Series 2. In just his second competition since the 2021 Olympic Trials, he came within a tenth of his lifetime best. Sorenson posted a 22.19, qualifying 12th for the semifinals.
200 MEN’S IM — PRELIMINARIES
- World record: 1:54.00 — Ryan Lochte (United States), 2011
- American record: 1:54.00 — Ryan Lochte (United States), 2011
- US Open record: 1:54.56 — Ryan Lochte (United States), 2009
- Junior world record: 1:56.99 – Hubert Kos (HUN), 2021
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Michel André1:55.44
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 1:57.94
Semi-final qualifying:
- Carson Foster (RAYS), 1:58.38
- Maxime Williamson (LAC), 1:58.58
- Chase Kalisz (TXLA), 1:58.62
- Grant House (SUN), 1:58.83
- Kieran Smith (RAC), 1:59.04
- Shane Casas (TXLA), 1:59.10
- Owen McDonald (ISC), 1:59.13
- Destiny Lasco (CAL), 1:59.45
- Mitchell Schott (PRIN), 1:59.67
- Rex Maurer (TXLA), 1:59.71
- Arsenio Bustos (WOLF), 2:00.08
- Ryan Merani (KYA), 2:00.16
- Baylor Nelson (TAMU), 2:00.17
- Nate Germonprez (TXLA), 2:00.21
- Trenton Julien (MVN), 2:00.24
- Colin Geer (MICH), 2:00.34
Grant House And Owen McDonald closed out hard in the penultimate heat of the men’s 200m individual medley, both trying to make up ground Carson Foster. They both beat him on the freestyle stage; Foster appeared to be on cruise control but didn’t let either one get ahead of him, picking up his pace in the final meters to ensure he got his hands on the wall first.
Foster clocked 1:58.38, the fastest time of the morning. Three men joined him under the 1:59 mark including Maxime Williamson, who looked much more himself this morning after a difficult start to the competition in the 200 freestyle. Williamson won the final in 1:58.58 and sits two tenths behind Foster heading into the semifinals.
Chase Kalisz looked strong in the first circle-ranked round, holding off a quick close of Deston Lasco (1:59.45) and swimming in 1:58.62.
First seed Shaine Casas easily qualified for the semi-finals in 6th position with a time of 1:59.10.
Neither Daniel Diehl neither Jay Litherland were on deck for their series. Both will compete in the 200m backstroke final later this evening.
Women’s 100m freestyle — swimming event
- Erika Connolly (née Brown), 53.76
- Catie DeLoof53.80
In his fifth 100 free of the competition, Erika Connolly (née Brown) got the job done beating Catie DeLoof in the heats for 6th place in the women’s 100 freestyle. As a reminder, as long as there are enough places in the squad, the 5th and 6th places in the 100/200 freestyle are added to the Olympic squad. So, with this victory, Connolly has likely booked his ticket to Paris and made his second Olympic team.
After trailing at the turn, Connolly led DeLoof by four hundredths, 53.76 to 53.80. Both swimmers were faster than the 53.86 they swam in the final itself.
Men’s 50m Freestyle — Swimming
- Tommy Palmer (SUN), 10:23 p.m.
- Dillon Downing (South Africa), 10:24 p.m.
There was almost another tie in the heats for first alternate in the men’s 50 freestyle. Tommy Palmer achieved her second personal best of the day to secure 17th place. Prior to the competition, Palmer’s best was the 22.77 he swam at the Trojan LA Invite in July 2023.
Both Palmer and Downing were faster than the 22.33 they swam in the preliminaries, with Palmer beating Downing by just a hundredth of a second.
Downing’s time of 22.24 is also a personal best, coming in under the time of 22.31 he swam last summer.