2024 US OLYMPIC TRIALS
The seventh day of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials begins with another fast-paced preliminary session that, like yesterday, includes only three individual events. The morning begins with the men’s 100m butterfly. Following this event, the women will compete in the 200 individual medley and the 800 freestyle.
The men’s 100 butterfly will be a highlight of the event, as Give roses will have one last chance to make the Olympic roster after failing to make the team in the 200m butterfly. Shaine CasasLast night’s 200 IM performance put him in a good position to make the team, but he could get another chance in this morning’s 100 fly, where he is the second seed. Looking to add another event to their already confirmed tickets? Caeleb Dressel And Thomas Heilman. Dressel, the AR holder, and Heilman, one of last summer’s swimmers, should prove to be tough competition for the aforementioned pair.
The women’s 200m IM remains Alex WalshThis is the last chance to make the Olympic team. The Tokyo 2021 silver medalist in this event finished 3rd in the 200 breaststroke last night behind Kate Douglas And Lilly King. Walsh and Douglass, also medalists in this event in Tokyo, are the two favorites, but Torri Huske, who quickly improved her breaststroke and medaled at the 2022 Worlds Lea Hayes are candidates to upset the pair.
The last event of the day sees Katie Ledecky as the first seed. Ledecky is pretty good in freestyle, and even better in distance freestyle, so expect to see her swim hard in the morning. Tokyo 2021 Olympic companion in this event, Katie Grimeschose not to swim this event in favor of her 200 backstroke final, so the competition for second place will be between Jillian Cox And Claire Weinstein.
100 PAPILLON MEN — Preliminaries
- World record: Caeleb Dressel (United States) – 49:45 (2021)
- American record: Caeleb Dressel – 49:45 (2021)
- US Open record: Caeleb Dressel (United States) – 49.76 (2021; semi-finals)
- Junior world record: Kristof Milak (HUN) – 50.62 (2017)
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Caeleb Dressel – 49.87
- 2024 Olympic qualifying times: 51.67
Semi-final qualifying:
- Caeleb Dressel (CGC) – 51.14
- Zach Harting (CARD) – 51.49
- Aiden Hayes (WOLF) – 51.58
- Luke Miller (WOLF) – 51.74
- Give roses (Cal) – 51.88
- Finn Brooks (ISC) – 51.90
- Kai Winkler (EA) – 52.13
- Danny Kovac (TRI) – 52.14
- Ryan Murphy (CAL) – 52.24
- Trenton Julian (MVN) – 52.29
- Thomas Heilman (CA-Y) -52h30
- Gabriel Jett (CAL) – 52.35
- Michael Andrew (TIME) – 52.36
- Jack Dahlgren (TRI) – 52.51
- Matt Josa (TEAM) – 52.52
- Evan Fentress (OSU) – 52.56
Colby Mefford took the first heat of the morning and built on Cal’s success last night in the 200 backstroke, which fell half a second off its seed to take the win and the fastest time in 53, 05. Mefford placed 5th in the 200 fly earlier in the week.
The second heat saw Danny Kovac crush his competitors by winning the heat by almost a full second and posting a time of 52.14. Kovac tied for 16th in the 100 breaststroke preliminaries, won a heat, then placed 14th in the semifinals, stopping the clock in 1:00.47.
Kovac’s time from heat 2 was still in effect until heat 5, NC State’s Noah Henderson did his best to take the fastest time, winning the race quickly, 24.23, but was unable to replicate Kovac’s closing speed and clocked 52.69, to move into second place overall with 4 rounds remaining.
Kovac’s 52.14 lasted just one more time as the seventh heat, the first of the circle-ranked heats, saw Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel, and Ryan Murphy face off in a duel. Dressel, the American record holder, reached the wall first in 51.14, easily outpacing Murphy and Andrew in the back half. Dressel went out in 24.07 and came back in 27.07 to take the fastest time so far. Arsenio Bustos, who will compete in the 200m IM final tonight, did not compete in this heat.
Shaine Casas, the No. 2 seed in the event, also did not show up for his 100 fly in the eighth round, because, like Bustos, he has a final tonight. In his absence, two NC State swimmers stepped up as Aiden Hayes and Luke Miller finished double in the heat with times of 51.58 and 51.74 and placed 2nd and 3rd behind Dressel.
The final heat saw Zach Harting, who in addition to finishing 8th in the 200 fly final, spent much of the week riling up the crowd in warm-ups, record a new personal best of 51.49 and surpass Hayes as the #2 seed in the event. Give roses And Thomas Heilmanwho represented the United States in Fukuoka in this event, was also present in the final heat, with Rose finishing 2nd in 51.88 (good for 5th place overall) and Heilman touching in 52.30, which placed him 11th.
200 WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL IM — Preliminaries
- World record: 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2015)
- Junior world record: 2:06.89 – Summer McIntosh, Canada (2023)
- American record: 2:06.15 – Ariana Kukors (2009)
- US Open record: 2:07.09 – Kate DouglasUnited States (2023)
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Alex Walsh – 2:09 p.m.
- 2024 Olympic qualifying times:2:11.47
Semi-final qualifying:
- Alex Walsh (NAC) – 2:11.62
- Kate Douglas (NYAC) – 2:11.80
- Isabel Ivey (GSC) – 2:11.89
- Beata Nelson (UN-1-WI) – 2:12.30
- Lea Hayes (TIDE) – 2:12.52
- Torri Huske (AAC) – 2:12.66
- Zoe Dixon (FLOR) – 2:12.67
- Lilla Bognar (TG) – 2:12.83
- Zoie Hartman (ABSC) – 2:14.10
- Kelly Pash (TXLA) – 2:14.13
- Abby Harter (CA-Y) – 2:14.14
- Lucy Bell (ALTO) – 2:14.21
- Campbell Chase (COR) – 2:14.55
- Camille Spink (TENN) – 2:14.68
- Paige McEachern (UCLA) – 2:14.90
- Megan Van Berkom (UOFM) – 2:15.16
Heat 2’s Megan Van Berkom held the fastest time in the first two heats, swimming in 2:15.16, losing 0.41 to her top seed, but Paige Maceachern in Heat 3 surpassed that time, posting a time of 2:14.90. Maceachern’s final time of 31.48 was the big difference to Van Berkom as she closed in 32.22. It was the first time Maceachern had gone under the 2h15 barrier.
Second in the 100 fly and 2nd in the 100 free, Torri Huske was ahead of Isabel Ivey by almost a second at the 100 meter turn. Huske, who worked hard to improve his breaststroke, gave up some ground to Ivey at the 3rd 50 as the Gator closed the gap to 0.42. Ivey, who finished second Alex Walsh at the 2024 NCAAS, passed Huske in the freestyle and clocked 2:11.89, a new personal best by more than half a second. Huske appeared to stop her for free and was content to let Ivey take the win as Huske finished in 32.64 and recorded a time of 2:12.66, more than four seconds off her entry time.
The penultimate round saw the number 2 seed, Alex Walsh, posted the fastest time of the morning so far, as she stopped the clock at 2:11.62. Walsh trailed Beata Nelson at the halfway mark, as Nelson, who swam collegiately for Wisconsin, was eliminated in 1:01.41, while Walsh was in 1:01.78. Walsh beat Nelson by two seconds in the breaststroke and never looked back. Nelson touched the point in 2:12.30, dropping 0.08 from his seeding time.
The final round saw the reigning 200 IM world champion, Kate Douglas take water. Douglass, who won the 100 freestyle and 200 breaststroke, clocked 2:11.80. She looked smooth and controlled during the race, never getting up or expending too much energy. Lea Hayes2022 medalist in this event, was shadowed behind Douglass for much of the race and finished in 2:12.52, to take the 5th seed for tonight’s semifinal.
WOMEN’S 800m Freestyle – Preliminaries
- World record: 8:04.79, Katie Ledecky (United States) – 2016 Olympic Games
- American record: 8:04.79, Katie Ledecky (United States) – 2016 Olympic Games
- US Open record: 8:06.68, Katie Ledecky (United States) – 2016 Pro Swim Series, Austin
- Junior world record: 8:11.00, Katie Ledecky (UNITED STATES)
- 2021 US Olympic Trials Champion: Katie Ledecky8:14.62
- 2024 Olympic qualifying time: 8:26.71
Final qualifications:
- Katie Ledecky (CGC) – 8:17.70
- Jillian Cox (TXLA) – 8:31.58
- Aurora Choice (ALTO) – 8:31.59
- Paige Madden (NYAC) – 8:31.80
- Kate Hurst (SCAR) – 8:32.24
- Rachel Stege (ABSC) – 8:32.38
- Claire Weinstein (SAND) – 8:33.68
- Ashley Twitchell (TAC) – 8:33.93
Hayden Miller, swimming for Texas A&M, had the fastest time in the first heat, stopping the clock in 8:39.70, a new personal best. Kennedi Dobson finished behind Miller. Dobson clocked 8:44.51, a new personal best by 1.16 seconds. What makes this even more special is the fact that about 25 minutes earlier, she swam in the first heat of the 200 IM, where she finished 22nd in 2:15.76, a new personal best of 0.29.
The race was closer in the second heat as Mila Nikanorov and Gena Jorgenson battled it out on the other side of the pool. Nikanorov, who swam out of lane 3, had a nearly three-second lead over Jorgenson from lane 6, but the Nebraska swimmer closed in and cut the deficit to just over a second, touching in 8 :36.72 against 8:35.36 from Nikanorov.
The third round saw smoke outside as Alabama’s Liberty Williams picked up the win from lane one. Williams, who finished 18th in the 1,500 freestyle earlier in the week, closed in 29.77 to lose more than two seconds from her starting time, stopping the clock in 8:40.10. Katie McCarthy recorded the fastest time in Heat 4, stopping the clock in 8:41.00.
The fifth round, the penultimate and first of our ranked circle series, was a cat and mouse affair. Jillian Cox, Paige Madden and Kate Hurst tried to watch each other and not let anyone get too far ahead. Madden led in the 400, with a time of 4:12.80, but was slowly caught up by Cox and Hurst. Cox got his hand on the wall first and took the fastest time, finishing in 8:31.58, 0.22 ahead of Madden.
I stand by my statement that Ledecky is pretty good in freestyle as she absolutely dominated her heat and the field, posting a time of 8:17.70. Ledecky clocked 2:00.84 in the 200, and second fastest was Paige Madden in 2:04.67 and was the only swimmer under 4:12 in the 400 as she clocked of 4:06.52. A pillar of consistency, Ledecky had 31 low-mids from 150 to 800. Aurora Roghair had a strong race to place second behind Ledecky in the heat, who clocked a new personal best of 8:31.59.