2024 Swimming Olympic Trials Preview
A whole lot of excitement incoming!!
It is officially swimming Olympic Trials week!!! I am SO excited so let’s dive right in.
The swimming Olympic Trials will take place June 15 - June 23 in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. That’s right folks, the meet will take place in a football stadium. For the past 16 years, the US Olympic Trials swim meet was held in Omaha, Nebraska where a pool was constructed every four years for the event. (Fun fact: an individual can purchase the pool after the meet and have it taken apart and sent to them. The masters team I was on in Boston swam in the 2012 Olympic Trials pool that a dad bought for his kid’s club swim team). The winner of every event is guaranteed a spot in the Olympics as long as they also go under the Olympic qualifying time, as is the second place finisher if they also get the qualifying time. Additionally, for the 100 and 200 freestyle, the top 6 are also most likely guaranteed spots as potential relay swimmers.
The event order is a little chaotic because there are prelims for every race, finals for every race, and semifinals for some races. The order of events for finals is:
June 15: Men’s and Women’s 400 freestyle finals
June 16: Men’s 400 IM final, Women’s 100 butterfly final, Men’s 100 breaststroke final
June 17: Women’s 400 IM final, Men’s 200 freestyle final, Men’s 100 backstroke final, Women’s 100 breaststroke final, Women’s 200 freestyle final
June 18: Women’s 100 backstroke final, Men’s 800 freestyle final
June 19: Women’s 100 freestyle final, Men’s 200 butterfly final, Women’s 1500 freestyle final, Men’s 200 breaststroke final, Men’s 100 freestyle final
June 20: Women’s 200 butterfly final, Men’s 200 backstroke final, Women’s 200 breaststroke final
June 21: Men’s 50 freestyle final, Women’s 200 backstroke final, Men’s 200 IM final
June 22: Men’s 100 butterfly final, Women’s 200 IM final, Women’s 800 freestyle final
June 23: Women’s 50 freestyle final, Men’s 1500 freestyle final
Whew! What an absolutely jam-packed eight days of swimming we are going to have. There are SO many storylines to watch and no matter what happens, there will be some upsets, some surprises, and some heartbreak. Here are a few things I am going to be watching for:
Will we have two men qualify in the 400 freestyle?
At the 2021 Olympic Trials meet, there was a bit of drama in the men’s 400 freestyle. In finals, Kieran Smith took first and Jake Mitchell took second. However, only Kieran Smith went under the Olympic qualifying time. Although Jake Mitchell got second which would normally guarantee him a spot on the Olympic team, the lack of an A time for Jake meant that the spot would go to whoever had gone the qualifying time in the Olympic qualifying window, which Zane Grothe had done even though he only placed 11th at Trials.
However, Jake decided to try one more time to get the qualifying standard. He was allowed to do a solo time trial at the meet to try to get the qualifying time. In a crazy race, he beat his best time by over two seconds and went under that qualifying standard, earning himself a spot on the Olympic team.
This is a very rare occurrence in USA swimming. Normally the top two finishers at Trials automatically qualify and the A cut is never a concern because swimmers in the US are just that fast. Apparently the men’s 400 free is a pretty weak event for the USA. This year, two swimmers (and only two) have been under the A qualifying time during the qualifying window -- Kieran Smith and David Johnston. Jake Mitchell has been very close, but hasn’t quite gotten under again. We will just have to wait and see if the top two men at Trials can both get under the qualifying time!
How many events is Kate Douglass going to swim?
Former University of Virginia star swimmer Kate Douglass is one of the most versatile swimmers in the world and her Olympic Trials event lineup puts that on full display. She is entered in the 100 breast, 100 free, 200 IM, 200 breast, and 50 free. She is the top seed in four of those five (100 free, 200 breast, 200 IM, 50 free) and the American Record holder in the 200 breast and 50 free. That is incredible range and it is also a very busy lineup. She won’t have to do any doubles (two events in one session) in prelims, but does have some potential doubles at night.
If she swims as expected, she would have the 100 free finals and 200 breast semi finals the same night, and the 50 free semi finals and 200 IM finals back to back on the same night. It will be very intriguing to see if she swims all of these events and how she handles the busy and long meet. I have full faith in her, and am very excited to see her crush it.
Can Regan Smith continue her backstroke dominance?
Former Stanford, and now pro, swimmer Regan Smith has been on an absolute tear lately. And on paper, she has been dominant in the 200 backstroke at both the national and international level for years. She has the American, US Open, and World Junior records in this event and was the previous World Record holder. However, this event is super deep in the US. The time it took to make finals in the 200 back at the 2023 US National Meet (which was the qualifying meet for 2023 Worlds) was faster than what it took to make finals at the 2023 World Championship meet. Woah.
At the 2021 Trials meet, Smith had been the top seed in both prelims and semis. However, in finals, she took third, meaning she did not make the Olympic team in this event. The following year in 2022, she was beaten by the same two swimmers (Rhyan White and Phoebe Bacon) at International Team Trials so she also failed to qualify for the 2022 World Championships in the 200 back. She then changed her training and went to Arizona State to train with the pro group under legendary coach Bob Bowman. It seems to really have paid off, and Smith has been breaking records left and right since then. Fingers crossed she kills it in trials in the 200 back, but whatever happens, it is guaranteed that this race will be super tight.
Who is going to make their first Olympic team?
While there are tons of seasoned veterans in the swimming world, there are also some superstars who haven’t made an Olympic team (cough cough, NCAA superstar Gretchen Walsh). There are also always surprises at Trials no matter what. So who could make their first Olympic team?
Gretchen Walsh is an obvious choice. She is entered in the 100 fly (seeded second), 100 free (seeded fourth), and 50 free (seeded third). In 2021, she competed in the same three events, but failed to qualify in any. Her best finish was fifth in the 50 free. She is now super well known as a short course queen, but recent long course results, as well as an absolutely dominant college season, point to high hopes for her making the Olympic team this year.
Another swimmer with high expectations is Carson Foster. Carson is entered in the 400 free (eighth seed), 200 free (third seed), 400 IM (first seed), 200 fly (second seed), 100 free (33rd seed), 200 back (ninth seed), and 200 IM (second seed). Whew, what a lineup. At the last Olympic Trials, he finished eighth in the 200 free (leaving him off the relay too) and third in the 400 IM. Third is brutal at trials, just one spot out of qualifying. Notably, he swam a 400 IM shortly after Trials in 2021 with a time that was over two seconds faster than what he did at Trials and was the fastest time in the world 2021. He has since turned pro after a successful college career at Texas and is focused fully on the Olympics. He has a very busy event lineup and likely will not swim everything he is entered in, but keep an eye on him to qualify in any one (or more than one!) of those events.
As mentioned in the 400 free section earlier, David Johnston is one of only two American men to have gone under the Olympic qualifying time in the qualifying window in that event. He is the top seed in it so he has a good shot at making his first team. Same with Luke Hobson, a fellow Texas swimmer, who is the top seed in the 200 free and has set himself up nicely for a first Olympic team.
Oldest and youngest qualifiers
Looking through the meet psych sheet (which shows all the swimmers entered in each event) and seeing people’s birth years listed as 2007 was quite a shock and definitely made me feel old. So who are the youngest and oldest qualifiers?
The oldest qualifier is Gabrielle Rose, a 46-year old breaststroker who is entered in the 100 breast (seeded 27th) and 200 breast (seeded 46th). She is a two-time Olympian, representing the US in 2000 and Brazil in 1996. She is the oldest Olympic Trials qualifier in modern history. Heck yeah Gabrielle!
Joining her as “old” qualifiers are 39-year-old backstroke specialist (and four-time Olympic champion) Matt Grevers who qualified in the 50 free and 37-year-old Brooke Boak who is entered in the 50 and 100 free.
On the other end, the youngest qualifier is 13-year-old Gabi Brito. Kids these days… She is entered in the 50 free, which she qualified for by dropping almost a second from her best time just a month ago, and she is seeded 39th.
Next youngest is Grace Koenig-Song who is 14 and seeded 55th in the 100 breaststroke. The youngest boy is Shareef Elaydi who is also 14 and seeded 51st in the 200 fly. In 2021, the youngest swimmer on the Tokyo Olympic team was Katie Grimes who was 15. Let’s see if anyone can beat that this year! Unlikely, but you never know.
Busiest lineup
As mentioned, many swimmers are entered in a ton of different events. So who is the busiest? It might just be Bella Sims. The 19-year-old is entered in a whopping 11 events, out of a possible 14! Girl. The odds she swims all of these is extremely low, but just qualifying in that many events is so incredible. She is entered in the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 free, the 100 and 200 back, 100 and 200 fly, and the 200 and 400 IM. Sheesh! Last Olympic Trials she finished fifth in the 200 free which qualified her for the relay in that event. She will look to make the team again this year, maybe even in an individual event!
Bella isn’t the only one with a very busy schedule. As mentioned earlier, Carson Foster is entered in seven races. Katie Grimes is entered in six (200, 400, 800 and 1500 free, 200 back, 400 IM), as is Claire Weinstein (100, 200, 400, 800, and 1500 free, 200 fly), and Daniel Diehl (100 and 200 free, 100 and 200 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM). We will see which they choose to swim, but boy oh boy we know they are going to be tired.
So that is a little sneak preview at the 2024 Olympic Swimming Trials! I cannot wait to watch and follow along. Let me know what you are most looking forward to, and if you enjoy my post please subscribe and share with a friend!