100 Women’s Fly, Early Competitors for Meet Race (U.S. Trials Day 2 Finale Preview)

2024 US OLYMPIC TRIALS

The first night of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Finals did not disappoint. And now we can do it all again – it’s almost time for Finals Night 2 at Lucas Oil Stadium. There are more spots on the Olympic roster up for grabs tonight with the men’s 400 IM, women’s 100 butterfly and men’s 100 breaststroke finals set to begin. Additionally, we have the semi-finals of the men’s 200 freestyle, women’s 100 breaststroke, men’s 100 backstroke and women’s 200 freestyle on tap.

Walsh’s world in the women’s 100m fly

Gretchen Walsh shocked the crowd last night, clocking 55.18 to break the world record in the women’s 100 butterfly in the semi-final. She destroyed the standard by three tenths and is the first person to break a world record at the American trials since 2008.

So now the question is: what will we see tonight?

Well, whatever time Walsh leaves, it’s going to be an incredible ride. Sitting behind her are Torri Huske And Regan Smith, both of whom joined Walsh under the 56-second barrier. Huske, now a former American record holder, swam 55.79, just 0.15 seconds off her personal best, to qualify second behind Walsh’s fireworks display. Smith was close behind in 55.92, breaking 56 for the first time and becoming the 3rd fastest American ever.

Both have a chance on the team tonight and won’t be willing to let Walsh cruise to victory. It’s so hard to bet against Walsh after this performance and there’s a spot on his first Olympic team on the line, but Huske and Smith are both formidable contenders.

The brutal reality is that there will be a swimmer capable of a sub-56 100 fly that this team will miss. Regardless, this race is the premier contender race of the competition.

Carson Foster Aiming for a first Olympic place in the men’s 400m individual medley

Carson Foster And Chase Kalisz took control of their respective heats this morning, making it clear that they are the swimmers to beat in tonight’s final. Foster was scheduled to perform a 200 freestyle/400 IM double this morning, but he was not present in the 200 freestyle this morning, instead focusing on the 400 IM, where he is a two-time world silver medalist.

He slammed into the wall, winning his heat with the best time of the morning (4:11.02). He is 2.76 seconds ahead of Kalisz as he aims to make his first Olympic team by claiming victory tonight.

Kalisz is sure to push him; the 30-year-old didn’t have to show all his cards this morning either. Kalisz clocked 4:13.78 and clearly stopped it during the freestyle leg.

The main challenger to disrupt the pair is the Olympian Jay Litherland, who showed he could pull it off more than once in this event. Litherland is third after posting a time of 4:14.76 in the preliminaries, putting him less than a second behind Kalisz.

The breast of 100 men is wide open

The 100 men’s chest looks wide open.

Nicholas Fink, the pre-race favorite, had a long finish in his semi-final. After that he sits 3rd while Charlie Swanson returned to the stage with a personal best of 59.34 to win lane 4 for the final.

The long finish isn’t worth worrying about – Fink pulled it off and is still the favorite to take the win tonight; Meanwhile, the race for second place is wide open.

Josh Matheny looked strong in his 59.42 effort for 2nd place overall. Training partners Liam Bell (59.57) and Luc Rodarte both broke 1:00 for the first time to force their way to the final. Jake Foster (59.63) is also in the mix and of course we can’t forget the American record holder Michel André (59.65).

Upcoming semi-finals

men’s 200m freestyle

Luke Hobson continues to prove that he is the face of the American men’s 200 freestyle. The Longhorn went about his business this morning, posting a time of 1:45.95 – the only one under 1:46 – to lead the rest of the field into the semifinals. Blake Pieroni is closest to him after foreplay; the once-retired swimmer was widely applauded by his hometown crowd as he clocked his best time since 2018 (1:46.09), just 0.16 seconds off his personal best.

Hobson and Pieroni will aim to maintain their positions in this semi-final ahead of names like Drew Kibler (3rd, 1:46.39) and Kieran Smith (6th, 1:46.77), who was part of the 2021 team in this event.

It’s a crowded peloton which has become even tighter thanks to the big swims of Daniel Diehl (1:46.93) and Chris Guiliano (1:47.05), and Wen Zhang (1:47.24). Last year, it took 1:47.00 to reach the final, a time that exactly eight swimmers have already broken this morning.

100 breaststroke women

Two of the biggest cheers of the morning came during the women’s 100 breaststroke. Of course, one of them was for his hometown hero. Lilly King. King responded with a time of 1:06.05 and qualified first for the preliminaries. She is a little more than six tenths ahead of Virginia. Emma Weberqualifying No. 2 in 1:06.67.

Kaelyn Gridley added his name to this morning’s event. She lost more than a second and overtook Lydia Jacoby in the final meters – something you don’t hear very often – to win their heat in 1:06.80.

The other great joy during this event was for Gabrielle Rose. At 46, Rose is the oldest swimmer in the competition. She won her heat in 1:08.43, giving her 11th place overall, earning her a second swim.

100 backstroke men

The Magic Man brought it during the preliminaries. In the penultimate heat, Fighter Armstrong fell under 53 seconds with a 52.95, which was the best time of the morning. Him and Ryan Murphy quickly moved to the top of the results list, with Murphy qualifying second in 53.19.

The two men maintain their status as favorites for the race, even if many swimmers will try their luck. Jack Aikins (53.24), Adam Chaney (53.45), and Will Modglin (53.59) all posted times were in the mid-53 range as the next fastest qualifiers. Justin Ress (53.91) and Shaine Casas (53.97) trail in 7th and 8th respectively.

Keep an eye on Destiny Lasco (11th, 54.23) and Tommy Janton (54.03) to push towards the final.

Women’s 200m freestyle

There was a bloodbath during the preliminaries of the women’s 200 freestyle. 25 women broke 2 minutes during the heats and three years ago, 2:00.03 was good for 16th place and a spot in the semifinals. This is not the case this year: it took 1:59.66 to come back, which left Bella Simsqualified for the 2021 Olympic Games in this event, away with her time of 1:59.68 (17th place).

And if the preliminaries were any indication, booking a spot in the final won’t get any easier.

The top of the pile looks like yesterday’s 400m freestyle, with Katie Ledecky And Paige Madden seated 1-2. Ledecky pulled away in the final run and clocked 1:56.18. This solidified her as the top qualifier while Madden edged out Claire Weinstein in their heat, 1:57.04 to 1:57.22. It was a solid rebound for Weinstein, who looked good in the first 200 meters of his 400 freestyle before fading badly.

Aurore Roghair (6th, 1:57.84) continues to shine and looks to disrupt more established names in this event like Anna Peplowski (1:57.37), Erin Gemmell (1:57.48), and Alex Shackel (1:58.52).

During his first swim in these Trials, Simone-Manuel qualified 13th (1:59.55) to book her spot in the semifinals.