With the conclusion of the international, national, junior national, zone, futures, and sectional meets that make up the bulk of the long course championship season, it’s time for an update on the number of Olympic Trials qualifiers. We’re already up to 1,115, and with a full season left to go, that’s already nearing USA Swimming’s stated goal of having between 1,200 and 1,400 qualifiers. Those 1,115 swimmers have amassed 2,299 qualifying cuts.
World Juniors is yet to come, but most, or all, swimmers racing at that meet have already qualified for the Olympic Trials, so that won’t appreciably impact the outcome.
The 2020 US Olympic Swimming Trials will be held from June 21st-28th, 2020 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Swimmers will be able to compete in any events where they’ve hit the Olympic Trials standard (link below) with no ‘bonus events’ allowed.
Qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials begins on November 28, 2018 and runs through June 19th, 2020. USA Swimming will accept new qualifications from first-time qualifiers from June 16th-19th, but won’t update anybody’s entry time based on swims after June 15th.
Hali Flickinger continues to lead all swimmers with 9 Olympic Trials qualifying standards, followed by Madisyn Cox and Melanie Margalis with 8 each. There are 14 total events for each gender at the Olympic Trials.
Here is a list of swimmers with at least 6 qualifying standards:
| Flickinger, Hali | 9 |
| Cox, Madisyn | 8 |
| Margalis, Melanie | 8 |
| Abruzzo, Andrew | 7 |
| Alons, Kylee | 7 |
| Casas, Shaine | 7 |
| Dressel, Caeleb | 7 |
| Kalisz, Chase | 7 |
| Ledecky, Katie | 7 |
| Litherland, Jay | 7 |
| Smith, Kieran | 7 |
| Smith, Regan | 7 |
| Andrew, Michael | 6 |
| Drabot, Katie | 6 |
| Foster, Carson | 6 |
| Huske, Torri | 6 |
| Lasco, Destin | 6 |
| Liu, Kenisha | 6 |
| McLaughlin, Katie | 6 |
| McMurray, Olivia | 6 |
| Mitchell, Jake | 6 |
| Nordmann, Lillie | 6 |
| Pash, Kelly | 6 |
| Smith, Leah | 6 |
| Smith, Summer | 6 |
| Sullivan, Erica | 6 |
| Urlando, Luca | 6 |
| Walsh, Gretchen | 6 |
| Weyant, Emma | 6 |
By Event:
The 50 freestyles continue to see a high volume of qualifiers, while the distance events are lagging behind. This is both by design and by ‘event choice’ as there are, in general, more sprinters in USA Swimming than distance swimmers.
| Event | Female Qualifiers | Male Qualifiers |
| 50 FR | 96 | 117 |
| 100 FR | 82 | 98 |
| 200 FR | 85 | 72 |
| 400 FR | 77 | 81 |
| 800 FR | 50 | 60 |
| 1500 FR | 41 | 54 |
| 100 BK | 103 | 104 |
| 200 BK | 73 | 72 |
| 100 BR | 101 | 105 |
| 200 BR | 74 | 88 |
| 100 FL | 97 | 102 |
| 200 FL | 87 | 72 |
| 200 IM | 94 | 77 |
| 400 IM | 77 | 58 |
Note: we have done our best to remove names, like Brad Tandy, that are incorrectly labeled as being Americans in the SWIMS database. There are other cases of swimmers who we understand to be dual citizens who could, already are, or may be planning to represent other nations internationally, like Caspar Corbeau (Netherlands), Phillippe Marcoux (Canada), Jaden Olson (Philippines), Paul Le (Vietnam), and Bence Szabados (Hungary), but who could also technically still swim at the US Olympic Trials as of today, given that there is technically enough time left to change their sporting citizenship to American.
Olympic Trials should greatly reduce the number of athletes in each event. The meet is WAY too large. Only in the USA are we so concerned with packing an OT meet with too many athletes.
agree. how many swimmers are needed to select 52? probably not 1800
I actually like a big crowded Olympic Trials meet where everyone is fighting for space during warm-ups. We want athletes on our team that are not only fast but also mentally tough and I think the crowding helps us get a team that is more likely to be in the right head space to go on to the Olympics and swim fast again
lol what, having to fight for space during warm-ups helps US swimmers perform at the Olympics?
uhmmm you heard the story of the incident with Sun Yang in the warm-up pool?
If to look at OT not only as the selection process but also as the last rehearsal before Games then trials should be as crowded as Olympic Games will be – same number of hits.
P.S. is little mouse still making a difference? 😀
Side discussion: are we not going to get an article about a new head coach at Santa Clara Swim Club? There’s a job posting, but no article? This is as close as it gets to a tent-pole club in USA Swimming!
What is the maximum of number swimmers (male/female) allotted for pool events by the U.S. Olympic Team?
26 apiece?
That’s correct. In 2016, US had 24 men and 21 women. The new event, and losing a super-versatile swimmer like Phelps from the roster, bumps it closer to that cap, but…I think it’s very likely that at least one men’s 800 qualifier/women’s 1500 qualifier will also be on the team in something else. If I were putting money on it, I’d put money on both of them already being on the team.
But, certainly something we’ll have to watch more closely than prior years.
Thanks
We are going to end up with 1700-1800 athletes and be way too crowded again in chasing the mighty &$ buck $$. Did anybody ever think the percentage of best times is so low due to the fact the meet isn’t built or designed with the athlete’s performance in mind.
Really: lots of swimmers just finishing up Spring term finals and most just tapered 3 months earlier. Never mind Omaha: no one gets home-court advantage.
Agee 100%. What is the purpose of OTs? To select the Olympic team, or to maximize revenue for USA Swimming? If it’s to select the team, then you don’t need more than 4 heats per event. Side Q for Braden: who was the lowest seed since, say, 1984, who made the team? If it’s about making money for USA Swimming, carry on as now. But there is no way that a meet with 15+ heats in an event leads to optimal performance conditions for the athletes with a realistic chance of making the Olympic team… YMMV. Second side Q: how many swimmers who barely make a Trials cut when they’re young go on four or eight years later to make… Read more »
Missy Franklin in 2008 is one young swimmer that has been brought up before. I think she was like a 50th seed or something like that.
and i believe Kara Lynn Joyce was 75th in the 50 free at the 2000 Trials and 2nd in 2004. Gotta believe the 2000 experience was invaluable.
So, there we go – another example of why it probably makes sense to keep the meet larger than just X heats for realistic qualifiers.
Seriously “Golden Bear”??
Dana Vollmer at 12 (2000) barely made cut.
Dana Vollmer at 16 (2004) wins Trials.
You might want to consider a name change.
Lol
My question was a serious one. So now we’ve come up with two examples – Missy and Dana. That would be an argument for allowing more than my initially proposed max 4 heats of each event, because apparently at least 2 future Olympians progressed from barely making a cut to making the team.
If the money problem could be solved, the selection limits should be:
Top 40 for distance events 400M & up
Top 50 (maybe top 60) for 100’s and 200’s of stroke
Top 60 for 50, 100, 200 Free
Yes, seriously. And yes, an old Golden Bear.
They should eliminate OT cuts, and make it so that you have to be top 32 in the country in any event to swim in that event.
Downvotes will kill me more savagely than I killed Tom Shields.
Could say that everybody going to Olympic Trials need to be eligible for the Olympics, ie have at least a FINA B cut?
I am not sure if I am for it, we also need to keep in mind that we also want to keep the interest for the sport up and help grow the sport.
The required Olympic Cut can be achieved at OT. So it isn’t a prerequisite.
That’s too tight of a qualification honestly, and very problematic. What if you’re 33rd in ____(random event) and 5 people in the top 32 don’t enter it at trials? Only 27 get to swim it? Like, Caeleb Dressel in 200fly. I’d be shocked if he swam it at trials, but he’s currently ranked like…8th or something in the US, and he takes away a spot from somebody else?
There’s also the problem of, if you make Olympic trials THAT exclusive, a lot of athletes will quit if they don’t think they have a shot to make it. It’s already insanely hard to qualify with the current standards. The 1200-1500 or so athletes that will end up qualifying represent less than… Read more »
You would end up with endless last chance meets to move up to 32, like NCAA ‘s. Then you would have massively slower times at the meet for many swimmers, like NCAA ‘s. But as I already pointed out we pretty much have that anyway.
Since its about the money I think they should auction off a few OT spots to the highest bidder. The could have a heat of 10 old and rich masters swimmers paying on avg $2500 each to enter and they would make 25,000 each event.
The Olympic Trials are the biggest meet the US has (well except in 2028).
Let them swim
Good thing about a qualifying time, is that swimmers know what they have to do, have to achieve- they can aim for a time all season, and know when they have made it. Then they can plan, book, travel etc…
USA swimming would never go for that. too little money in it for them. The Trials is their cash cow.
With due respect to all these swimmers, 13 heats of 100 breaststroke at what should be the most exclusive meet in America seems wrong. It dilutes the meet. Didn’t it used to be that the qualifying time for the next cycle was the 36th fastest time from the previous trials?
$$$$$$
If you look back that is not far off of what the cuts are. The percent of best times is so low at trials that basing the cuts off of the results is not a good indicator. Maybe base off a certain seed going in for the previous trials.
Part of it might be to help raise money to help pay for the National team?
At the times that I think you talk about the Trials was also held in Indy with space for about 4000 and now there are space for 18000-20000?
I kind of like Mike’s suggestion. And he’s exactly right – it’s like 10 or 12% beat their seed times at Trials (let alone best times), if I recall.
What about NCAA’s? For a lot of athletes getting there is the highlight of a swimming career. And it should be.
NCAAs is a different situation to me, because there’s ‘scoring’ involved, and to 16 places. If the Olympic Team took the top 16 in each event, I’d have a very different opinion of how many should go.
I’m not saying we need to cut it back to just 8 or 16 or anything crazy. But, I do think they need to keep the meet tight for it to continue to be that prestigious career highlight.
If it’s about the excitement for the athlete, then maybe they have a second-tier meet a week before or week after to let everyone swim under the “big lights,” I dunno.
I think that the stated goal of 1200-1400 is about right. I’m cognizant… Read more »
Yes
I think the last few Olympic Trials they have done 10 lanes for prelims, and 8 for semifinals and finals.
When you start a comment with “all due respect” it’s a loser without finishing the comment. Sorry but swimming is deep. And we want the next generation of athletes to get this experience.
Agreed–so many Dean Farris like examples out there. E.g. I had NEVER heard of Shain Casas before July (though I should have–he has been a good swimmer for a while).
He has been on the national jr team in the past, and he also trained himself growing up. It’s a fascinating story, and it’s great to see him have such a fantastic year!
why call out breastroke? look at that 50 and 100 free too!
Yes
Breastroke sends two athletes per event to the Olympics for one to two relay spots (depending on the gender of the MMR breastroker). The 100 has six with four relay spots. As for the fifty, yes it’s bloated but it’s also the shortest event. You could have at least 3 times as many 50 heats as 200 breastrokes in the same time, maybe four depending on how fast Trials are run in prelims.
How many of the swimmers that made the 2016 Olympic Trials made their first cut in the last 10 months, if we look at that, how many more swimmers could we expect to make the meet this time, meaning how big might the meet be this time since they are trying to make the meet smaller?
My guess is that if there are 1115 swimmers with cuts right now we will probably see more than 1400 swimmers at the meet, maybe closer to 1600 (still smaller then the 1800 at the 2016 Olympic Trials).