2022 U.S. Trials Previews: King & Jacoby Lock Horns In Women’s 50 & 100 Breast

2022 PHILLIPS 66 INTERNATIONAL TEAM TRIALS

• April 26-30, 2022
• Greensboro, NC
• Greensboro Aquatic Center
• LCM (50m)
• FINA Qualifying Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

Just like the 200 breaststroke, the 100 breaststroke A final should look slightly different this year as two of the nine A finalists from last year’s Olympic Trials have since retired.

Lilly King is the world record holder in the event after going a 1:04.13 at Worlds back in 2017. Since then, King has been consistently at the top in this event. Although she may not have won gold in the event at the Olympics this past year, she has not lost the event since. During the ISL season, she was a perfect seven for seven wins in the SCM version of the event. She has continued that trend into the Pro Swim Series stops winning the event in both Westmont and San Antonio. Her time of 1:05.32 from San Antonio sits at #2 in the World this year.

Lydia Jacoby swam to a gold medal in the event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a time of 1:04.95. She competed at Pro Swim in Westmont in March where she finished third behind King and Annie Lazor in the 100. Jacoby touched in a 1:06.87. Jacoby was slated to swim the SCM version of the event at World Championships in December, but was sent into COVID-19 protocols.

Kaitlyn Dobler was this year’s NCAA champion in the yards version of the event as she swam a 56.93 to become the sixth woman under 57 seconds ever. Prior to this season, her best yards time was a 57.46. At last year’s trials, she was fifth in a 1:06.29 so if she is able to translate that half of a second yards time drop into a LCM time drop, she is a potential contender here.

Lazor was third at last year’s Olympic Trials with a 1:05.60. She swam the event at both Pro Swim stops in Westmont and San Antonio. She was second behind King in a 1:06.48 at Westmont and third in a 1:07.05 at San Antonio. She was 1:05.37 in the semi-finals at Trials last year, so she has a shot at a top finish here.

Emily Escobedo was 8th at last year’s Trials in this event. In addition to her win in the 200 SCM breaststroke at Worlds in December, she was also fourth in the 100 breaststroke with a best time of 1:04.81. If she is able to have the same success in the long course pool here, she could be a solid contender

Piper Enge has been on an enormous improvement curve. Last April she was a 1:13.78 in the event but has dropped to a 1:08.12 finishing fourth at San Antonio’s Pro Swim stop. She swam at the World Cups for Team USA so she has big meet experience despite not swimming at last year’s Olympic Trials.

Hannah Bach swam well for Ohio State this year in the NCAA season. She was sixth at NCAAs in the yards version of the event, going a 57.32 which also was a best time. She finished 14th in the event last year at Trials with a 1:08.62 but was a 1:07.89 in prelims.

Emma Weber was 11th at trials last year with a 1:08.18. She went even faster last July, going a 1:07.62 to finish as runner-up in the event at Summer Juniors West. She was a 1:10.00 at the beginning of the year and went a 1:10.85 in prelims at Pro Swim in Westmont.

Alex Walsh didn’t swim this event at last year’s Trials or the SCY version of the event at NCAAs, but it is one of her three event entries here. She’s the 13th seed with a 1:09.17. She won the 200 SCY breaststroke at ACCs this year in a 2:03.02 which may help her on the back end of this event especially with the endurance.

TOP 8 PICKS – 100 BREAST

Darkhorse: Lucy Thomas is #3 in the 15-15 age group in the SCY version of the event. She is the 12th seed here. She dropped time at NCSAs in March in the 100 SCY breaststroke so if she is able to replicate that drop in the LCM pool here she has a solid shot to contend.

50 Breast Breakdown

In addition to being the 100 LCM breaststroke World Record holder, King also holds the LCM American Record in the 50 breaststroke after going a 29.40 back at the 2017 World Championships. Dobler raced a 50 breaststroke LCM at the beginning of April, and Jacoby competed in the 50 breaststroke at SCM Worlds before being sent to COVID-19 protocols.

TOP 8 PICKS – 50 BREAST

*while Jacoby’s official best time is 35.13, she’s been as fast as 30.74 on the opening 50 of the 100 breaststroke.