2024 U.S. Olympic Trials: Winners Lilly King and Ryan Murphy Return to Action (Day 5 Preview)

2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS

• June 15-23, 2024
• Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, IN
• LCM (50 Meters)
• Session Start Times (ET):
  • 11 a.m. Prelims
  • 7:45 p.m. Finals (varying based on broadcast needs)
• Meet Central
• Broadcast Info
• SwimSwam’s Definitive Guide to Trials
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
• Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
• Finals Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Day 5 Prelims Heat Sheet

“The number of the day” is two. Well, ok, it is two hundred, but it has been a while since I’ve watched Sesame Street, and I don’t know if the Count ever got that high in counting songs. All three preliminary events this morning are 200s as the Women’s 200 Breast, the Men’s 200 Back, and the Women’s 200 Fly.

The first event on tap for the morning sees the return of Lilly King to the pool. King won the 100 breast on night three, winning the event for the third straight time. King is not the favorite as she is the second seed in the event behind American Record holder Kate Douglass. Douglass swam in the 100-free semifinals last night and safely qualified for the finals of the 100-free as the third seed.

Douglass is an anomaly in swimming as she also holds the American record in the 50 free. This past January, she broke the 200 breaststroke record (2:19.30) at the Pro Swim Series in Knoxville and, a month later, did the same in the 50 free at the 2024 Doha Worlds.

With Lydia Jacoby withdrawing from the 200 breast (she still appears in the heat sheet), a pair of Nashville Aquatics/UVA swimmers will look to jump into the ring and contest the event. Ella Nelson (2:24.89) and Alex Walsh (2:25.25) who train with Douglass at Virginia, sit as the #3 and #4 seeds. Walsh was a 2021 Olympic silver medalist in the 200 IM, but has expanded her event list to include the breaststroke. Emma Weber, another UVA swimmer, placed 2nd in the 100 breast behind King and lurks as the 10th seed in the 200.

Just like on night three, Ryan Murphy is joined by King and takes on his second event of the meet, the 200 back. Murphy leads a strong contingent of Cal swimmers in the event. Murphy is the first seed with an entry time of 1:54.83. Less than a second behind him is Destin Lasco, whose entry time of 1:55.63 slots him into the #2 seed. Keaton Jones joins the pair as a top 8 seed, as he is seeded 7th in 1:56.79. Looking to break up the Cal dominance in the event is Jack Aikins. Aikins placed 3rd in the 100 back, just .02 behind Hunter Armstrong. Aikins, who trains out of UVA, redshirted the season to prepare for these Trials.

We concluded the morning with the newly minted World Record holder, Regan Smith. Smith will trade the speed of the 100 back for the endurance of the 200 fly. She holds the American Record in the event from last summer when she recorded a time of 2:03.87, becoming the 4th fastest performer ever. Smith is new to Texas, but Longhorn Aquatics holds five of the top ten seeds in the event as Dakota Luther is the 2nd seed, Lindsay Looney is the 5th seed, Kelly Pash is the 7th seed, and Emma Sticklen is the 8th seed. Like the Cal dominance in the 200 back, Tess Howley of UVA and Alex Shackell of Carmel will try to break up that monopoly.