200 back world record holder Missy Franklin is an obvious frontrunner in this race, though she’s slipped since her dominating performances at the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2013 World Championships. Despite her stumbles in long course, Franklin was still able to put up a 2:06.34 in Kazan, and looks to be the favorite going into Omaha.
Franklin put some doubts to bed with a stellar swim at the Arena Pro Swim Series stop in Minneapolis this past November. Her 2:07.24 was the 2nd-fastest swim in the world this season (September 1 to current), and still ranks #6 in the world right now. She’s also the fastest American this season by almost a full second.
2012 Olympic bronze medalist Elizabeth Beisel has been quiet in this event since London, focusing more on the 400 IM than the 200 back. Beisel hit a best time of 2:06.18 at those Olympics, but hasn’t been close to that in the last couple years. Her 2:09.54 from the World Championships last summer was well off of form, and while a time like that should pretty easily secure her a spot in the final at Trials, it’s definitely not going to be enough to get her an Olympic spot in this event.
Maya DiRado swims prelims of 200 backstroke 2015 Santa Clara Pro Swim (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography)
A new player has arrived to the 200 back game: Maya Dirado. A versatile and incredibly talented force, Dirado has only recently picked up this event in long course. Dirado has hit 2:08 four times since this fall, her fastest a 2:08.19 in January at the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series. That time ranks her 10th in the world this year, and we haven’t seen a fully tapered, summer championship swim in this event from her since she went 2:11.14 at the 2011 US Summer Nationals. Dirado has quickly emerged as the favorite to take the other Olympic spot in this event behind, or ahead, of Missy.
Kathleen Baker is one of the top teenagers heading into Trials (photo: Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com)
Kathleen Baker and Claire Adams are two age group stars who have recently made successful ventures onto the international stage. Both are stronger in the 100 back, and Baker was able to make the final in the 100 back at the 2015 World Championships. Meanwhile, Adams notched a new World Junior record in the 100 back for her part. Baker’s been 2:09.36 (from the Austin Pro Swim Series meet in January) and Adams 2:09.44. Baker, though, swam that time at a mid-season meet, while Adams did her time at World Juniors.
Youth was a significant factor at the 2012 Trials in this event. In the 200 back final four years ago, seven of the eight finalists were under the age of 20, with Kylie Stewart being the youngest at 16. Heading into trials, there is a sizable contingent of teenagers who have great shots at making the final. 18-year-old Kaitlin Harty, who is heading to the University of Texas next fall, hit a 2:10.23 at the Mesa stop of the Pro Swim Series. A slew of current 15-year-olds will be in contention this summer– Grace Ariola, Lucie Nordmann, and Rhyan White have each hit times of 2:12 or better in the past year when they were 15 years old. Erin Voss and Erin Earley are both 17– both have been 2:10 in the past year, and Voss just notched a personal best at the Charlotte stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series in the middle of a training cycle.
We can go even younger– 14 year old Alex Walsh has been on a tear of late, including taking down NAG records for the 13-14 age group in the 100 back and 200 IM, previously held by Baker and Franklin, respectively. She went 2:12.38 at the Arena Pro Swim Series stop in Austin and 2:12.32 at the stop in Charlotte, but has a best time of 2:10.55 from last summer. Meanwhile, Regan Smith was 2:13.72 at the Minneapolis Pro Swim Series stop last November, but hasn’t swum the event yet in 2016. Smith only recently turned 14, and she and Walsh are among the youngest overall Olympic Trials qualifiers in the nation.
200 back NCAA champion, Kentucky Wildcat, and Elite 90 award-winner, Danielle Galyer. (photo: Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com)
Some NCAA stars will try to make their way into the top 8, too. Lisa Bratton dipped under 2:10 for the first time last summer with a 2:09.31, and had a strong NCAA season this year. Elizabeth Pelton, who is the American record holder in this event in yards, hasn’t been under 2:10 since 2014, and hasn’t been anywhere near her personal best of 2:06.29 from 2013. Clara Smiddy, too, hasn’t lived up to her 2:10.69 since she swam that time in 2013, though she put up two 2:11’s at the Charlotte stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series. The 2016 200 back NCAA champ, Danielle Galyer, swam a 2:09.75 last summer. Bratton and Galyer have been hitting their bests recently, but Pelton is the only one that has been fast enough to try to challenge for an Olympic spot here. The question is whether or not she can get back to form– her mid-NCAA season 2:11.03 from January is somewhat promising, and she looks to be capable of at least getting under 2:10 in Omaha.
In 2012, a 2:12.37 made the final in Omaha. This year, more than 20 female backstrokers have been under that time going into Trials. It will be an incredibly competitive event through prelims, semis, and finals.
TOP 8 PREDICTIONS
| Swimmer | Best Time (since 2012) | Predicted Time in Omaha |
| Missy Franklin | 2:04.06 | 2:05.8 |
| Maya Dirado | 2:08.19 | 2:06.9 |
| Elizabeth Beisel | 2:06.18 | 2:07.5 |
| Danielle Galyer | 2:09.75 | 2:08.8 |
| Elizabeth Pelton | 2:06.29 | 2:09.1 |
| Lisa Bratton | 2:09.31 | 2:09.3 |
| Kathleen Baker | 2:09.36 | 2:09.6 |
| Alex Walsh | 2:10.55 | 2:09.8 |
Dark Horse: Carmel Swim Club’s chances in the Olympic trials final don’t end with Claire Adams. Amy Bilquist swam a lifetime best of 2:13.22 at the Crippen Swim Meet of Champions, but swam a pretty incredible 1:49.90 in the 200y back at the Pac 12 Champs in February. She is definitely a swimmer capable of translating her SCY power to long course, and after such a strong NCAA season in the backstroke, Bilquist is one to watch for.
Missy and Alex Walsh
Missy is the big ? I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes 205 and wins or she goes 209 and finished behind Dirado and Beisel
She’s been 2:07 like twice this year and WC was a 2:06 maybe or 2:05 can’t remember. But she’ll be at least a 2:06, which is good enough for top 3, if Beisel swims it’ll be hard to get top two because I’m sure B and Di will be rested.
A big question is, will Missy be fully tapered for Omaha or will she save her peak for Rio? If she is fully tapered in Omaha, I believe Missy will be the Katie Hoff of 2016. If saves a full taper for Rio, she will probably not make the team in the 100 back and/or 200 free. However, she will be much more likely to win gold in the 200 back, or at the very least she will be an important relay member. The descision is up to her and Todd, but personally, I’d rather have 2 golds (2back and 4X200) than 5 top 8’s but no medals
Katie huff of 2016??? So you think she won’t win any gold medals? Not even the 800 free relay
Walsh and Smith are the youngest OT qualifiers? I dont know the exact dates, but Madelyn Donohoe from the Fish and Olivia Bray from the Virginia Gators turned 14 in the 2015-16 season. Not that it really matters other than the fact that one of them gets bragging rights to say they were the youngest person at the meet
Jorge – we made sure to mention that they are “among” the youngest qualifiers to the meet so far. Glancing through the qualifiers, there are a handful of 14-year-olds, and with birthdates not easily available, it’s hard to exactly pinpoint who the youngest actually is.
I agree with the top 3 picks, and I even agree roughly with the predicted times. I’m rooting for Beisel to take the 2nd slot but as you said, her 2Back hasn’t returned as much her 4IM has, which has caused me to speculate that the groin injury may have disproportionately limited her backstroke training last year relative to the other 3 strokes; I also noticed her backstroke splits in the 4IM aren’t quite as good as you would expect for a backstroker, for the 4:33/4:35’s she’s been putting down. If I’m wrong or if her 2Back comes around proportionately to her 4IM, she has a chance to slide into the 2nd spot.
Maybe a silver or bronze in the 100/200 backs
Definite golds-
hosszu in backs and Im’s
ledecky in the 400 and 800
sjorstom in the 100 fly
I root for Hosszu as a Hungarian, but even so her winning in the backs seems a long shot to me. She will win medals there probably, but golds? Of course that would be awesome 🙂
I’d watch out for Vollmer in the 100 fly. It’ll be interesting to see what she goes at trials. Then we might have a race in Rio
This event and the 100m back will be the HIGHLIGHT of the swim trials in Omaha!! There are so many girls who have gone under that 1:00 mark in the past 2 years and they will each most likely be at top form in Omaha and most likely be within half a second of making the team or not
Regan Smith was 2:12.61 last weekend
Saw that “race”. She was on cruise control with no competition. Didn’t push it at all. This girl is being understandably, but wrongly, underestimated due to her age. She isn’t a threat to make the team in the 200 back but she can certainly make top 8 and go somewhere in the 2:08 range. 100 back? She has a legitimate shot at 59.low. Can she make the team? Absolutely. So much speed on the water. Her UNDERwater has improved a lot since last year, watch out.