2017 U.S. NATIONALS/WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TRIALS
- Tuesday, June 27th-Saturday, July 1st
- 50-Meter Course
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Meet Info
- Prelims timelines
- Broadcast schedule
- Event-by-event previews
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream (U.S. viewers)
- Live Stream (International viewers)
- Tuesday Prelim Heat Sheet
- Day 1 Prelim Scratches
Barring scratches, Tom Shields — who represented the US in the 200 fly in Rio — will not get a chance to make the World Champs team in the event this year after finishing 9th in prelims.
Battling side-by-side against Jack Conger, Shields swam a 1:57.75 this morning. That time was actually faster than the 1:57.96 in swam in prelims at Olympic Trials last year, but the event got a lot quicker this year as most swimmers needed to put the pedal to the metal to guarantee a spot in the A final.
With Shields out of the picture, and Michael Phelps once again retired, neither swimmer who makes the World Champs team this year will have swum the even in Rio. The top two seeds heading into tonight are Georgia teammates Chase Kalisz and Gunnar Bentz, although Conger still has the fastest personal best, setting up what figures to be a great race tonight.
Shields was not the only big name to miss out on the A-final in the 200 fly. National teamer Cassidy Bayer, last year’s 3rd place finisher in the 200 fly at Olympic Trials, finished 12th this morning with a 2:11.22. That time was almost two seconds slower than what she swam in prelims at OT’s, where her 2:09.29 was the 3rd-fastest time of the morning.
While on paper Bayer had a good shot of making the team, especially after Kelsi Worrell chose not to compete, she had been batting with injuries this season, so it wasn’t entirely clear where she was in her training or how ready she’d be for trials. Roughly 10% of entries in the SwimSwam Pick ‘Em Contest thought that Bayer would win the event, and almost every bracket (429/445) thought she would place in the top 4.
15% of brackets thought that Shields would win the 200 fly as the top seed, while roughly the same amount (418/445) thought he would place in the top 4.
The top two seeds for the women coming out of prelims are Hali Flickinger and Dakota Luther, the only two women until 2:09 this morning.
In fairness, that 1:57.9 from Shields at Trials last year actually got him 12th in prelims. Eighth place in prelims was 1:57.6, and in semis it took a 1:57.1 to make the final so I’m not sure it’s accurate to say the event has gotten quicker.