2021 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
- When:
- Wave I Dates: June 4-7, 2021
- Wave II Dates: June 13-20, 2021
- Prelims: 10am CDT | Finals: 7pm CDT
- Where: CHI Health Center / Omaha, Nebraska
- 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Cuts
- LCM (50m)
- Wave I & II Event Order
- Day 1 Finals Live Recap
Men’s 400 IM – Final
Top 3:
- Chase Kalisz (ABSC), 4:09.09
- Jay Litherland (DYNA), 4:10.33
- Carson Foster (RAYS), 4:10.86
Women’s 100 Fly – Semifinal
Top 3:
- Torri Huske (AAC), 55.78 AR
- Claire Curzan (TAC), 56.81
- Kelsi Dahlia (CARD), 56.91
Men’s 400 Free – Final
Top 3:
- Kieran Smith (FLOR), 3:44.86
- Jake Mitchell (CSC), 3:48.17
- Ross Dant (NCS), 3:48.30
Women’s 400 IM – Final
Top 3:
- Emma Weyant (SYS), 4:33.81
- Hali Flickinger (SUN), 4:33.96
- Melanie Margalis (SPA), 4:34.08
Men’s 100 Breast – Semifinal
Top 3:
- Michael Andrew (RPC), 58.14 AR
- Nic Fink (ABSC), 58.50
- Andrew Wilson (ABSC), 59.08
Chase Kalisz notched the first Olympic spot of the night in the men’s 400 IM final. Kalisz took over the race on the breaststroke, out splitting Carson Foster who was ahead by about .20. Foster held strong for the first 300 meters, but Jay Litherland made up ground on the last 100, going from third to out touching Foster by about half a second in true photo-finish fashion.
Press Conference: Chase Kalisz, Kieran Smith, Jack Baurle
If you’re being geo-blocked from watching the video below, you can also watch it here.
The women’s 400 IM was one of the closest races of the night. 19-year-old Emma Weyant of the Sarasota Sharks. It came down to the last 50 meters, where Weyant blasted a 30.35, half a second faster than both of Hali Flickinger‘s 50 freestyle splits. Weyant’s last 100 meters came out to be 1:01.79 which was enough to out touch second-place finisher Flickinger by .15. Melanie Margalis had a dominant breaststroke leg (1:15.42), garnering her 3rd place just .12 behind Flickinger.
Press Conference: Emma Weyant
If you’re being geo-blocked from watching the video below, you can also watch it here.
We can’t leave out the two American Records set tonight, by Torri Huske in the 100 fly semifinal (55.78) and Michael Andrew in the 100 breast finals (58.14).
Arlington Aquatic Club’s Huske was the only swimmer to crack 56.00 tonight. She split the race 25.96/29.82 to take down Dana Vollmer’s American Record from the 2012 Olympics. In second place was 16-year-old Claire Curzan of TAC Titans (56.81) who was followed closely by Kelsi Dahlia (56.91).
Andrew snuck under his own hours-old record by .05. Second place finisher Nic Fink also crushed his prelims time, beating it by .71 for a time of 58.50. They were the only ones under 59:00 tonight, but the finals are set up to be fast on Monday night.
Rowdy’s commentary on the women’s 100 fly was just embarrassing. Huske set a new AR and Rowdy just doubles down on the fact that he got Curzan and Huske mixed up. I’ve defended Rowdy and the passion/excitement he brings for our sport, but I feel like his mistakes are getting worse
My quick thoughts on day 1.
MEN’S 400 IM FINAL
Veterans have had the last word. It sucks that Carson Foster doesn’t finish in the top 2. 3rd place is the worst. I follow his progression since he broke a 100 fly 10 and under NAG record of MP. I was rooting for him. That’s disappointing. He has improved a lot his breaststroke in the last few years. But looks like it took him too much energy and he had no more gas in the tank for freestyle. 30.61 for the last 50 is very slow. Which goes to show that it’s important to be good in all strokes and Carson has a very good freestyle but it’s also… Read more »
They do have a whole night’s rest afterwards right? No reason not to go a little faster in semis
Plus Huske is only 18, she can bounce back easily. I respect Bobo’s opinions on a lot in our sport, but I think he overstates the extent to which swimming fast in prelims/semis takes something out of you, especially in a 100. Swimmers only get a handful of swims each year where they’re fully rested; it’s nice to take advantage of that and swim as fast as possible. You could always surprise yourself
I believe Claire Curzan has scratched the 100 back.
Huske has plenty in the tank. Look for a WR tonight.
No trace of the men’s 400 free and the women’s 400 IM for now.
Not great but I’ve found them.
Men’s 400 free final
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb851ivNzSI
Women’s 400 IM final
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdyEBjVUPHg
Men’s 400 IM final. Not great but still better than nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXhri4jRoSU
Thanks Bobo
Torri Huske 100 fly semifinal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmgHZ9gs5Lk
Michael Andrew 100 breast semifinal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spuWqm5ddGk
Miracle! I’ve found some videos.
Thanks to the guy posting the races and doing the analysis on his YouTube channel but it would be nice if he could just remove his face from the picture during the races. 😆
Michael Andrew 100 breast prelims
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQBSFzVKHVA
Thanks for posting the interviews! Please keep them coming.