2022 U.S Trials: Day 4 Finals Preview

2022 Phillips 66 International Team Trials

• April 26-30, 2022
• Greensboro, NC
• Greensboro Aquatic Center
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times: Prelims – 9 am ET / Finals – 6 pm ET
• Worlds Qualifying Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ‘Em Contest
• How To Watch
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

It’s Day 4 and the penultimate finals session at U.S World Trials. We’ve got the 400 free, the 100 breast, and the 100 back on tap, all of which have some incredibly close races brewing. 

• Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet
• Day 4 Finals Scratch Report

We’ll kick off Day 4 finals with the 400 free. For the women, we’re preparing for two races. The first is Katie Ledecky versus the clock. After getting back under 8:10 in the 800, what will she go here? 

The other is the race for second. Leah Smith swam away from her heat to qualify second in 4:04.83, which gives her an almost five second buffer over #3 seed Bella Sims. But the Sandpipers have shown that we should never count them out, and there are three of them to factor in here. Joining Sims are her teammates Claire Weinstein and Katie Grimes, already qualified in the 200 free and 400 IM, respectively. 

200 free winner Kieran Smith is the favorite in the men’s 400. He’s running fourth with teammate Trey Freeman and Longhorns’ Luke Hobson and Coby Carrozza ahead of him. After prelims, these four are separated by .44 hundredths of a second. Look for Hobson and Carrozza to take the race to the Gators; if they want to secure a Worlds berth, they’ll need to get under the 3:48.15 FINA ‘A’ cut and outtouch Freeman. 

Lilly King looks to sweep the breastrokes tonight by adding a win in the 100. She has tough competition though, also in the field is her training partner Annie Lazor and Olympic champ Lydia Jacoby, both of whom have yet to secure their ticket to Budapest. Don’t count out Alex Walsh or Kaitlyn Dobler either. 

Michael Andrew and Nic Fink were the only two men under a minute in prelims of the 100 breast. They’ll be the men to beat but Rio Olympian Cody Miller and co-200 breast champion Charlie Swanson will look to play upset. 

The night ends the 100 backstrokes, which are shaping up to be as brutal races as they usually are. 

Regan Smith defended her top seed this morning with a 58.29, but there’s a deep field chasing her. She’ll have to fend off Katharine Berkoff, Rhyan White, and Phoebe Bacon, who have already beaten her in backstroke this week. Then there’s teen titan Claire Curzan and two-time Olympian Olivia Smoliga, who could both sneak in for a top 2 finish. 

The American women’s backstroke depth is rivaled only by the American men, and with six men under 54 seconds in prelims, we’ve got a thrilling men’s 100 back to end the session. Justin Ress leads the pack with a 53.10, but this is still anyone’s race. Also in the hunt is World Record holder Ryan Murphy and the new World Record holder in the 50 back, Hunter Armstrong. Shaine Casas holds the #3 seed with a 53.31, and neither Jack Aikins nor Daniel Diehl should be forgotten about.