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
- Finals Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2
The results for the men’s 200 free were muted across the board, with only three swimmers getting under 1:46. But, in an exciting twist, Aaron Shackell and Daniel Diehl tied for 8th with matching times of 1:47.00. That means there will be a swim-off for the 8th spot in the final tomorrow night.
UPDATE: The swim-off is scheduled for 9:57pm ET.
Both swimmers were off their times from prelims. Shackell shaved a little time off his prelims performance (1:47.05), but has been as fast as 1:46.35.
Diehl added a little time from prelims (1:46.83), but that performance represented a huge improvement from his entry time (1:49.53).
They swam their races nearly identically, with a very even back-half. Check out the comparison below.
| Aaron Shackell, 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Semifinal | Daniel Diehl, 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Semifinal | |
| 50 | 25.05 | 25.29 |
| 100 | 51.68 (26.63) | 52.11 (26.82) |
| 150 | 1:19.54 (27.86) | 1:19.59 (27.48) |
| 200 | 1:47.00 (27.46) | 1:47.00 (27.41) |
Shackell is already headed to Paris after winning the men’s 400 freestyle last night. On the other hand, the 200 free is Diehl’s first event of these Trials. As a reminder, there are up to six spots up for grabs tomorrow night. Provided there are no issues with the roster cap, four relay-only swimmers will be brought to Paris alongside the U.S.’s individual entrants.
There are some interesting parallels between Shackell and Diehl regarding their training situations. Shackell, who is one year older, started at Cal in the fall of 2023. After swimming through their mid-season invite, he made the decision to return home to Indiana to train with Carmel Swim Club.
In contrast, Diehl was a surprise mid-season addition to NC State’s crew after graduating early. Initially, the plan was for him to join the Wolfpack training group and focus on long course, but he ended up competing at three dual meets, ACCs, and NCAAs, where he contributed to the Wolfpack’s 5th place team finish.
There is room for both. There are enough lanes so why put one of them at a disadvantage b/c had to swim another ‘heat’ in order to qualify. That’s a lot of energy used prior to the finals
I believe that swim offs at trials should be replaced with an intense 3 game match of super smash bros/ping pong/corn hole in the athlete hospitality room.
These special situations deserve more creative solutions. There are 10 lanes, let them both swim in finals. Rules need to be changed for next trials. It doesn’t benefit the 2 swimmers and it doesn’t benefit sending the best six 200 freestylers to the olympics to represent USA.
The moment the rule is introduced you’ll have the first three-way tie for finals lol
Magic man
Anyone at the venue able to do an Instagram live?
I was about to ask the same thing!
When is the last time this happened?
Closest thing was there was a swim off for 8th in the 200 free at the 1996 but one guy just gave up and the other got in…
Paul Palmer and Jani Sievinen: “Palmer and Sievinen, who had tied for 8th place in the heats to require the swimoff, tied again in the swimoff. This would have resulted in a second swimoff between the pair, but Sievinen elected to withdraw from the race.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_1996_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_200_metre_freestyle#Swimoff
Nathan Adrian won swim off for 8th in 100free in 2008. Finished 4th and made relay.
Photo curse confirms Shackell’s win
Yup