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
Aaron Shackell and Daniel Diehl walked out to Darude – Sandstorm to kick off the first swim-off for a finals berth at a U.S. Olympic Trials since 2008.
They had matching reaction times off the blocks (0.66s), but Diehl jumped out to an early lead (24.65) over Shackell (25.15). He maintained that lead at the 100 and the 150, but the 400 freestyle champion fought back down the stretch.
Cheered on by a home crowd, Shackell out-split Diehl 26.91 to 28.00, knocking another five-hundredths of a second off his semis time (1:46.95). He was six-tenths off his personal best, while Diehl added from his semis performance.
See the split comparison below.
| Aaron Shackell, Swim-Off | Daniel Diehl, Swim-Off | Aaron Shackell, 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Semifinal | Daniel Diehl, 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Semifinal | |
| 50 | 25.15 | 24.65 | 25.05 | 25.29 |
| 100 | 52.00 (26.85) | 51.47 (26.82) | 51.68 (26.63) | 52.11 (26.82) |
| 150 | 1:20.04 (28.04) | 1:19.16 (27.69) | 1:19.54 (27.86) | 1:19.59 (27.48) |
| 200 | 1:46.95 (26.91) | 1:47.16 (28.00) | 1:47.00 (27.46) | 1:47.00 (27.41) |
Had he swum that time in semis, Shackell would have definitively qualified 8th. The next fastest qualifier is Chris Guiliano (1:46.83).
Shackell is also entered in 100 and 200 fly at this meet, and has already booked his ticket to Paris courtesy of his finish in the 400 free on night 1. Diehl still has the 100 free, 200 back, 200 IM, and 100 fly left on his schedule. He DFS’d the 100 back this morning after his 200 free prelims swim.
The last swim-off for a lane in finals at a U.S. Olympic Trials happened in 2008 when Nathan Adrian and Alex Righi tied for 9th in the 100 freestyle. However, a scratch from Ryan Lochte created an opportunity.
Up to six roster spots are available in the final of both the 100 and 200 free, as the U.S. selection procedure allows up for four relay only swimmers, making the stakes of a swim-off incredibly high.
In 2008, Adrian triumphed over Righi by just nine-hundredths of a second. He then went on to finish 4th in the final and earn a gold medal for his prelims leg on the American 4×100 free relay. (The finals relay is far more famous.)
NC state is already rubbing off too much on Diehl.
Wolfpack swimmers have no dawg in them. Fact.
Left cal and can do no wrong.
Coincidence, I think not
I thought the point of having 10 lanes was so swim-off didn’t need to happen?
Maybe a little bit off topic, but today is Michael Groß’s birthday – 60 years!
If I remember it correct, he swam 1:47,44 in L.A.
Did they shake hands after the race? I didn’t see them shake hands on tv, hopefully they did but the camera didn’t catch it. I know it was an emotional race for these two but hopefully there isn’t any bad blood between them or lack of sportsmanship.
Shocked the goggles stayed in tact from the spike after the 400
song name?
Shackell swam two 400s yesterday and three 200s today so he might be out of gas tomorrow evening
I am not a (serious) swimmer so this might be obvious to most, but it baffles me every time it comes up: those three races are < 6min total. Is it really that hard for a 19yo fit body to recover from that in 24hrs?
A max 200 effort definitely takes something out of you. Doing it 3x in one day — where the day before you had 2 max 400m efforts . . . yes, it’s likely going to have some impact. How much – hard to say – and diff athletes respond differently. But pretty sure he’ll be waking up today and not feeling fresh.