Swimming at the Dynamo Long Course Elite Meet on Sunday, LSU sophomore Brooks Curry unleashed a fierce 48.45 in the 100m freestyle to meet the qualifying standard for Wave II at 2021 Olympic Trials. Seeded with 50.08, he split 23.08/25.37 to drop over 1.6 seconds and win the race by two body lengths.
Wave II is the faster of the two Olympic Trials meets set to take place this summer, consisting of the top 41 swimmers in each event. Curry’s swim today ranks him 10th among Americans, for the qualifying period that began on November 28, 2018:
- Caeleb Dressel – 46.96
- Ryan Held – 47.39
- Maxime Rooney – 47.61
- Zach Apple – 47.69
- Blake Pieroni – 47.87
- Tate Jackson – 47.88
- Dean Farris – 48.07
- Nathan Adrian – 48.17
- Robert Howard – 48.37
- Brooks Curry – 48.45
- Jack Conger – 48.47
- Daniel Krueger – 48.55
- Michael Chadwick – 48.57
- Townley Haas – 48.60
- Andrew Seliskar – 48.80
Curry came in with a previous lifetime best of 50.08 in the 100 free, a time he achieved at 2019 Summer Juniors. That time, and his 23.14 in the 50 free from the same meet, had qualified him for the Wave I meet, but now that he is qualified for Wave II, he must swim all his events at Wave II and is not allowed to participate in Wave I. (Read all the FAQs regarding Wave I and Wave II here.)
Having punched his ticket to Wave II, Curry will now be able to focus on preparing fully for Trials.
Curry was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019-20. He was SEC champion in the 100 free (41.81) and was runner-up in the 200 free (1:32.43). He also finished 6th in the 50 (19.39) and broke LSU program records in all 3 events. He finished the season as the fastest freshman in the 50/100/200 free. This season, as a sophomore, he finished 2nd in the 100 free (41.80), 3rd in the 200 free (1:32.64), and tied for 3rd in the 50 free (19.16).
At the time of his verbal commitment to LSU, his best times in the 50/100/200 yard freestyles were 20.65/45.19/1:40.82.
Curry won’t hang around to swim finals, and is instead returning to Baton Rouge.
You can watch his swim in the video below:
That was smooth looking
Wow, check that gallop!
Could he be the bolter at yank trials??
Good solid time…..
Well done Brooks !!
Keep it up mate.
Upvote for the amount of Australian in that comment.
Wow! This is impressive after everyone at PSS went 49. He’s been on fire for a while now and he is even better in LC than SC. Great to see him finally get a LCM swim in after 2019 junior nationals where he finished 3rd in the 50/100.
I really don’t know where I’d have him for Trials. Better than a lot of elite names did around the same weekend, but still 10th overall in the qualifying period. Still think he will make finals and contend for the team.
This men’s 100 free is just so deep at this point. We’ve got so many people capable of splitting 47’s. Crazy to think that in 2016 a 48.2 made the individual spot
Great swim! Hope he gets a relay spot
Seems odd that in times of Covid his college coaches would be willing to let him leave LSU to swim at a meet in Atlanta just a few weeks before NCAAs. If he wanted to get in a LC swim, why not just put together a small meet at his pool in LSU to avoid unnecessary travel?
Why does it matter? I didn’t see you make this comment about San Antonio when people came from all over the country. You can still travel safely and go to away meets while following protocol.
The athletes in San Antonio don’t have NCAAs in 3 weeks. I’m just saying that Brooks is likely being tested every week and right before NCAAs, and if I were in his (or any NCAA qualifier’s) spot, I would be doing everything I could possibly do to avoid a positive test at this time. It just seems like a gamble to allow him to travel and compete amongst club kids who are likely not being tested very often
So? That’s his home pool. Maybe he went to visit family also
And that is his home club pool.
it’s his home club pool, and plus kids from massachusetts and california came ??
Right like worried that he’s coming from Louisiana when you have many from the north there lol.
You’re misunderstanding JCO’s point. In fact, you’re actually making JCO’s point for them. They’re not arguing that Brooks is a danger to the other swimmers by coming from Louisiana – they’re saying that going to a meet with a bunch of people from around the country in another area poses greater risk for BROOKS of testing positive (which would put his participation at NCAA’s in jeopardy). By pointing out that kids from Cali and MA came, you’re only emphasizing that this meet added some degree of risk of spreading COVID just before the big event.
the protocols at dynamo are very safe, they have grids so you are distanced from everyone, you can’t take off your mask until you are about to be on the block, you take temperature checks before you go in, you don’t come if you don’t feel well or if you’ve been in contact with someone.
This kid could be a problem at OTs. I’ve swum in that pool many times and it’s not very conducive to fast swimming. I truly believe he’s got much faster than 48.4 in him.
I agree it was a fast swim, but disagree that it isn’t a fast pool. It is deep all the way and when you are winning the heat by this much, you are not getting much turbulence!
If you’ve ever competed there you know it’s a slow racing pool. Great for training, not for going top 10 times in the country. Curry will be a problem at trials.
This kid could he a second faster at lest if he fixes his head position and breathing stroke. That swim was pure talent I hope he keeps going.