Just How Much Have Olympic Trials Qualifying Times Changed from 2012 to 2016?

USA Swimming announced the new Olympic Trials qualifying standards on Thursday, September 18 amid quite a bit of fanfare. And for the first time in many, many years, everything changed. Everything. All 26 individual Olympic events (13 men’s events, 13 women’s) got faster.

The new time standards came about through a 6-8 month process, spearheaded by the Steering Committee and the National Team Director, Frank Busch. Their goal was to find a balance between men and women and the number of entrants per event. While the 1850+ athletes participating at 2012 Olympic Trials was more than they had counted on at the time, they weren’t looking to make the 2016 edition an elite meet. It is still a valuable experience for younger swimmers and their coaches, motivating them to perform at an even higher level the next time around.

For 2016 USA Swimming is targeting around 1300 swimmers, although they know from past experience that the venue in Omaha can handle anyone and everyone who qualifies. And that’s the thing. The faster they make the standards, the harder swimmers will train, and the more they’ll get those new cuts.

For the most part, the qualifying times weren’t totally unexpected given how fast US swimming has become over the last several years, but there were nevertheless a few surprises.

Women’s 2016 Olympic Trials Qualifying Times

Across the board, the time standards for the women’s events average 0.78% faster for 2016 Trials than for 2012 Trials. The biggest changes come in the 400 free, 200 back, and 200 fly which are 1.4, 1.4 and 1.5 seconds faster, respectively. The 100 free, while only a half second faster for 2016 than 2012, is the largest percentage jump: a full 1.22% faster. The 800 free, which was the least populated event at 2012 Trials, changed only slightly (.5 seconds, or .09%).

Men’s 2016 Olympic Trials Qualifying Times

The men’s time standards changed significantly more than did the women’s. All in all they are about 1% faster for 2016 than they were in 2012, and in some cases they are quite a bit faster than the times at 2014 Nationals.

In relative terms, the biggest changes for 2016 take place in the 100 free, both breasts, and the 200 fly. The 200 breast, in particular, saw a drop of 2.4 seconds. Given breaststroke has not been one of Team USA’s strongest events on the world stage, this may be USA Swimming’s way of throwing down the gauntlet to coaches across the country. Because as our athletes have shown in the past, the harder the standards, the more they step up.