Eyes are on Omaha as in eight days, the USA Swimming Olympic Trials will kick off with the first of two qualification meets. The pool is filled and final preparations are underway at the CHI Health Center. Before our attention turns entirely on Omaha, this weekend gives swimmers one opportunity to make a cut as the qualification period runs through this Sunday, May 30th.
Back in January, USA Swimming announced that they would be splitting Olympic Trials into two separate meets due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Wave I meet will run June 4-7 and will feature the lower 600 or so qualifiers. The top two qualifiers in each event at the Wave I meet will automatically qualify for the Wave II meet. The Wave II meet will follow the original dates of June 13-20 and should feature around 60 swimmers per event.
There will be two groups swimming this weekend chasing cuts: those without cuts seeking just to swim at Olympic Trials and those with fast Wave I times who want a Wave II cut to bypass the Wave I meet.
Why is bypassing the Wave I meet important? After this weekend, the only chance to qualify for the Wave II meet where the actual Olympic team will be selected is through finishing in the top two at the Wave I meet.
The unique format of this year’s trials means that if a swimmer achieves a Wave II cut or in the rare chance sets an American or World Record in prelims but finishes out of the top two in finals, they would not advance to the Wave II meet.
SwimSwam has previously answered questions relating to the new format for Olympic Trials:
According to USA Swimming, there are currently 882 qualifiers for the Wave I meet and 657 qualifiers for the Wave II meet.
Below are the Wave I and Wave II standards:
| MEN | WOMEN | |||
| Wave II Cut | Original Cut Time (Wave I Cut) | Event | Original Cut Time (Wave I Cut) | Wave II Cut |
| 22.71 | 23.19 | 50 Free | 25.99 | 25.65 |
| 49.74 | 50.49 | 100 Free | 56.29 | 55.56 |
| 1:49.65 | 1:50.79 | 200 Free | 2:01.69 | 2:00.24 |
| 3:54.21 | 3:57.29 | 400 Free | 4:16.89 | 4:13.28 |
| 8:08.95 | 8:12.99 | 800 Free | 8:48.09 | 8:44.01 |
| 15:35.76 | 15:44.89 | 1500 Free | 16:49.19 | 16:44.60 |
| 55.51 | 56.59 | 100 Back | 1:02.69 | 1:01.49 |
| 2:00.81 | 2:02.99 | 200 Back | 2:14.69 | 2:12.94 |
| 1:01.97 | 1:03.29 | 100 Breast | 1:10.99 | 1:09.55 |
| 2:15.28 | 2:17.89 | 200 Breast | 2:33.29 | 2:30.49 |
| 53.37 | 54.19 | 100 Fly | 1:00.69 | 59.59 |
| 1:59.63 | 2:01.19 | 200 Fly | 2:14.59 | 2:12.56 |
| 2:03.02 | 2:04.09 | 200 IM | 2:17.39 | 2:15.26 |
| 4:23.24 | 4:25.99 | 400 IM | 4:51.79 | 4:47.72 |
Link to Wave II qualifiers?
Eagerly awaiting Ed Moses to show up at a meet this weekend and drop a qualifying time.
Still chasing my Wave 0 cut!
Does Ed Moses have his cut yet?
There could be a couple more at the Novaquatics Grand Challenge this weekend. Is SwimSwam going to cover the event? A Psych Sheet to start with would be great!
Also the cactus invitational in Arizona
Where are my fellow procrastinators at???
here we go …
I’ve been out of the water a few years, but I have until Monday morning, right? On it.