Women’s 100 Fly Early Contender for Race of the Meet (U.S. Trials Day 2 Finals Preview)

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: Day 1 | Day 2
• Finals: Day 1 

The first night of finals at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials didn’t disappoint. And now, we get to do it all over again — it’s almost time for the second night of finals at Lucas Oil Stadium. There are more spots on the Olympic roster up for grabs tonight with finals of the men’s 400 IM, women’s 100 fly, and men’s 100 breast set to start. In addition, we’ve got semifinals of the men’s 200 free, women’s 100 breast, men’s 100 back, and women’s 200 free on tap.

• Day 2 scratch report: Alex Shackell Out Of 100 Fly Final, Focusing on 200 Free Semis

Walsh’s World In The Women’s 100 Fly

Gretchen Walsh shocked the crowd last night, blazing 55.18 to break the women’s 100 fly world record in the semifinals. She destroyed the standard by three-tenths and is the first person to break a world record at U.S. Trials since 2008.

Torri Huske (photo: Jack Spitser)

So now, the question is: what will we see tonight?

Well, no matter what time Walsh goes this is going to be an incredible race. Sitting behind her are Torri Huske and Regan Smith, who both joined Walsh under the 56 second barrier. Huske, the now former American record holder, swam 55.79–just .15 seconds off her personal best–to qualify second behind Walsh’s fireworks. Smith was just behind in 55.92, breaking 56 for the first time and becoming the 3rd fastest American all-time.

Both have a chance at the team tonight and won’t be willing to let Walsh just cruise to the win. It’s so hard to bet against Walsh after that performance and there’s a spot on her first Olympic team on the line, but Huske and Smith are both formidable contenders.

The brutal reality is that there will be a swimmer capable of a sub-56 100 fly who’s going to miss this team. But no matter what, this race is the early contender for race of the meet.

Carson Foster Aiming For First Olympic Berth in Men’s 400 IM

Carson Foster and Chase Kalisz took control of their respective heats this morning, making it clear that they are the swimmers to beat in tonight’s final. Foster was scheduled to pull a 200 free/400 IM double this morning but he was a no show in the 200 freestyle this morning, focusing instead on the 400 IM, where he is a 2x Worlds silver medalist.

Carson Foster (photo: Jack Spitser)

He coasted into the wall, winning his heat in the fastest time of the morning (4:11.02). He’s sitting 2.76 seconds clear of Kalisz as he aims to make his first Olympic team by taking the win tonight.

Kalisz is sure to push him though; the 30 year old similarly didn’t have to show all his cards this morning. Kalisz clocked 4:13.78 and clearly shut it down on the freestyle leg.

The main challenger to disrupt the pair is Olympian Jay Litherland, who’s shown that he can get it done in this event more than once. Litherland is running 3rd after posting a 4:14.76 in prelims, which puts him less than a second behind Kalisz.

Men’s 100 Breast Is Wide Open

The men’s 100 breast feels wide open.

Nic Fink (photo: Jack Spitser)

Nic Fink, the pre-race favorite, had a long finish during his semifinal. After that he’s sitting 3rd while Charlie Swanson burst back onto the scene with a 59.34 personal best to earn lane 4 for the final.

The long finish isn’t worth worrying over–Fink made it through and is still the favorite to pick up the win tonight; meanwhile, the race for second is wide open.

Josh Matheny looked strong in his 59.42 effort for 2nd overall. Training partners Liam Bell (59.57) and Luke Rodarte both broke 1:00 for the first time to make their way into the final. Jake Foster (59.63) is in the mix as well and of course we can’t forget about the American record holder  Michael Andrew (59.65).

Semifinals On Tap

Men’s 200 Free

Luke Hobson continues to prove he’s the face of the American men’s 200 freestyle. The Longhorn went about his business this morning, posting 1:45.95–the only sub-1:46 swim–to lead the rest of the field into the semifinal. Blake Pieroni is the closest to him after prelims; the once retired swimmer got a huge cheer from his hometown crowd as he clocked his fastest time since 2018 (1:46.09) that’s just .16 seconds from his personal best.

Hobson and Pieroni will aim to maintain their positions in this semifinal ahead of names like Drew Kibler (3rd, 1:46.39) and  Kieran Smith (6th, 1:46.77), who made the 2021 team in this event.

It’s a crowded field that got even tighter thanks to big swims from Daniel Diehl (1:46.93) and Chris Guiliano (1:47.05), and Wen Zhang (1:47.24). Last year, it took 1:47.00 to make the final–a mark which exactly eight swimmers have already cleared as of this morning.

Women’s 100 Breast

Two of the biggest cheers of the morning came during the women’s 100 breaststroke. Of course, one was for hometown hero Lilly King. King responded by throwing down a 1:06.05 and qualify first for prelims. She’s sitting just over six-tenths ahead of Virginia’s Emma Weber, the #2 qualifier at 1:06.67.

Kaelyn Gridley threw her name into the mix for this event this morning. She dropped over a second and overtook Lydia Jacoby in the closing meters–something you don’t hear very often–to win their heat in 1:06.80.

The other big cheer during this event was for Gabrielle Rose. At 46, Rose is the oldest swimmer at the meet. She won her heat in 1:08.43, which held up for 11th overall, earning her a second swim.

Men’s 100 Back

The Magic Man brought it during prelims. In the penultimate heat, Hunter Armstrong dipped under 53 seconds with a 52.95, which held up as the fastest time of the morning. He and Ryan Murphy quickly rose to the top of the results list, with Murphy qualifying second in 53.19.

The pair maintain their status as the race favorites, though there are plenty of swimmers who are going to give it a go. Jack Aikins (53.24), Adam Chaney (53.45), and Will Modglin (53.59) all posted times in the 53-mid range as the next fastest qualifiers. Justin Ress (53.91) and Shaine Casas (53.97) are hanging around in 7th and 8th, respectively.

Keep an eye out for Destin Lasco (11th, 54.23) and Tommy Janton (54.03) to make a push for the final.

Women’s 200 Free

There was a bloodbath during prelims of the women’s 200 freestyle. 25 women broke 2 minutes during the heats and three years ago, 2:00.03 was good for 16th place and a spot in the semifinal. Not so this year–it took 1:59.66 to make it back, which left Bella Sims, a 2021 Olympic qualifier in this event, on the outside looking in with her 1:59.68 (17th place).

And if prelims were any indication, it’s not going to get any easier to book a spot in the final.

The top of the pile looks similar to yesterday’s 400 freestyle, with Katie Ledecky and Paige Madden sitting 1-2. Ledecky pulled away in the final heat and clocked 1:56.18. That solidified her as the top qualifier while Madden out-touched Claire Weinstein in their heat, 1:57.04 to 1:57.22. That was a solid rebound for Weinstein, who looked good in the first 200 meters of her 400m free before fading badly.

Aurora Roghair (6th, 1:57.84) continues to shine and is looking to disrupt more established names in this event like Anna Peplowski (1:57.37), Erin Gemmell (1:57.48), and Alex Shackell (1:58.52).

In her first swim of these Trials, Simone Manuel qualified 13th (1:59.55) to book her spot in the semifinal.