Flying to France: U.S. Women Taking Full Roster But Men’s Sixth-Place Relay Swimmers in Trouble

Blake Pieroni -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Flying to France: U.S. Women Taking Full Roster But Men’s Sixth-Place Relay Swimmers in Jeopardy

Entering the last two sessions of the U.S. Olympic Trials, only 10 Olympic-team slots remain available, with the men’s 100 butterfly, women’s 200 IM and men’s 800 freestyle finals Saturday evening followed by the women’s 50 free and men’s 1500 free Sunday. No individual top-two finisher at Trials has ever been denied a spot at the Olympics because of not enough doubles on the roster, but three years after Ryan Held was left off despite finishing sixth in the 100 free, the men’s relay swimmers could be in trouble again.

Ten doubles are required to put all possible qualifiers onto the team. Note that an additional double is counted whenever a swimmer qualifies for an additional event. The U.S. women blasted through that total at the end of Thursday night’s finals, but the men are stuck on seven: Kieran Smith (400 free and 800 free relay), Chris Guiliano (200 free, 100 free and 50 free), Hunter Armstrong (100 back and 400 free relay), Ryan Murphy (100 back and 200 back), Caeleb Dressel (50 free and 400 free relay) and Carson Foster (400 IM and 200 IM). Guiliano has three events, so he counts as two doubles.

At this point, USA Swimming could add all second-place finishers as well as one fifth-place relay swimmer, but not both. Ryan Held (100 free) and Brooks Curry (200 free) both finished fifth in their respective events, but Held wins a tiebreaker because his finals time was a higher world ranking. But that should be meaningless after Saturday’s finals as Dressel is favored to add another event in the 100 fly.

After that, the only remaining men’s event will be the 1500 free, with Bobby Finke the clear choice for the top spot. That would be nine doubles, putting one sixth-place swimmer onto the team, and Matt King from the 100 free has the edge on Blake Pieroni in the 200 free due to world rankings. Thus, for Pieroni to make the team, he needs a third double. There are possibilities to achieve that, with Ryan Murphy and Thomas Heilman in the 100 fly final and Luke Whitlock in the 1500 free, but none of those men are favored to qualify in those additional events.

The women, on the other hand, have already named all second-place swimmers to the team and have achieved 11 doubles already with at least three more expected, so any relay swimmers can be added at any time. Anna Peplowski, Abbey Weitzeil and Erika Connolly will be the beneficiaries.

Below is a look at the current Olympic team, with swimmers listed by qualification priority. Those in italics have not yet mathematically clinched spots in Paris.

Men’s Team

Aaron Shackell (400 free)
Carson Foster (400 IM, 200 IM)
Nic Fink (100 breast)
Luke Hobson (200 free)
Chris Guiliano (200 free, 100 free)
Drew Kibler (800 free relay)
Kieran Smith (400 free, 800 free relay)
Ryan Murphy (100 back, 200 back)
Bobby Finke (800 free)
Thomas Heilman (200 fly)
Matt Fallon (200 breast)
Jack Alexy (100 free)
Caeleb Dressel (50 free, 400 free relay)
Hunter Armstrong (100 back, 400 free relay)

Second-place finishers:

Chase Kalisz (400 IM)
Charlie Swanson (200 breast)
Luke Whitlock (800 free)
Luca Urlando (200 fly)
Josh Matheny (200 breast)
Keaton Jones (200 back)
Shaine Casas (200 IM)

Fifth-place relay swimmers:

Brooks Curry (800 free relay)
Ryan Held (800 free relay)

Sixth-place relay swimmers:

Blake Pieroni (800 free relay)
Matt King (400 free relay)

Women’s Team

Winners and top-four finishers in the 100 and 200 free:

Katie Ledecky (400 free, 200 free, 1500 free)
Gretchen Walsh (100 fly, 400 free relay)
Katie Grimes (400 IM, 1500 free)
Lilly King (100 breast, 200 breast)
Claire Weinstein (200 free)
Paige Madden (400 free, 800 free relay)
Erin Gemmell (800 free relay)
Regan Smith (100 back, 200 fly, 200 back)
Kate Douglass (100 free, 200 breast)
Torri Huske (100 fly, 100 free)
Simone Manuel (400 free relay)

Second-place finishers:

Emma Weyant (400 IM)
Emma Weber (100 breast)
Katharine Berkoff (100 back)
Alex Shackell (200 fly, 800 free relay)
Phoebe Bacon (200 back)

Fifth-place relay swimmers:

Anna Peplowski (800 free relay)
Abbey Weitzeil (400 free relay)

Sixth-place relay swimmers:

Erika Connolly (400 free relay)

Notes: Ledecky has stated she is likely to drop the individual 200 free in Paris, which would move Paige Madden into the individual event, but it will not change the roster composition.

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Pat

2 days ago

Since the women have extra spots, could swimmers be added to bring their roster to 26 swimmers? If so, is it likely to happen?