Michael Andrew Absent from 200 IM on Final Day of U.S. International Team Trials, Focusing on 50 Free
One year ago, Michael Andrew topped the field in the 200 IM at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and he scared the world record on two occasions before fading badly on the final length of freestyle. He was undoubtedly a favorite to win an Olympic medal in the event, and he actually held the lead in the Olympic final with 50 meters to go before falling off the pace. This year, however, Andrew will not contest the event at the U.S. International Team Trials in Greensboro.
With the 50 freestyle also held on the final day of the meet, Andrew will only race in the splash-and-dash, an event in which he placed fourth in the Tokyo final, missing a medal by just three hundredths. Andrew will be the favorite for the second spot in the 50 free behind Caeleb Dressel. Andrew has already qualified for Worlds by virtue of his American-record-setting performance in the 50 breaststroke plus second-place finishes in the 100 breast and 100 fly. He will likely swim the 50 fly as well in Budapest after placing a close second to Dressel in that race Wednesday evening.
Andrew had hinted that he would likely skip the 200 IM when he indicated Thursday would be his only day of the meet with multiple races. He actually raced in the 100 fly, 50 breast and 50 back in one finals session.
Even without Andrew in the mix, the field of competitors in the 200 IM will still be stacked with Chase Kalisz, Carson Foster, Kieran Smith, Trenton Julian and Shaine Casas all in contention. All five of those swimmers have already qualified for the World Championships in other events.
The full heat sheet for Saturday morning’s racing is available here.
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