Michael Andrew Seeking His Niche, Hoping for Olympic Return Trip
For the first time since aging out of junior-level competition, Michael Andrew found himself off the major U.S. international team selected this summer. Andrew raced multiple individual events at the World Championships in 2019 and 2022 along with the Tokyo Olympics, and after contributing to Olympic gold and a world record in the men’s medley relay, Andrew won three individual medals at the 2023 Worlds, including silver in the 50 freestyle with a sizzling time of 21.41.
But this year, Andrew struggled in some of his main events at U.S. Nationals, and a win in the 50 butterfly did not earn him the spot in Fukuoka that he had expected. A chance to USA Swimming’s selection procedures prioritized relay alternates over winners in the non-Olympic 50-meter stroke events, and Andrew was the last man cut from the team. The 24-year-old had one more chance to clinch a spot in the meet’s last final, but he ended up third in the 50 free, his time of 21.64 coming in one hundredth behind Jack Alexy’s 21.63.
Just 16 months removed from Andrew seemingly cementing his vital role for the U.S. team, he is currently without an obvious spot in which he will fit on the Olympic team as the landscape of all 14 individual men’s events continues to shake out in advance of June’s Olympic Trials.
That’s based on current form. If Andrew were to hit his lifetime-best marks, he would instantly become a huge favorite to make the team in at least three events — the same three which he swam at the Tokyo Games. He still ranks fourth all-time in the 100 breaststroke at 58.14, holding the American record. Only one swimmer, China’s Qin Haiyang, has beaten that time all year.
In the 200 IM, Andrew is the eighth-fastest performer in history, his best time of 1:55.26 much faster than anyone besides Leon Marchand swam at the World Championships. Andrew’s 50 free time from last year surpassed Alexy’s silver-medal-winning time from this year’s Worlds, and he has posted sub-51 times in the 100 fly to rank among the top-20 performers ever.
At this year’s major qualification, his 50-meter races were solid, but any longer race went poorly for Andrew. He was 13th in the 100 fly prelims and 17th in 100 breast qualifying, and he scratched both night swims. And for all his success in one-lap races, only the freestyle race of that distance could provide Andrew a ticket onto his second Olympic team.
Michael Andrew — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bickichael
Now, after a summer away from the international medal chase, Andrew has returned to racing among the world’s best in the ongoing World Cup circuit in Europe, where his results can best be interpreted as confusing.
Several of his times have been solid, particularly at the opening meet in Berlin when he won the 100 fly (51.66) and 50 back (24.47), swimming a time in the latter event that would have been quick enough to win a medal at the World Championships (albeit behind two of his fellow Americans). He was also second in the 50 free and 50 fly in Berlin, and one week later in Athens, Andrew won the 50 free and 50 back while tying for second in the 100 fly and taking third in the 50 fly.
Not bad, but nothing there suggests a rapid bounce-back and Olympic run is imminent. His 100 fly and 50 free performances were fine, but both events project to be extremely deep and competitive at the Olympic Trials, particularly with Caeleb Dressel making his way back to top form. His only other appearances in Olympic events: in Berlin, a fourth-place result in the 200 IM prelims (2:01.00) before scratching finals; and in Athens, a sixth-place finish in the 100 back (55.00).
Perhaps Andrew’s chances of getting back to world-class in the medley are marginal. Even at his best, Andrew consistently fell apart on the last 50, often dropping from more than one second under world-record pace at the 150-meter mark to over a second off by the finish. He faded from first to fifth down the stretch in the Olympic final and has shown no inclination to prioritize the event since.
Could the 100 breast provide the opportunity Andrew needs? He placed fourth in the Tokyo final but has completely disappeared from the event since. He missed the Worlds final one year later, and in 2023, he has only broken the 1:00-barrier once, with a 59.98 at a Pro Swim Series meet in March. And it’s not like he faces a gauntlet in trying to qualify for a U.S. team in the event: veteran Nic Fink remains a force, but even after Josh Matheny posted an impressive Worlds finals appearance alongside Fink this year, he has never broken 59.
Yet Andrew continues to eschew the 100 breast, racing the 50-meter distance of the stroke but not attempting two laps at either of the first World Cup meets. Perhaps he will enter the 100 for this week’s World Cup finale in Berlin, where the three-fastest performers in history, Adam Peaty, Qin and Arno Kamminga, would be waiting alongside fifth-ranked Nicolo Martinenghi and seventh-ranked Fink.
Those men would provide daunting competition, but Andrew surely has the ability contend with most of them, although perhaps not Qin as the Chinese swimmer rides his current hot streak. But as a new generation of speedy American men burst onto the scene, Andrew might need a resurgence in this race, his one-time signature event, in order to secure a return Olympic trip.
I’m still a fan of him!