Morning Splash: Signs of Hope in Women’s 100 Free

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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By David Rieder

It’s been a rough go for the American women in sprint freestyle these past few years. No U.S. woman has won a World Championship or Olympic medal in the 50 or 100 free since 2008, when Natalie Coughlin won bronze in the 100 and Dara Torres silver in the 50.

The American women pulled off a surprising gold medal in the 400 free relay at the 2013 World Championships, but two years later in Barcelona, they finished third, more than three seconds behind the victorious Australians and a second back of the Netherlands.

Both of those rival countries return strong teams this summer. Three Aussies have already gone under 53 in the 100 free—including individual gold medal favorite Cate Campbell, double World Champion Bronte Campbell and Emma McKeon. The Dutch quartet will include defending 50 and 100 free Olympic gold medalist Ranomi Kromowidjojo and dependable relay veteran Femke Heemskerk.

Entering Trials, only one American woman (Dana Vollmer, 53.59) ranks in the top-12 in the world in the 100 free. Weakness in the 100 free hurts not only in the individual event and in the 400 free relay but in the medley relay as well.

The American women have often excelled in the medley relay in recent years—they comfortably won Olympic gold in 2012 and also captured World titles in both 2011 and 2013—but the squad fell well short last summer in Shanghai, ending up more than a second behind the bronze medal-winning Australian squad.

But prospects in all of the 100 stroke events have drastically improved in that year—taking the flat start times from Olivia Smoliga (back), Lilly King (breast) and Kelsi Worrell (fly) from Olympic Trials would improve that relay’s final time by more than two-and-a-half seconds—but there remains a major hole on the anchor leg, especially with both Campbell sisters capable of anchor splits well under 52.

But the early results from U.S. Trials offer reason for the Americans to be optimistic about the 100 free as several of the contenders to make the team in the event have looked good in their other swims. That list includes Simone Manuel, who was a finalist at the World Championships last year (she finished sixth) and anchored the fourth-place medley relay in Kazan, coming home in a sluggish 53.39.

Manuel finished seventh in the 200 free last night after attacking the race each round—she led or was close to the lead through the 150 in prelims, semis and finals. The speed, clearly, is there, and she goes into the 100 free as one of the definitive favorites. Manuel took a redshirt year from Stanford this season to focus on getting her long course swimming to the next level, and the 100 free and the 50 free over the next four days at Trials will be a referendum on that decision.

Watch out, too, for Abbey Weitzeil, who could very well end up winning this race. Weitzeil, who like Manuel put college swimming on hold for a year with Olympic Trials in mind, got some World Championship experience as a relay swimmer last year, and if she clicks this week she could earn one or perhaps two individual swims for Rio.

Like Manuel, Weitzeil is feeling the speed—in the 200 free prelims, she had a 100-meter split of 55.81 before falling off the pace the back half. Through the three rounds of the event, only Manuel ever ended up going out quicker. Weitzeil admitted afterwards that the 200 free was mostly a warmup for the sprints, and it’s today that her Olympic Trials begin in earnest.

It won’t really surprise anyone to see either Manuel or Weitzeil swimming fast in the 100 free—they are seeded first and fifth, respectively, in the event. And it shouldn’t be a surprise if Smoliga uncorks a good one in this morning’s prelims as well.

Smoliga won the 100 back Tuesday night, but the Georgia senior-to-be has some serious sprint chops as the NCAA champion in both the 50 and 100 free. She should drop a chunk from her seed time of 54.66 in prelims and be a factor going forward.

Then there’s someone named Katie Ledecky, already the winner of the 200 and 400 free at Trials. Pursuing a spot on the 400 free relay, Ledecky enters seeded fourth in 53.75. It’s hard to be surprised at anything Ledecky accomplishes anymore, even considering the rarity of excelling at both the 100 free and 800 free. But her 100 free skills are legitimate, so expect her to be a factor in this one as well.

But just how fast can these women go? Certainly anyone with individual medal hopes come Rio will need to swim well under 53 seconds, but swims of those caliber would surely not hurt relay medals on the line. We’ll find out in the next two days if the 100 free still is as weak domestically as many have opined, but at least so far there have been hints of improvement.

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