One Month Out: American Swimmers Last Final Trials Tune-Ups in Atlanta, Austin, Irvine
As of Wednesday, exactly one month remains before the first spots on the U.S. Olympic swim team will be decided at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Accordingly, the upcoming weekend will mark the last races for many top American swimmers prior to the all-important selection meet, with a host of top swimmers racing at USA Swimming-sponsored events in Atlanta, Austin, Texas, and Irvine, Calif. These pre-existing events took the place of a fourth Pro Swim Series meet that might have otherwise occupied the slot.
These three meets, which comprise the Club Excellence Challenge Series, will also provide high school and college-aged swimmers a prime opportunity to book their tickets to Indianapolis and compete on the country’s biggest stage. But most will have their eyes on the elite-level athletes and their progress in the final stages of this season.
Three individual Olympic champions will race in Atlanta, with Katie Ledecky swimming the 1500, 400 and 200 freestyle plus the 200 IM while her Florida training partners Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke will also race. Dressel has his usual lineup of 100 free, 100 fly and 50 free, and he is also entered in the 100 breaststroke, 200 free and 200 IM. Finke has the 400, 800 and 1500 free, 200 and 400 IM, 100 back and 200 breast.
Other Florida-trained Olympians set for the Atlanta meet include Bella Sims, Emma Weyant and Kieran Smith, while backstroke standout Phoebe Bacon, who represents Wisconsin, will try to position herself well for Olympic Trials. Ashley Twichell, a 2021 U.S. Olympian in the 10-kilometer swim, is set to compete. Other Florida, Tennessee and Georgia-trained college swimmers will also attend. Check out the psych sheet here.
The Austin meet will unsurprisingly highlight a huge contingent of Longhorn-trained athletes, including 2021 Olympians Lydia Jacoby, Anna Elendt and Erica Sullivan plus international veterans Carson Foster, Shaine Casas, Erin Gemmell, Luke Hobson, Jake Foster, Will Licon and Dakota Luther. College standouts Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash, Jillian Cox, Will Modglin, Nate Germonprez and Coby Carrozza are on the psych sheet.
Non-Texas swimmers visiting for the meet include breaststroker Nic Fink, now training at Southern Methodist University, and Poland’s Kasia Wasick, a multi-time World Championships medalist in the 50 free. Also scheduled to attend is teenage dynamo Maximus Williamson, who is hoping to make the jump to the senior level this year following an impressive World Junior Championships last summer.
Finally, many top west-coast-based athletes will race in Irvine, with Cal swimmers Ryan Murphy, Abbey Weitzeil, Jack Alexy, Dare Rose, Destin Lasco, Gabriel Jett, Hugo Gonzalez and Brooks Curry entered along with Torri Huske, the Stanford-trained Olympian who has had a resurgent year following a down summer of 2023. California collegians Kaitlyn Dobler, Henry McFadden, Isabelle Stadden, Caroline Bricker, Rachel Klinker, Aurora Roghair and Lea Polonsky are also expected participants. Michael Andrew will swim the 100 breast, 100 fly and 50 free as he hopes to further his chances of qualifying for a second Olympics.
The three meets will follow the same event lineup, beginning with the 1500 freestyle Wednesday and continuing with a full slate of prelims-finals action Thursday through Saturday. The 100 free, 100 breast, 200 fly and 400 free will take place Thursday, followed by the 200 free, 200 back, 400 IM and 100 fly Friday and the 800 free, 100 back, 200 breast, 200 IM and 50 free Saturday.