U.S. International Team Trials: Top Women’s Races Include Four-Star Showdown in 100 Butterfly

Torri Huske leads the way in a loaded field in the women's 100 butterfly -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. International Team Trials: Top Women’s Races Include Four-Star Showdown in 100 Butterfly

Next week in Greensboro, N.C., the United States will select its team for this summer’s World Championships during a five-day trials meet. The American women captured 15 Olympic medals at last year’s Tokyo Olympics with a large group of young swimmers in the spotlight of an Olympics for the first time, and that entire young core of athletes will return to try to earn a spot for Worlds in Budapest. The highest-profile female swimmer competing is seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky, while upset gold-medal winner Lydia Jacoby and world-record holders Lilly King and Regan Smith are among the other headliners.

Qualification meets are always intense competitions with a lot on the line, but this one might be slightly ratcheted down with a lot of big names not competing. For the women, Simone Manuel is absent this year after spending most of the last decade as the country’s top sprint freestyler, while former world-record holder Kathleen Baker and Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan are also not entered. Still, we can expect some competitive battles for individual and relay spots at the World Championships. Here are a few of the races that most stand out:

1. 100 Freestyle

USA - United States of America, WEITZEIL Abbey USA, CURZAN Claire USA, BERKOFF Katharine USA, DOUGLASS Kate USA, Gold Medal 4x50m Freestyle Women Final Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates 21/12/2021 Etihad Arena FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Photo Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Abbey Weitzeil, Katharine Berkoff, Claire Curzan and Kate Douglass won gold in the 200 freestyle relay at the 2021 Short Course World Championships — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Manuel won world titles in the 100 free in 2017 and 2019, and she was also the world champion in the 50 free in 2019, but she struggled mightily in 2021 after she was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome. Manuel barely qualified for Tokyo, but she was not in her usual top form, and she has not competed since. Meanwhile, the sprint freestyle races were among the weakest for the U.S. team last summer. Abbey Weitzeil performed very well in qualifying for the final in both the 50 and 100-meter distances, and she posted a gutty anchor swim on the U.S. women’s 400 medley relay, but she could not reach the level required to contend for individual medals.

This year’s 100 free projects to be wide open with swimmers entering from various backgrounds. The 25-year-old Weitzeil, who won bronze in the 100 free at the Short Course World Championships in December, is the slight favorite, but there is a tight group of contenders at the top. Erika Brown and Natalie Hinds joined Weitzeil on the U.S. women’s bronze-medal-winning 400 free relay in Tokyo, and Olivia Smoliga raced in the prelims.

Teenagers Torri Huske and Claire Curzan have both recorded 53-mid performances in their careers, although neither hit those times at Olympic Trials, while the University of Virginia duo of Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh will surely be in the mix. Walsh won the NCAA title in the 100-yard free event as a freshman for the Cavaliers, while Douglass did not swim the 100 free at the national meet — but she did set three American records in title-winning performances. Neither has ever swum under 54 in long course, but big drops seem very attainable after their short course performances.

In the 100 free final, we will be watching to see if any swimmers can swim well under 53, the sort of time required to be competitive internationally in the event, and it will also be interesting to see what kind of speed the field can produce as a whole. With Australians Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell missing from this year’s World Championships, the American women could have an opportunity to contend for a gold medal in the 400 freestyle relay, depending on what happens at Trials.

2. 200 Backstroke

Regan Smith pulled away from Phoebe Bacon and Rhyan White to win the 200-yard backstroke at the NCAA Championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

It was the upset of the Olympic Trials when Regan Smith, the world-record holder in the 200 backstroke, ran out of gas on the last length as Rhyan White and Phoebe Bacon swam past her to grab spots on the Olympic team. White and Bacon proved they were no slouches as they went on to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Olympic final, but Smith’s world record of 2:03.35 is more than two seconds faster than any other active U.S. swimmer has ever swum. Smith ended up winning Olympic medals in the 100 back, 200 fly and 400 medley relay, but White and Bacon denied her a chance in the event long considered her best.

On day two in Greensboro, this trio will be racing yet again in the 200 back. None have raced much long course in the nine months since Tokyo, but all three swimmers were in the mix in the 200-yard back at the NCAA Championships last month. The race was almost the exact opposite of what unfolded in long course at Olympic Trials: White was the early leader for the first three-quarters of the race, but Smith put on a huge spurt over the final 50 to move ahead. She won the title in 1:47.76, more than a second-and-a-half clear of Bacon, with White ending up third.

Isabelle Stadden, the fourth-place finisher at Trials last year, was also fourth at NCAAs, so she will be looking to take that next step in Greensboro. But regardless of who emerges with the World Championships berths, expect two Americans to head to Budapest as medal contenders. Even without winning an Olympic medal, both White and Bacon were in the mix until the end in Tokyo, and Olympic bronze medalist Emily Seebohm is not expected to compete at Worlds this year.

3. 100 Butterfly

Kate Douglass was the top individual performer at last month’s NCAA Championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The highlight race of the week? Maybe. The top seed is Torri Huske, the American-record holder and fourth-fastest performer in history. Huske finished fourth at the Olympics in this event, just one hundredth behind bronze medalist Emma McKeon. The second American swimming this event last year in Tokyo was Claire Curzan, who has made 56-second swims something of a regularity over the last 12 months. Curzan did not qualify for the Tokyo final, but she captured bronze in the event at the Short Course World Championships in December.

Curzan broke the American record in the 100-yard fly at her high school state meet in February, but that mark lasted just five weeks until the NCAA Championships, where Kate Douglass set the new mark at 49.04 and Huske also finished under the previous standard. Douglass finished third in the 100-meter fly at Olympic Trials last year, just 0.13 behind Curzan.

That’s three great young swimmers coming off strong Olympic debuts facing off for two spots. Oh, and you cannot forget about Kelsi Dahlia, a 2016 Olympian who set the world record in the short course meters 100 fly while competing in the ISL final in December. Dahlia, now 27, is seven years older than the three other headliners in the race, but she is certainly not to be discounted. Huske, Curzan, Douglass and Dahlia are all have great speed and great underwater dolphin kicks, so the key here will be who can hang on during the final 15 meters.

4. 100 Breaststroke

lilly king, cali condors, isl, international swiming league

Lilly King will face off with Lydia Jacoby in the 100 breaststroke in Greensboro — Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu/ISL

Lydia Jacoby and Lilly King will probably be the two American qualifiers for the World Championships in the 100 breaststroke. Their credentials are superior to anyone else in this field, although veteran Annie Lazor could play spoiler here after finishing a close third at Olympic Trials. King was the dominant swimmer in this event from 2016 to 2019, winning an Olympic gold medal and two world titles and setting the world record in a dramatic 2017 showdown with Russian rival Yuliya Efimova. King has lost a race in the 100 breast exactly once since 2015: in the Olympic final, when Jacoby edged out Tatjana Schoenmaker for gold, with King ending up third.

The International Team Trials will mark the first race of significance between King and Jacoby since that Tokyo final. King was incredibly gracious after that race as she lofted Jacoby’s arm into the air in celebration, but the 25-year-old surely will be looking to reclaim her perch as the queen of sprint breaststroke from the 18-year-old Jacoby. The real test for this year will come at the World Championships, but it will be a good check-in to see where both swimmers stand in Greensboro.

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