U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 3 Finals: Ryan Murphy Swims World’s Fastest 100 Back to Reach Third Olympics

Ryan Murphy -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 3 Finals: Ryan Murphy Swims World’s Fastest 100 Back to Reach Third Olympics

For more than a decade, Ryan Murphy has paced the men’s backstroke events in the United States, running a streak far longer than the three other Americans who have swept the 100 and 200-meter events at an Olympics, John Naber, Rick Carey and Aaron Peirsol.

Murphy achieved his greatest success at the 2016 Olympics, and he has won a medal in 11 of the 12 major international backstroke finals in which he has competed since then while providing stability for the U.S. men on the front end of the 400 medley relay. In the 100 back, he held the world record for six years, and in 2023, he captured the one accomplishment missing on his résumé with a world title in the two-lap race.

Now, Murphy is poised to continue his run of dominance for another year. The 28-year-old California Golden Bear has qualified for a third Olympic team with a win in the 100 back at the Olympic Trials.

Murphy blasted the opening portion of the race and flipped in 25.28, eight hundredths ahead of Hunter Armstrong. Off the turn, Murphy dominated the underwater dolphin kicking portion of the race to emerge a half-bodylength clear of the field. Midway down the final lap, Armstrong made one more push, but Murphy powered into the wall ahead of the field to secure the win in the event for the third consecutive Olympic Trials.

Murphy touched in 52.22, the fastest time in the world thus far in 2024, jumping ahead of Russia’s Miron Lifintsev and China’s Xu Jiayu. Armstrong, meanwhile, fought off a late surge by Jack Aikins to place second in 52.72, two hundredths clear of Aikins’ 52.74.

Eight years after winning Olympic gold in this event and setting a world record, Murphy is in that prime spot once again, a testament to the steadfast consistency that has defined his career.

“I try to be as consistent as possible every day,” Murphy said. “In a sport like swimming where we kind of have few opportunities to race at this level, you have to pull motivation from a lot of different parts of your life. And so I feel like I’ve struck a good balance of some days, it’s pulling motivation from just raw competitiveness and some days it’s pulling motivation from focusing on technique. Some days, it’s really just being disciplined with your routine. So I feel like I’ve got a really good group of people around me that keep me grounded, and you know, I’m really motivated to try to improve.”

Armstrong got onto the Olympic team for the second time after emerging from obscurity to qualify three years ago. He entered this meet at the big favorite to qualify for the team alongside Murphy, but he had to survive a major scare in the semifinals when he slipped off the block and flipped eighth in his heat at the halfway point, needing a miraculous finish to come back and earn the fourth seed. The final was less dramatic by comparison, at least until Aikins nearly stole the second Olympic spot at the end.

During the 11 years Murphy has spent at Cal, the Bears’ roster has turned over completely twice, leaving Murphy one of a few millennials among a slew of Gen Z swimmers. While his training partners were working toward their undergraduate degrees, Murphy was planning a wedding, having tied the knot with the former Bridget Konttinen last September. Numerous high-level assistant coaches have come through the program before going on to head-coaching gigs.

But Murphy has remained in Berkeley and continued to thrive, largely thanks to his synergy with head coach Dave Durden. That relationship has produced six Olympic medals, four of them gold, and seven gold medals at the long course World Championships among 17 total podium finishes.

“I just have so much respect for Dave,” Murphy said. “I think the biggest thing that you want as an athlete is to know that your coach is constantly thinking about how you can improve, and Dave has an incredible work ethic. At all times, he’s working as hard as he can to maximize his athlete’s potential. And you can feel that across the group. We all come in and in a lot of ways, we want to work hard because we don’t want to let Dave down. So he’s the man. I’ve got a lot of love for Dave. Yeah, and it’s been a great ride.”

Among those surely thrilled with the outcome: USA Swimming leadership. Murphy has filled the role of team captain on international team trips for the last three years, stepping into a role swimmers like Matt Grevers and Nathan Adrian had regularly occupied before they missed the 2021 Olympic team. Murphy has crafted his own leadership style after watching the veterans on his first few teams as well as through developing relationships with previous top backstrokers, including Peirsol and Lenny Krayzelburg.

“I think my leadership style is I try to tell stories,” Murphy said. “I want our team to feel as comfortable as possible when they walk on to the deck at the Olympics for the first time. So any anecdotes I can give to help them feel comfortable, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Now, Murphy is capable of reclaiming the individual gold medal in this event, although Xu and Italy’s Thomas Ceccon, who broke Murphy’s world record in 2022, will be among his primary challengers.

Armstrong, meanwhile, is part of an impressive group of running mates for Murphy in the 100 back. He has already captured bronze at two consecutive World Championships before taking gold at this year’s global meet with many of the top stars missing. In his surprise Olympic appearance in 2021, he failed to advance out of the 100 back prelims, but now Armstrong is a legitimate threat, even perhaps for gold.

Of course the two American representatives in Paris are serious threats for gold. How could it be any different when the U.S. has captured 15 gold medals in the event, including six straight from 1996 through 2016 with Jeff Rouse, Lenny Krayzelburg, Peirsol (twice), Matt Grevers and Murphy. Now, the Murphy-Armstrong duo will bid to restart the streak in Paris.

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