2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave I: Day 1 Finals Preview

2021 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

• When:
  • Wave I Dates: June 4-7, 2021
  • Wave II Dates: June 13-20, 2021
• Prelims: 10am CDT | Finals: 7pm CDT
• Where: CHI Health Center / Omaha, Nebraska
• 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Cuts
• Wave I & II Event Order
• LCM (50m)
• Prelims Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Prelims Live Stream (NBC Olympics)
• Finals Live Stream (Olympic Channel)
• Wave I Psych Sheets
• Wave I Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Heat Sheet

Here are tonight’s scratches and some top storylines to watch:

Scratches

There appears to be just one scratch from tonight’s finals session. Mandy Brenner of Harvard had qualified 16th in the 100 free, but does not appear on the finals heat sheets. Brenner is currently finishing up her freshman year at Harvard.

Brenner’s coach Stephanie Morawski says she had a family wedding to attend but will be back to race the 50 free later in the meet

South Shore Sails 17-year-old Cory Shanks was called up to the B final to replace Brenner.

15-16 History in Women’s 100 Free

This morning, Camille Spink moved up to #29 in 15-16 age group history with a 55.63 in the 100 free. She’s the top seed into tonight’s final, and could move way up the age group ranks with even a small drop tonight. A few of the big names ahead of her on the 15-16 list:

• #25 Katie Ledecky: 55.57
• #24 Amanda Weir: 55.55
• #15 Abbey Weitzeil: 55.37
• #8 Lia Neal: 54.90
• #4 Simone Manuel: 53.86
• #1 Claire Curzan: 53.55

Men’s 200 Fly

The 200 fly could be one of the most hotly-contested events tonight. Coming into the meet, just two men had broken 2:00: Noah Henderson and Carl Bloebaum. This morning, Sebastian Sergile and Micah Slaton joined them under the two-minute barrier, and all four sit within four-tenths of a second of one another with just two transfer spots to the Wave II meet up for grabs.

Bloebaum (1:59.57) and Sergile (1:59.87) both moved into the top 70 in 17-18 age group history. Both are 17, and on the younger end of that age bracket. Bloebaum sits #53 all-time and Sergile #65 all-time for 17-18s.

The Race for 49 In Men’s 100 free

This morning, no men broke 50 seconds in the 100 freestyle – but the entire top 8 were relatively close. The top four are all within half a second of the 50-second barrier, and in the finals setting, it seems likely someone will dip into the 49s tonight. Between Andrew Benson (18), Luke Miller (19), Patrick Sammon (17) and Steven Richardson (25), there are plenty of candidates.

Fast-Dropping Elle Braun In 800 Free

19-year-old Elle Braun of Wisconsin Aquatics dropped 21.5 seconds over the month of May in her 800 free, rising from 9:05 to 9:00 to a new Trials cut of 8:44.03 last month. Coming off her freshman season with the Badgers, Braun leads the top 8 seeds into tonight’s timed-final 800 free, with a shot to make another huge drop and book a spot in next week’s Wave II meet.