2023 U.S. Trials Previews: Huske, Weitzeil Headline Competitive Field In W. 100 Free

2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 27 – July 1, 2023
• Indianapolis, IN
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index

WOMEN’S 100 FREE — BY THE NUMBERS:

• World Record – Sarah Sjostrom, 51.71 (2017)
• American Record – Simone Manuel, 52.04 (2019)
• U.S. Open Record — Simone Manuel, 52.54 (2018)
• 2022 U.S. International Team Trials Champion- Torri Huske, 53.35
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut- 54.25

It’s a new year, yet the same narrative surrounds the women’s 100 free in the United States: sprint freestyle is the weakest discipline for the American women, and they desperately need a few individuals to step up and be their Captain America(s).

That being said, the situation doesn’t seem as dire as it was a year ago. In 2022, Simone Manuel, the fastest American female sprinter of all-time, was M.I.A. In addition, Abbey Weitzeil, the fastest American woman from 2021, had also missed qualification for the Worlds team. No woman on the 2022 U.S. World Championships roster had been 52-point or faster in the 100 free in the last five years at that point, and the outlook for Worlds seemed very bleak. However, in Budapest, future Stanford teammates Claire Curzan and Torri Huske stepped up, splitting 52-point on several relays. In addition, Huske also became just the fourth woman in American history to break 53 on a flat start, setting a best time of 52.92 and taking bronze in the individual 100 free final (albeit in a very weak field).

Headed into Trials this year, the Americans know that they have Curzan and Huske as reliable options. In addition, Weitzeil seems back and better than ever, and Manuel returned to competition for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics. There’s also a long list of other young, up-and-coming swimmers looking to make more impact on the international stage. With so many contenders to get on the U.S. women’s 4×100 free relay and only six sports available, there’s bound to be some heated competition at trials. So without further ado, let’s do a deep dive.

The Stalwarts

Torri Huske (photo: Jack Spitser)

As stated before, Huske made a clear case for herself as America’s top sprint freestyler when she medaled in the 100 free last summer. She’s the fastest American woman in the 100 free since Manuel’s reign ended and has been making consistent improvements in her last two years at Stanford, having dropped over half a second in the long course 100 free (0.54) and over a second in the short course version of the event. She hasn’t had as many chances to flash in-season speed the way Weitzeil has due to the NCAA calendar, but given her rise and her track record, she’s earned herself the pick for first in this race at Trials. In addition, her season-best of 54.27 is very strong.

Weitzeil came into Trials as the favorite to win the 100 free but then finished in a disappointing seventh place at trials, missing her opportunity to qualify for Worlds. However, her early-season performances have indicated that she’s not going to let her 2022 mishaps happen again. She’s the only American woman who has broken 54 seconds this season, and has done so seven different times in 2023. In addition, her season-best time of 53.26 is currently 0.75 seconds clear of any other American woman this year and also would have been fast enough to win at Trials last year. If she continues her consistency from the Pro Swim Series into Trials, she’s bound to return to the 100 free on an international stage—both individually and on relays.

Abbey Weitzeil (photo: Jack Spitser)

Aside from Huske and Weitzeil, the biggest “lock” to make Worlds in the 100 free seems to be Curzan. She was last year’s runner-up at trials and was also a consistent 52-point splitting alongside Huske, having split as fast as 52.62 at Worlds. Although she hasn’t hit a personal best since she was 16, she was just 0.03 seconds off her PB of 53.55 at Trials last year and beat her flat start best by a significant margin on all of the relays she’s been on. After seeing Huske’s improvement in the 100 free since moving to Stanford, it’s reasonable to have similar expectations for Curzan, who was already very strong and consistent in the 100 free even prior to trials—hence why she’s the pick to finish third behind Huske and Weitzeil.

National Team Returners

Now here’s where things start to get cut-throat. Over the last two years, there have been eight different U.S. senior international team qualifiers in the women’s 100 free (not named Huske, Curzan, or Weitzeil), and yet SwimSwam can only pick a small number of them to qualify alongside the names that have already been picked—and this doesn’t even account for other names on the rise.

The swimmer in this category who seems to have the greatest chance of qualification is Erika Brown. Brown was a member of the 2020(1) Olympic and 2022 Worlds teams in the 100 free, and at Worlds last year she was the fastest swimmer not named Huske or Curzan on the women’s 4×100 free relay with her split time of 53.30. She’s been 52-point before on relays and was just 0.01 of a second shy of qualifying for the 100 free at Worlds last year, which contributes to her track history of success in the event. In addition, her season-best of 54.15 makes her the fourth-fastest American woman of 2023, putting her in a strong position heading into Trials.

Gretchen Walsh (photo: Jack Spitser)

Then there’s Gretchen Walsh—everyone knows her story by now. After posting a promising time of 53.74 as a 16-year-old, she went on to underperform at both the 2021 Olympic Trials and 2022 World Championship Trials, missing the final of the 100 free at both meets. However, something in the air feels a little bit different this year for Walsh. At U.S. Nationals last summer, she posted a time of 53.86 t0 break 54 seconds for the first time since 2019. Then, at the NCAP Elite Qualifier last week, she went 54.02—which was her fastest in-season time ever. She also had an incredible NCAA Championship meet in March, crushing the 100 back NCAA record and getting just 0.05 seconds away from Simone Manuel‘s six-year-old NCAA record in the 100 free. After countless disappointments in the last few years, this year finally feels like the year that Walsh will break through and qualify for her first senior international team.

The next few names being mentioned have all qualified for 400 free relays in the past, and yet none of them will be picked to qualify this year. And that’s not a reflection upon their overall swimming abilities, it’s more just because of how competitive the event figures to be this year.

Let’s start off with Natalie Hinds, who split 53.15 on the Tokyo 4×100 free relay but was relegated to a prelims swimmer at both long course and short course Worlds last year. At 29, age isn’t exactly on her side, but her recent personal best of 53.55 (which was faster than her Worlds relay split) says otherwise. She’s absolutely up there amongst all the contenders, and if she steps up to qualify, she will once again prove that age is just a number.

Olivia Smoliga (photo: Jack Spitser)

Three other 100 free veterans include Mallory Comerford, Olivia Smoliga and Catie DeLoof. Comerford saw a resurgence last year, posting her fastest time since 2020 to narrowly qualify for Worlds and earn a prelims relay swim. While her 2022 season-best of 54.09 is a very solid time, she’s going to get drowned out by the many 53-pointers and other younger swimmers with 54-low PBs in the field if she doesn’t see a significant improvement from that time in the late stages of her career. Smoliga, on the other hand, seems to have more momentum going her way—largely because of where she trains. With other Arizona State pros like Regan Smith, Leon Marchand and Chase Kalisz posting some very fast in-season swims, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Smoliga pull something out of her sleeve as well. Case in point: her season-best of 54.37, which makes her the seventh-fastest American woman of 2023, is already faster than what she went in the finals at trials last year (54.55).

DeLoof is an interesting prospect. She barely raced in 2022 and moved from Virginia to Loughborough University in England, but has been throwing down fast times ever since. Her season-best is 54.04 from May, which makes her the fourth-fastest American of 2023 and a serious candidate to make a comeback.

As arguably the best female yards swimmer that the NCAA has seen in the last 20 years, there are going to be many questions surrounding Kate Douglass‘s long course potential. She swam in the 400 free relay final at Worlds last year and holds a personal best of 53.99, but hasn’t put up anything convincing in long course to make herself a lock for qualification this year (her season-best is a 55.79 from the Atlanta Classic prelims). The same goes for Simone Manuel, who has returned to competition after not swimming in any official meets in 2022. She’s been 54-point three times this year with a season-best of 54.55, but is going to need that extra step to convince the world that she’s fully back.

Potential Disruptors

Erin Gemmell (photo: Jack Spitser)

This next category is dedicated to swimmers who have never seen a senior international team berth before, but have a great chance of making Worlds through the 100 free this year. Most of them had big breakout swims either last year or earlier this year, and are looking to raise the level of their swimming at trials.

The swimmer from this category being slated to qualify for worlds is 18-year-old Erin Gemmell. Gemmell is heavily favored to qualify for the women’s 200 free (both individually and on the 4×200 free relay), but what doesn’t get talked about enough is how good she at the 100 free. Last summer, her Junior Pan Pacs time of 54.13 would have missed qualification for Worlds by just 0.04 seconds, and given her age she’s just going to get faster a year later. In addition, she already went through the disappointment of being expected to qualify for Worlds last year and then missing out, so she’ll only be better with more big meet experience this year.

Another two intriguing prospects are college stars Maxine Parker and Gabi Albiero. Parker broke out earlier this year, dropping 0.76 seconds to post a personal best time of 54.21 at the Atlanta Classic—which has her ranked sixth in the country this year. As stated in this article, Parker’s swimming style seems to be better suited towards long course compared to short course, so it will be interesting to see if she can overcome the pressure of her first major long course taper meet where she’s expected to contend for a spot at Worlds. Albiero, meanwhile, went a best time of 54.39 last summer and has been as fast as 54.68 this year. She dropped 0.52 seconds in short course this past NCAA season, and a similar drop in meters at her first long course taper meet of the year would throw her right into the mix.

Now, what about the juniors? With personal bests of 54.33 and 54.65 respectively, Anna Moesch and Erika Peleaz are two of the top high schoolers in the 100 free. Peleaz has looked better than Moesch so far (she set best times across the board at 2022 Winter Juniors), largely because Moesch missed a good portion of the short course season due to an injury—but who knows what will happen when it comes time for Trials?

This article can’t be ended without discussing the possibility of Katie Ledecky swimming the 100 free at trials. She’s currently the second-fastest American this year with a season-best of 54.01, which is the fastest she’s been since 2016. The likelihood of her racing the 100 free is unlikely given that the 4×100 free relay conflicts with the 400 free final at Worlds and she hasn’t swum on the relay since 2017…but never say never.

SwimSwam’s Top 8:

Dark Horse: Anna Peplowski— Peplowski is better known for dropping over two seconds in the 200 free this year, but that drop should also indicate her future potential in the 100 free. She set a personal best of 54.81 at the Indy Spring Cup, which was a 0.73-second improvement from her pre-2023 best time. Given how much she’s been improving lately, it will be very interesting to see where it takes her when trials roll around (at her home pool, nonetheless).

See all of our selections for the 2023 U.S. Nationals with the SwimSwam Preview Index here.