2024 U.S. Olympic Trials: Finke Looking to Double Up in the Distances (Day 8 Prelims Preview)

2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS

Day 8 Prelims Heat Sheet

With just two events on tap our last prelim session will almost be our shortest. This morning, the women will contest the 50 free, the shortest distance on the program, while the men will take on the 1500 free, the longest event on their schedule. It is a very yin and yang morning, but one thing in common between the events is that each will have the American record holder in it.

The morning starts with the 50 free, where Kate Douglass is seeded 1st in 23.91, a time that she swam at the Doha Worlds this past February. The biggest threat to Douglass comes from Abbey Weitzeil. Weitzeil is just .09 behind and sits right on 24.00. From those two, it’s a bit of a jump to the next swimmers, as Gretchen Walsh is ranked 3rd at 24.29, but it’ll be a tight battle as Torri Huske and Simone Manuel are both within .05 of a second.

In the men’s 1500 free, Bobby Finke appears to be the clear favorite, at least based on times, as he is entered 19 seconds ahead of the second seed, Charlie Clark. Clark, who was fortunate to be scratched into the 800 final, will be looking to turn his meet around. On paper, he is seeded more than eight seconds ahead of Michael Brinegar, who represented the US alongside Finke in Tokyo. Except Brinegar has scratched out of the 1500, and the 800 free runner-up Luke Whitlock may look to jump up the rankings. The 7th seed, Whitlock, dropped 5 seconds off his personal best in the 800 and could be in the running to double with Finke and provide the men some much-needed doubles.

 

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Steve Nolan
5 days ago

The 7th seed, Whitlock, dropped 5 seconds off his personal best in the 800 and could be in the running to double with Finke and provide the men some much-needed doubles.

At this point, why are doubles preferred? Once you get to having 2 people in each individual event, the only difference here is if you’re bringing a “new” swimmer to swim on a relay, or a “new” swimmer to be the second entrant in an event individually.

I think it’s weird to have a preference for the 6th place swimmer in one event to make the team over some other person that ain’t made the team yet to make it by finishing 2nd.

The Magic Man
5 days ago

Daily comment to get rid of Omega live results

Pcb
5 days ago

Douglass is staying in the 50, huh?