2024 US Olympic Trials Day 8 Roster Update: And Then There Was One

 2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS

Tonight’s theme is simply “one.”

There is only one Katie Ledecky, who qualified tonight for the 800 free for the fourth-straight Olympic Games. It’s also the fourth event for which she’s qualified to swim in Paris, although she’s already indicated she’s not planning on swimming the 200 free individually. At the age of 27, she’s qualified once again for the 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free. She’s the only swimmer to have qualified in four individual events this week.

Along with Ledecky, Olympic veterans Kate Douglass, and Paige Madden added events to their Paris schedule tonight. Douglass won the 200 IM, the event in which she won Olympic bronze in Tokyo. She’ll have a much fuller slate of events this go-around, as she’s also qualified in the 100 free and 200 breast.

Like her former teammate Douglass, Madden was also qualified for her second-straight Olympic team, but qualified for another event tonight. She’ll add the 800 free to the 400 free and the 4×200 free (and possibly the individual 200 free if/when Ledecky officially declares she’s not swimming it).

There was only one new swimmer added to the Olympic roster tonight, and that was yet another Virginia Cavalier, Alex Walsh. She punched her Olympic ticket behind Douglass by taking 2nd in the 200 IM, the event in which she earned silver in Tokyo.

(On a completely inconsequential, yet interesting note, six of the 20 women on the team have last names that start with the letter “W.)

There is only one male swimmer, Blake Pieroni, who’s eligible for the team but still waiting to ensure that the 26-swimmer roster cap won’t be reached. Caeleb Dressel and Thomas Heilman added doubles tonight by going 1-2 in the 100 fly. Dressel had already qualified in the 4×100 free relay and the 50 free, while Heilman had qualified in the 200 fly.

Their double-double ensured that relay swimmers Matt King and Brooks Curry will be added to the roster. This will be King’s first Olympic team, while Curry made the Tokyo team in the 4×100 free relay. There’s 24 men eligible for the roster right now and two spots left, in the 1500 free. As long as Bobby Finke, who’s already won the 800 free, doesn’t become violently ill in the next 24 hours, he feels like a pretty sure bet to touch first in the 1500, allowing Pieroni to qualify for his third-straight Olympic team (although a second-place finish for Finke also means Pieroni makes the roster).

Women’s Roster Through Day 8

  1. Katharine Berkoff (100 back)
  2. Phoebe Bacon (200 back)
  3. Erika Connolly (4×100 free relay)
  4. Kate Douglass (100 free, 200 breast, 200 IM)
  5. Erin Gemmell (4×200 free relay)
  6. Katie Grimes (400 IM, 1500 free)
  7. Torri Huske (100 free, 100 fly)
  8. Lilly King (100 breast, 200 breast)
  9. Katie Ledecky (400 free, 200 free, 1500 free, 800 free)
  10. Paige Madden (4×200 free relay, 400 free, 800 free)
  11. Simone Manuel (4×100 free relay)
  12. Anna Peplowski (4×200 free relay)
  13. Alex Shackell (200 fly, 4×200 free relay)
  14. Regan Smith (100 back, 200 fly, 200 back)
  15. Alex Walsh (200 IM)
  16. Gretchen Walsh (100 fly, 4×100 free relay)
  17. Claire Weinstein (200 free)
  18. Abbey Weitzeil (4×100 free)
  19. Emma Weber (100 breast)
  20. Emma Weyant (400 IM)

*listed alphabetically by last name

Men’s Roster Through Day 8 (Priority 1)

  1. Jack Alexy (100 free)
  2. Hunter Armstrong (4×100 free relay, 100 back)
  3. Shaine Casas (200 IM)
  4. Brooks Curry (4×200 free relay)
  5. Caeleb Dressel (4×100 free relay, 50 free, 100 fly)
  6. Matt Fallon (200 breast)
  7. Nic Fink (100 breast)
  8. Bobby Finke (800 free)
  9. Carson Foster (400 IM, 200 IM)
  10. Chris Guiliano (200 free, 100 free, 50 free)
  11. Ryan Held (4×100 free relay)
  12. Thomas Heilman (200 fly, 100 fly)
  13. Luke Hobson (200 free)
  14. Chase Kalisz (400 IM)
  15. Drew Kibler (4×200 free relay)
  16. Matt King (4×100 free relay)
  17. Keaton Jones (200 back)
  18. Josh Matheny (200 breast)
  19. Ryan Murphy (100 back, 200 back)
  20. Aaron Shackell (400 free)
  21. Kieran Smith (4×200 free relay, 400 free)
  22. Charlie Swanson (100 breast)
  23. Luca Urlando (200 fly)
  24. Luke Whitlock (800 free)

Other Eligible Swimmer

  1. Blake Pieroni (4×200 free relay)

*listed alphabetically by last name

Doubles Explanation

When we use the term “Doubles” to refer to a swimmer qualifying in more than one event, i.e., doubling up on a roster spot. If a swimmer qualifies in three events, for the purposes of the article, it would be considered two doubles. We track ‘doubles’ to determine when the swimmers’ next priority can be officially added to the team.

The Magic Numbers:

  • 6 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side mean all priority 2 athletes (2nd-place finishers) can be added for that gender
  • 8 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side mean all priority 3 athletes (5th-place in 100/200 free) can be added for that gender
  • 10 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side mean all priority 4 athletes (6th-place in 100/200 free) can be added for that gender

So far, the doubles are as follows:

Women   Men
Katie Ledecky – 400 Free, 200 Free 1 Kieran Smith – 400 Free, 4×200 Free Relay
Katie Ledecky – 1500 Free 2 Hunter Armstrong – 4×100 Free Relay, 100 Back
Paige Madden – 400 Free, 4×200 Free Relay 3 Chris Guiliano – 100 Free, 200 Free
Gretchen Walsh – 100 Fly, 4×100 Free 4 Ryan Murphy – 100 Back, 200 Back
Katie Grimes – 400 IM, 1500 Free 5 Caeleb Dressel – 4×100 free, 50 feee
Torri Huske – 100 free, 100 fly 6 Chris Guiliano – 50 free
Lilly King – 100 breast, 200 breast 7 Carson Foster – 400 IM, 200 IM
Regan Smith – 100 back, 200 fly 8 Caeleb Dressel100 fly
Kate Douglas – 100 free, 200 breast 9 Thomas Heilman – 100 fly
Alex Shackell – 4×200 free relay, 200 fly 10
Regan Smith – 200 back 11
Katie Douglass – 200 IM 12
Katie Ledecky 800 free 13
Paige Madden 800 free 14

Some notes on the charts

  • Colors delineate priorities for ease of viewing
  • If there is a strikethrough, that means said athlete qualified in a higher priority
  • Bolded events were events added this evening

Thanks to Mark Wild for initially putting these spreadsheets together.

As a reminder, the selection procedures for the US Olympic Team are as follows.  The US is limited to 26 swimmers per gender and only 12 relay-only swimmers (which is shared between both teams).

  • Priority #1. The first priority will be comprised of both (i) the four best finishing
    Available Swimmers based on finish order during the Finals of the Qualifying
    Competition in each of the 100-meter and 200-meter Freestyles, and (ii) the best
    finishing Available Swimmer based on finish order during the Finals of the
    Qualifying Competition in each of the Events other than the 100-meter and 200
    meter Freestyle.

    • Limitation: If an Available Swimmer Nominated to the Team under Priority #1 in
      the 100-meter or 200-meter Freestyle declines to swim the 100-meter Freestyle
      or 200-meter Freestyle Events at the Olympic Games (pursuant to the
      opportunity given to that athlete under Section 1.3.9) at any time prior to the
      announcement of the Team on June 23, but remains on the Team pursuant to
      Selection in another Individual Olympic Event, no additional swimmer will be
      added to the Team in the 100-meter or 200-meter Freestyle. This limitation will
      not apply if the Available Swimmer is removed from the Team pursuant to
      Section 3.
  • Priority #2. The second priority will be comprised of the second best finishing
    Available Swimmer based on finish order during the Finals of the Qualifying
    Competition in each of the Events other than the 100-meter and 200-meter
    Freestyle.
  • Priority #3. The third priority will be comprised of the fifth best finishing
    Available Swimmer based on finish order during the Finals of the Qualifying
    Competition in each of the 100-meter and 200-meter Freestyles.
  • Priority #4. The fourth priority will be comprised of the sixth best finishing
    Available Swimmer based on finish order during the Finals of the Qualifying
    Competition in each of the 100-meter and 200-meter Freestyles

Junior Pan Pacs

You can read more about the Junior Pan Pacs roster selection process here. There is a cap of 20 swimmers per gender. We’ll have a fuller preview of the prospective roster after the meet is over, but here’s how the roster currently looks, taking into account events where we’ve seen finals so far.

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Dylan
6 days ago

Unfortunate for Gabe Nunziata missing the Junior Pan Pacs team after being right behind Jordan Willis in the 200 breast, and his monster 100 breast time trial not going into consideration.

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
6 days ago

USA Swimming
Women’s Squad

Virginia – 4
Arizona State (Bob Bowman’s Crew) – 3
Florida – 2
Indiana – 2
Sandpipers of Nevada – 2
California – 1
North Carolina State – 1
Stanford – 1
Tennessee – 1
Texas – 1
Wisconsin – 1
Carmel Swim Club – 1

Stanford University (Meehan) contributes one female swimmer while the University of Texas (Capitani) contributes one female swimmer. That’s it! Seriously?

However, Greg Meehan will be granted clemency if he has fixed Torri Huske’s relay exchanges.

As for Carol Capitani, you’re fired!

Last edited 6 days ago by Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
UVA Fan
Reply to  Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
6 days ago

Why not include alumna and commits?

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
Reply to  UVA Fan
6 days ago

Paige Madden’s revival can be attributed to Bob Bowman at the Arizona State University. Emma Weyant’s progression can be attributed to Anthony Nesty at the University of Florida.

Which commits have qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games?

Kevin
6 days ago

At first glance it looks like the men’s team is Olympic Rookie heavy. At least 14 of the 25 or 26 will be first time Olympians.

The women’s team appears veteran heavy with only 7 Olympic Rookies.

The roster size difference is a lot of that though.
4x – Women 1, Men 0
3x – Women 3, Men 4
2x – Women 9, Men 7
1st – Women 7, Men 14

Add 5 or 6 rookies to the women’s team and they look very similar.

The men average a year older with an average birth year of 2000.2 and the woman 2001.2 though I should do an event weighted average at some point. I… Read more »

JonathanNC
6 days ago

I wonder how much the training plans change now that the qualifiers know exactly which events they will swim. Some of the stars had a long list of events to think about for Trials. I imagine it is sort of a relief to only have one or two events to focus on over the next few weeks.

I also wonder how they will balance training coming back off their Trials taper. Most of them will probably restart some harder aerobic sets and weights. Maybe some opt for an extended heavy taper, speeding their way straight into Olympics.

I would be interested in some articles with information about the different strategies for different swimmers/coaches. I suspect they will have detailed… Read more »

Noah
Reply to  JonathanNC
6 days ago

Guiliano is the biggest wild card for me – he was great from ACCs to NCAAs, but having 3 LCM events is very difficult, especially after setting 3 PBs

96Swim
6 days ago

If Ledecky doesn’t enter 200 free for Paris would that allow the 7th place finisher to make the team as a relay swimmer? Doesn’t matter here since it was Simone Manuel who already made the team. Just asking in general.

96Swim
Reply to  Robert Gibbs
6 days ago

Thanks!

ScovaNotiaSwimmer
Reply to  96Swim
6 days ago

No, they changed the rule around that this year.

Genevieve Nnaji
Reply to  96Swim
6 days ago

No.

USA Swimming has abolished that particular qualifying point.

I_said_it
6 days ago

25% of the women’s roster swims/swam for UVA.

HOO love
Reply to  I_said_it
6 days ago

⚔️

Summer Swim Fan
Reply to  I_said_it
6 days ago

They’ll swim 9 of 14 individual events, if Gretchen makes the 50 Free, and all of the relays, including mixed.

And it’s easy to be happy for Bacon, but still easy to feel bad for Curzan, too.

Does it count that Huske is from Virginia, too?
Ha, maybe not, but still fun for state pride…

Curious
6 days ago

How come Torri Huske doesn’t have the 4×100 Free Relay? She was 2nd, Walsh and Manuel were 3rd and 4th. Was she Dq’ed or something?

Fast and Furious
Reply to  Curious
6 days ago

If you’re 1st/2nd you’re listed as an individual, not relay. Her 100 free spot includes the 4*100; they’re not separate events for double-counting purposes

Last edited 6 days ago by Fast and Furious
Swammer11
Reply to  Curious
6 days ago

They didn’t list the relay for any of the top 2 in the 100 and 200 free

Fred
7 days ago

How fast is Douglas in the 200 free and Foster

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