2025 U.S. World Trials Previews: The Paris 4×100 Free Relay Team Takes Aim At The 50 Freestyle

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, June 3 – Saturday, June 7, 2025
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50 meters)
• World Championship Selection Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

Women’s 50 Freestyle – By The Numbers

• World Record: 23.61 – Sarah Sjöström, Sweden (2023)
• American Record: 23.91 – Kate Douglass (2024)
• 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Simone Manuel – 24.13
• 2025 World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 24.86

The 2025 U.S. Nationals close out with the 50 freestyle, which means that on the women’s side, we’ll be treated to one more loaded race as swimmers vie to add another event to their World Championship schedule or secure a spot on the team. When the championship final goes off the blocks, the women’s 50 freestyle is sure to be a high-energy, exciting race. It’s often an unpredictable race, in this case, heightened by the fact that many of the top contenders are so versatile we’re not actually sure they’re going to be in the field.

The Sub-24 Club

That uncertainty starts with the current American record holder, Olympic gold medalist Kate Douglass. Douglass broke Simone Manuel’s long-standing American record at the 2024 Doha World Championships, speeding to a silver medal and her first sub-24 second outing. But Douglass is a top talent in so many events that she was forced to decide between the 200 IM and 50 freestyle at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. She chose the 200 IM, qualifying for her second Olympics in the event and winning silver in a dramatic 200 IM final.

Simone Manuel (photo: Jack Spitser)

Douglass is just as capable of making the World Championship podium in the 50 freestyle in the 200 IM and in a year where world record holder Sarah Sjöström is not racing, she’s got a clearer path than ever to gold. The 200 IM and 50 freestyle double is still on the schedule at this year’s U.S. Nationals, but it’s possible that Douglass will shift her focus after winning her second 200 IM Olympic medal. She’s lurking at sixth on the psych sheet after logging her 24.62 season best at the Westmont Pro Swim in March.

While Douglass scratched the 50 freestyle in Indianapolis last year, Manuel came out as the winner. Already on the Olympic team via the 4×100 freestyle relay, Manuel added an individual event to her lineup on the final day in Lucas Oil Stadium. She was sitting fourth after the semifinal, but in the final, Manuel showed she can still show up at the right moment.

Manuel hasn’t broken 24-seconds in a long time, but her 24.13 at the U.S. Olympic Trials showed that she can still be competitive on this event on the national stage even when she is not right on her best. She said at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim that she feels she’s putting in some of the best training of her career this spring in Austin, so expect her to be right back in the mix with the current young stars of Team USA.

The Hot Hand

Gretchen Walsh (photo: Jack Spitser)

Gretchen Walsh is perhaps one of the biggest young stars. Over the last year, she’s developed into one of the current faces of USA Swimming, bringing world records beyond what was previously thought possible and earning a historic medal output at the 2024 Short Course World Championships.

A lot has changed for Walsh since she was in Indianapolis a year ago, trying to make her first Olympic team. The 50 freestyle was one of the events she qualified in, and she finished fifth in the Paris final. Her lifetime best is a 24.06 from the Olympic Trials semifinal.

After the year she’s had, she’s a prime candidate to be the next American woman to crack the 24-second barrier. During an incredible effort at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim, she put up a 24.33 that makes her the fastest American this season and third in the world.

Paris Olympians

Douglass, Manuel, and Walsh will be surrounded by their fellow Paris Olympians in this field. Headlining this group of athletes is Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske, who is the fifth-fastest American in event history, three-hundredths behind Walsh. Huske and Walsh both swam their lifetime bests in the U.S. Olympic Trials semifinal, with Huske ripping a 24.09. She went on to finish fourth in the final (24.33).

Torri Huske (photo: Jack Spitser)

Huske has the same potential 200 IM/50 freestyle double that Walsh does. She picked the 50 freestyle over the 200 IM last year. She could make the same choice, but the little long-course racing she’s done this season after the NCAA Championships suggest she’ll make a similar choice. She owns a 24.47 season-best that ranks her as the second-fastest American this season.

Erika Connolly made the U.S. Olympic Trials final last summer, finishing sixth with a 24.63. There are some signs that this may be the two-time Olympian’s swan song on the national stage; she’s only raced in Westmont this season and is only entered in this event in Indianapolis. She was 25.24 in Westmont, but has a lifetime best of 24.38 from the 2022 World Championships. That could land her in the final, but it doesn’t look like she’ll be on that same form this week.

Further down the psych sheet are Erin Gemmell and Katharine Berkoff. Both have other primary events this week in Indianapolis, and it’s easy to see them scratching this event once they meet those goals earlier in the championships. But they’re fun entrants to keep an eye on if they do swim. Neither has broken 25 seconds in their career—Gemmell was 25.00 at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials—but doing so could give them another finals appearance in Indianapolis this week.

The Reign of The ACC

In the land of yards swimming and the NCAA, the ACC conference reigns in the 50 freestyle. Now that the show has shifted to meters, there are still plenty of ACC stars aiming to make the championship final.

A large part of that push is from the Virginia sprint crew. Behind Douglass and Walsh, there’s also Maxine Parker, who qualified for the 2023 World Championships as a relay-only swimmer for the 4×100 freestyle relay contingent. Parker has shown a deftness for finding her way into a championship final; she’s done so at the NCAA Championships and on the national stage. In 2023, she qualified for the 100 freestyle final in 7^th and in 2024, made the 50 freestyle Olympic Trials final in eighth. That’s also the place she finished, swimming a lifetime best 24.68. This season, she’s been as fast as 25.10.

Maxine Parker (photo: Jack Spitser)

Anna Moesch just finished a successful first season at Virginia. She has not officially raced in long-course meters this season, so we do not yet have a sense of how a season of Virginia training will translate to meters. She’s been as fast as 24.87, which she swam two years ago at the 2023 YMCA Nationals. She has not broken 25-seconds since that swim, which she will need to do to make the top eight in this field.

The Virginia Cavaliers roll deep in the sprint freestyle, but they aren’t the only ACC swimmers threatening to make the championship final in Indianapolis this week. Louisville’s Julia Dennis was one of the biggest breakouts of the NCAA postseason, dropping a stunning 21.08 at the ACC Championships. Dennis quickly brought those gains to meters; at the Sacramento Pro Swim shortly after the NCAA Championships, Dennis broke 25 seconds for the first time in the 50-meter freestyle, powering to a 24.79. That swim puts her solidly in the mix for the final.

Her Cardinal teammate Caroline Larsen was great in her freshman season at Louisville. She’s got a solid shot at making the championship final in several events at the 2025 U.S. Nationals. Her best chance is not this event, though if she drops from her 25.18 lifetime best she could make things interesting quickly. So could NC State’s Cassie Moses, who logged a 25.05 lifetime best at the TAC Titans’ Spring Fling meet a couple of weeks ago.

Don’t Forget The Juniors

At the top of this article, we discussed Manuel as the veteran of this field, and how she’s still capable of getting involved in the race with Walsh, Douglass, and Huske—three of the current faces of American women’s swimming. But this event is a great look at not just who’s here, but also the next wave of female American sprint stars; there are several swimmers who hope to be a force in three years looking for their first senior international experience this season.

Rylee Erisman is one such swimmer. She finished fifth in the Olympic Trials final last season, logging a lifetime best of 24.62. That swim still stands as her best. She’s had an exciting twelve months, bringing in multiple medals at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships to close out last season and putting up intriguing in-season times to get this season started. She’s already cleared 25 seconds this season, throwing down a 24.91 at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim.

Annam Olasewere (photo: Annam Olasewere)

Annam Olasewere has been under the 25-second barrier before as well. The silver medalist at the 2023 World Junior Championships, Olasewere clocked 24.95 twice at those championships, which stands as her lifetime best. She couldn’t quite match that time last summer, but still made the Olympic Trials semifinal and finished 14^th (25.14). A Stanford commit, she’s already been faster than that time this season. She swam 25.10 at a club meet in Connecticut, coming .15 seconds from her lifetime best.

This season, she sits a hundredth behind NC State commit Lily King. King put up a lifetime best 25.09 at May’s Renee McCutchan Invite, dropping a tenth from her lifetime best. King has junior international experience like Erisman and Olasewere, making an appearance at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships. Her 25.09 has jumped her into the hunt for a finals lane. Fishers’ Area Swimming Tigers’ Julie Mishler is in this boat as well. She swam a lifetime best 25.06 during the Olympic Trials time trials, which would have earned a semifinals swim in the individual event. She’s gotten close to that time already this season, leading off a relay at Indianapolis Sectionals in 25.14.

More College Names

While the ACC dominates the 50-yard freestyle, there are of course swimmers from other conferences to keep an eye on and that remains true this week. Indiana’s Kristina Paegle came six-hundredths from a lane in the Olympic Trials final last summer, clocking a lifetime best 24.74 for 9^th place. Paegle turned in a 25.36 at the OSU Spring Invite as she warmed up for the long-course season, but expect her to be faster this week.

Meanwhile, Alabama’s Cadence Vincent has just kept rolling after shedding time during the NCAA season. She dropped .53 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle over the course of the 2024-25 season. Incredibly, she’s already dropped more time in the 50-meter freestyle; at the ABSC Bulldog Grand Slam, her first long-course meet of the year, Vincent fired off a 24.80 to win. That’s a .57 second drop from her previous lifetime best, a 25.37 from the U.S. Olympic Trials. The swim makes her a strong candidate for the final and another time drop could push her well up the standings from her 26^th place at Olympic Trials.

Kristina Paegle (photo: Jack Spitser)

Camille Spink has been a force for the Tennessee Volunteers through her first two seasons with the team. She just missed a semifinal berth in this event at Olympic Trials last summer; a bittersweet feeling as a lifetime best (25.21) earned 17^th place. She should move up this season, though has not raced in long-course yet this year, so her form is still unknown.

Olympic Trials semifinalist Brady Kendall has started to get her long-course bearings, swimming a 25.43 at a Michigan club meet. She has a lifetime best of 24.93 and should be right in the middle of the fight for a spot in the top eight.

Finally, Lucy Mehraban just transferred from Louisville to Texas this NCAA offseason. She swam a 26.23 at the Longhorn Invite, which puts her exactly a second from the lifetime best she swam at Olympic Trials last summer, where she finished 18^th. She’ll need to make up that ground quickly in order to make a run at the top eight.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse – Mena Boardman: A high school junior committed to Texas, Mena Boardman turned heads at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim, where she swam multiple lifetime bests. Her best chance at a U.S. Nationals final will be in other events (namely the 50 butterfly) but she’s been on good form this season and if she can drop from her 25.55 lifetime best, she could make a big leap from 25^th on the psych sheet.