2025 US World Trials Previews: Regan Smith Leads 200 Fly Field As Shackell And Derivaux Charge

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

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

By The Numbers – Women’s 200 Butterfly

• World Record:
• American Record: 2:03.84 – Regan Smith (2024)
• 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Regan Smith – 2:05.70
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut:

This event will be the first final of the 2025 U.S. National Championships, setting the stage for five days of intense racing with qualification for multiple international teams, including the 2025 World Championships, on the line. As we walk through the field, it’s important to keep the timing of the event in mind—it’s not in the middle of the week like it was for the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer. Everyone will be fresh, setting the stage for some potential surprises, either from the times or who gets their hands on the wall in first and second.

Since making the Tokyo Olympic team in the 200 butterfly, Regan Smith has developed into the U.S’s go-to female 200 butterflier, seamlessly picking up the mantle from her Tokyo teammate Hali Flickinger. After winning silver at the Tokyo Games, she’s continued to improve. In 2023, she wiped the super-suited American record off the books, swimming 2:03.87 at the Sun Devil Open.

Over the last five years, Regan Smith has cemented herself as the top American woman in the 200 butterfly. She’s picked up that mantle seamlessly from her Tokyo teammate Hali Flickinger, and since winning 200 butterfly silver at the Tokyo Games, she’s broken the super-suited American record, earned 2023 Worlds bronze, and defended her Olympic silver in Paris.

It took Smith and Bob Bowman a couple tries for Smith to be at her best in this event for the big international meet; for example, she first broke the American record (2:03.87) at the Sun Devil Open before 2023 U.S. Nationals, then added time for bronze in Fukuoka. But they figured it out last year. Smith was fast in the lead up to Olympic Trials (2:04.80), then won Olympic Trials with a 2:05.70. She went on to clip three-hundredths off her American record in Paris, swimming 2:03.84 for Olympic silver.

As she resets after the Olympic year, Smith is still the fastest American woman this season. She brings a 2:05.38 season-best into Indianapolis, which is faster than she went at last year’s Olympic Trials. She popped that time in Fort Lauderdale, which was enough to win the race, but it also showed that she’s going to have some stiff competition around her at U.S. Nationals.

The Teens Are Here

Alex Shackell (photo: Jack Spitser)

Alex Shackell and Audrey Derivaux pushed Smith during the Fort Lauderdale 200 butterfly final, giving us a preview of what the Indianapolis final could look like. While there are still a handful of professional and college swimmers vying for a 200 butterfly roster spot, Shackell and Derivaux have improved so much that instead of being an upset pick, they are Smith’s two main challengers for a spot on the team.

Shackell, of course, joined Smith on the Olympic team last summer. After earning her spot on the 2023 World Championship team as a 200 freestyle relay swimmer, Shackell’s butterfly reached a new level last spring, which catapulted her onto the Olympic team after swimming a lifetime best 2:06.10 in the semifinals.

She’s already rattled that lifetime best this season, swimming a 2:06.13 for second in Fort Lauderdale. That puts her just three-hundredths from her lifetime best and third in the world rankings this season.

Of course, that doesn’t give her a clear shot at the roster spot because the swimmer behind her is the fast-rising Derivaux, who ranks fourth in the world this season with a lifetime best 2:06.46 in Fort Lauderdale. That gives the American women the second through fourth spots on the global rankings—but there are only two roster spots available.

Similarly to Shackell, Derivaux hit her stride last spring. She was shedding time in multiple events at a jaw-dropping rate, even for a 14 year old. Then, she turned heads at Olympic Trials by making the 400 IM final. Derivaux finished 10^th in this event in Lucas Oil Stadium but is set to move way up the standings this season after double butterfly gold at Junior Pan Pacs and dropping a second off her personal best from July 2024 to today.

Texas Butterfly Group Turnover

Lindsay Looney (photo: Jack Spitser)

Five of the top eight swimmers on the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials psych sheet represented Longhorn Aquatics. Four of them went on to make the final. And though the Texas butterfly group, headlined by Smith, should still make an impact on this race, their presence likely won’t be as overwhelming, as we aren’t expecting names like Emma Sticklen, Dakota Luther, or Kelly Pash to swim at the 2025 U.S. Nationals.

But that does still leave Lindsay Looney in the mix. The Texas pro swimmer made the 2023 World Championship team in this event and finished third in this event at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a lifetime best 2:07.03. Looney’s greatest asset is her closing speed. In 2023, she charged over the final 50 meters with a 33.56 closing split to move from fifth into second to qualify for Fukuoka. She used the same strategy in the Olympic Trials final, putting up a field-best 33.39 final 50 split that moved her up from fourth and closed significantly on Shackell.

While Shackell and Derivaux have an advantage over Looney because they’ve broken 2:07—and done so this season—which puts pressure on Looney to swim a lifetime best in order to make the team. But Looney’s edge is that she will have enough gas left in the tank to track down the swimmers ahead of her if the final isn’t swimming at a 2:06-low or better pace.

She’s been 2:08.59 this season, making her the fourth-fastest American woman and 16^th in the world this season.

Bay Area Butterfly

The final American woman ranked in the global top-25 so far this season is Stanford’s Caroline Bricker. Bricker made big drops during her freshman season at Stanford and continued that trend this year, culminating in her winning the NCAA title in the 400-yard IM. She’s already neared her lifetime best in this event, swimming a 2:09.39 for sixth in Fort Lauderdale. That puts her in a strong position to break her 2:09.12 lifetime best from the Olympic Trials last year, where she finished 12^th overall.

Credit: Jason Wang / Peak Images

Meanwhile her teammate Lucy Bell did make the Olympic Trials final last year, placing eighth after swimming a lifetime best 2:08.90 in the semifinals. Despite the success Bell has had in this event, it seem that this event is a focus for her this season. She’s the newly crowned 200-yard breaststroke NCAA champion and didn’t race any butterfly at the Sun Devil Open last weekend, instead applying her improvements in IM and breaststroke in the long-course pool.

Finally, there’s Rachel Klinker, the Cal Bear who announced her presence in this field at the 2024 World Championships. There, Klinker swam a lifetime best 2:07.70, throwing her hat in the ring for a roster spot. It didn’t pan out for her last season—Klinker finished 13^th in Lucas Oil Stadium and missed the final. She’s back in the top eight among American women this season with the 2:10.73 she swam at the Sacramento Pro Swim.

From the club ranks, high school junior Kelsey Zhang could surprise for the final. A PASA club swimmers and Cal commit, Zhang hasn’t gotten much long-course racing in this spring as she’s been wrapping up her high school season, but she did race at the Westmont Pro Swim. Zhang swam a lifetime best 2:11.05 in Westmont in March, which puts her in line to move up from her 19th place finish at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Virginia Leads East Coast NCAA Contenders

Now, it’s time to head back to the East Coast. While the Texas butterfly group—at least from the college swimming perspective—the five-time NCAA champions Virginia are amassing a solid 200 butterfly group of their own.

Sophomore Tess Howley has the fastest 200 butterfly lifetime best in the field. Her time comes from the 2023 Junior National Championships as she set a meet record 2:06.85 and broke 2:07 for the first time in her career. She hasn’t cleared that barrier since, but it does make her the fourth woman in this field that’s cleared that marker. While she hasn’t gotten back under since, she did make the Olympic Trials final and finished seventh (2:10.45), showing that she is a solid bet to get back into the final at U.S. Nationals.

Tess Howley (photo: Jack Spitser)

Then, there’s her new teammate Katie Grimes, who joined the team at the midseason mark in time for their postseason run. Grimes is such a versatile athlete that it’s difficult to know where she’ll choose to place her focus in the pool this summer. She was mulling over her final day NCAA lineup, deciding between the 1650 freestyle and the 200 butterfly, eventually opting for the former. She did race the 200 butterfly in Fort Lauderdale in her long-course tune up, clocking a 2:10.08 that puts her three-hundredths behind Howley’s season best. Grimes owns a lifetime best 2:08.70 from the 2023 World Cup circuit, which would have qualified for the Olympic Trials final.

Bailey Hartman is another first year Cavalier to keep an eye on. She didn’t join her teammates in Fort Lauderdale so we don’t have a strong sense of her form but she owns a lifetime best 2:10.58 from 2022.

Then, if you make the trip from Charlottesville, Virginia to Princeton, New Jersey, there’s sophomore Eleanor Sun. Sun built on her excellent first season as a Tiger during the 2024-25 NCAA season. She swam multiple lifetime bests, climbing the mid-major all-time ranks in the 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM. She also made the NCAA ‘B’ final in the 400 IM. Sun began to translate those improvements to the meters pool in Fort Lauderdale, firing off a lifetime best 2:11.73 in the 200 butterfly. If she has another drop in line for U.S. Nationals, there’s a pathway to the final for her.

More Names To Consider

• Lainy Kruger – The Florida Gator owns a lifetime best of 2:11.98 from 2023 U.S. Nationals and has been 2:12.43 this season.
• Sara Stotler – Stotler was 16^th last year at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials final, approaching her lifetime best of 2:11.31 from 2023. Stotler only raced the 50 butterfly at the Tennessee Aquatic Invite last weekend.
• Ellie Clarke – Shackell’s Carmel teammate clocked a lifetime best 2:12.43 at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim, which puts her in the top 10 among American women in the 200 butterfly this season

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse: Emily Brown — Brown is more of a dark horse for a spot in the final rather than a challenger for the 2025 World Championship roster. After finishing 22nd at U.S. Olympic Trials, Brown swam a lifetime best at the Columbus Speedo Sectionals in July last season. She swam a 2:11.25, which would have qualified her for the semifinals in Indianapolis. Now, Brown has just wrapped her freshman season as a Tennessee Volunteer, where she swam a lifetime best 1:53.31 in the 200-yard butterfly. Many of the Olympic Trials semifinalists aren’t expected in the 2025 U.S. Nationals field, giving Brown a chance to push up the standings.