With the first major domestic meet of 2024 now in the books, it’s time to check back in on the number of swimmers who have punched their ticket to the U.S. Olympic Trials later this year.
Back in late September of 2023, we found that 380 men and 304 women had qualified for the Trials dating back to the opening of the qualifying period, which kicked off on Nov. 30, 2022.
In the three and a half months since our last check, there have been 28 new male qualifiers and 31 new female qualifiers, bringing our tally to 408 men, 335 women and 743 total swimmers.
The qualifying period will close on May 30, 2024.
2024 US Olympic Trials Standards:
| WOMEN | EVENT | MEN |
| 25.69 | 50m Freestyle | 22.79 |
| 55.79 | 100m Freestyle | 49.99 |
| 2:00.89 | 200m Freestyle | 1:49.99 |
| 4:15.49 | 400m Freestyle | 3:55.59 |
| 8:45.79 | 800m Freestyle | 8:09.69 |
| 16:45.69 | 1500m Freestyle | 15:39.89 |
| 1:01.89 | 100m Backstroke | 55.69 |
| 2:13.59 | 200m Backstroke | 2:01.69 |
| 1:10.29 | 100m Breaststroke | 1:02.19 |
| 2:31.69 | 200m Breaststroke | 2:15.99 |
| 1:00.19 | 100m Butterfly | 53.59 |
| 2:13.69 | 200m Butterfly | 2:00.49 |
| 2:16.09 | 200m Individual Medley | 2:03.49 |
| 4:49.89 | 400m Individual Medley | 4:25.19 |
Let’s learn a little bit more about who is qualifying.
- Note: LSC and club data can be a bit wonky if athletes change clubs during the qualifying period.
- See the 2021 data here to make fun comparisons. Remember there was an extra year on that qualifying period because of the COVID-19 delay.
SWIMMERS WITH THE MOST EVENTS
At the end of September, Bella Sims led all swimmers having qualified for the Trials in 10 events, and she’s increased her tally by one, up to 11 events after adding the 200 back with a 2:11.39 performance at the U.S. Open in December.
Her club teammate at the Sandpipers of Nevada, Katie Grimes, remains the second-most qualified swimmer with nine events, and Regan Smith has joined her after she added the 400 IM to her list of qualified races with a 4:38.77 PB at the U.S. Open.
Leah Smith, Alex Walsh, Claire Weinstein and Hannah Bellard are the other women who have qualified in at least seven events, while a total of 30 have qualified in at least five races.
On the men’s side, Kieran Smith and Carson Foster sit atop the rankings with eight events qualified apiece. Smith already had eight qualified back in late September, but Foster has added two over the last three and a half months, clocking 49.35 in the 100 free and 55.60 in the 100 back at the Kevin Perry Invite in November.
Shaine Casas is the only other male swimmer to have at least six events qualified, and a total of 23 have made the grade in at least five races.
SWIMMERS QUALIFIED IN THE MOST EVENTS – WOMEN
| FullName | Club | LSC | Events |
| Sims, Bella | Sandpipers Of Nevada | CA | 11 |
| Smith, Regan | Sun Devil Swimming | AZ | 9 |
| Grimes, Katie | Sandpipers Of Nevada | CA | 9 |
| Smith, Leah | Longhorn Aquatics | ST | 8 |
| Walsh, Alex | University Of Virginia | VA | 7 |
| Weinstein, Claire | Sandpipers Of Nevada | CA | 7 |
| Bellard, Hannah | Club Wolverine | MI | 7 |
| Douglass, Kate | New York Athletic Club | MR | 6 |
| Huske, Torri | Arlington Aquatic Club | PV | 6 |
| Shackell, Alex | Carmel Swim Club | IN | 6 |
| Pelaez, Erika | Eagle Aquatics | FG | 6 |
| Nelson, Beata | Wisconsin Aquatics | WI | 6 |
| Pash, Kelly | Longhorn Aquatics | ST | 6 |
| Ledecky, Katie | Gator Swim Club | FL | 6 |
| Bray, Olivia | Longhorn Aquatics | ST | 6 |
| O’Dell, Teagan | Mission Viejo Nadadores | CA | 6 |
| Kozan, Justina | Trojan Swim Club | CA | 6 |
| Smoliga, Olivia | Sun Devil Swimming | AZ | 5 |
| Curzan, Claire | TAC Titans | NC | 5 |
| Gemmell, Erin | Nation’s Capital Swim Club | PV | 5 |
| Erisman, Rylee | Laker Swim | FL | 5 |
| Hetrick, Paige | University of Louisville | KY | 5 |
| Peplowski, Anna | Indiana Swim Club | IN | 5 |
| Hayes, Leah | Fox Valley Park District Riptides | IL | 5 |
| Hartman, Bailey | Crow Canyon Sharks | PC | 5 |
| Gormsen, Cavan | Long Island Aquatic Club | MR | 5 |
| Mattes, Michaela | Sarasota Sharks | FL | 5 |
| Weyant, Emma | University of Florida | FL | 5 |
| McCarville, Kate | Tennessee Aquatics | SE | 5 |
| Bricker, Caroline | Pikes Peak Athletics | CO | 5 |
SWIMMERS QUALIFIED IN THE MOST EVENTS – MEN
| FullName | Club | LSC | Events |
| Smith, Kieran | Ridgefield Aquatic Club | CT | 8 |
| Foster, Carson | Mason Manta Rays | OH | 8 |
| Casas, Shaine | Longhorn Aquatics | ST | 7 |
| Diehl, Daniel | YMCA of Cumberland | MD | 6 |
| Shackell, Aaron | Carmel Swim Club | IN | 6 |
| Julian, Trenton | Mission Viejo Nadadores | CA | 6 |
| Maurer, Rex | Rose Bowl Aquatics | CA | 6 |
| Litherland, Jay | Sun Devil Swimming | AZ | 6 |
| Kalisz, Chase | Sun Devil Swimming | AZ | 6 |
| Andrew, Michael | MA Swim Academy | SI | 5 |
| Dahlgren, Jack | Team Triumph | MV | 5 |
| Urlando, Luca | DART Swimming | SN | 5 |
| Heilman, Thomas | Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA | VA | 5 |
| Grothe, Zane | Unattached | SE | 5 |
| Nelson, Baylor | Aggie Swim Club | GU | 5 |
| Jett, Gabe | California Aquatics | PC | 5 |
| Burns, Brendan | Indiana Swim Club | IN | 5 |
| Lucas, Cooper | Lakeside Aquatic Club | NT | 5 |
| Albiero, Nicolas | Cardinal Aquatics | KY | 5 |
| Johnston, David | The Swim Team | CA | 5 |
| Whitlock, Luke | Fishers Area Swimming Tigers | IN | 5 |
| Finke, Robert | Saint Petersburg Aquatics | FL | 5 |
| Ellis, Luke | Sandpipers Of Nevada | CA | 5 |
BY CLUB
Longhorn Aquatics leads all clubs with 12 female swimmers qualified, while Ohio State University sits second with 11 and the Indiana Swim Club and Wisconsin Aquatics follow with eight.
For the men, Wolfpack Elite leads with 18 qualified swimmers, followed by California Aquatics, Indiana Swim Club and Sun Devil Swimming.
A total of 12 women and 23 men have qualified for the Trials as unattached swimmers.
MOST SWIMMERS QUALIFIED PER CLUB – WOMEN
| Club | Athlete Count | Event Count |
| Longhorn Aquatics | 12 | 38 |
| Unattached | 12 | 14 |
| Ohio State University | 11 | 17 |
| Indiana Swim Club | 8 | 16 |
| Wisconsin Aquatics | 8 | 20 |
| University of Louisville | 7 | 20 |
| Auburn University | 7 | 8 |
| Alto Swim Club | 7 | 17 |
MOST SWIMMERS QUALIFIED PER CLUB – MEN
| Club | Athlete Count | Event Count |
| Unattached | 23 | 41 |
| Wolfpack Elite | 18 | 38 |
| California Aquatics | 16 | 43 |
| Indiana Swim Club | 13 | 32 |
| Sun Devil Swimming | 12 | 43 |
| Longhorn Aquatics | 12 | 29 |
| University of Florida | 10 | 20 |
| Ohio State University | 8 | 14 |
BY EVENT
Between both genders, the most qualified for event is the men’s 200 IM with 83, followed closely by the 400 IM with 80.
For the women, only two events have more than 60 qualifiers, compared to seven for the men, with the 50 free having 64 and the 100 breast having 62.
| Women’s Qualifiers | Men’s Qualifiers | |
| 50 FR | 64 | 53 |
| 100 FR | 55 | 67 |
| 200 FR | 54 | 56 |
| 400 FR | 50 | 59 |
| 800 FR | 44 | 55 |
| 1500 FR | 43 | 51 |
| 100 BK | 56 | 63 |
| 200 BK | 48 | 61 |
| 100 BR | 62 | 60 |
| 200 BR | 42 | 58 |
| 100 FLY | 58 | 65 |
| 200 FLY | 52 | 55 |
| 200 IM | 51 | 83 |
| 400 IM | 46 | 80 |
NUMBERS OF QUALIFIERS VERSUS 2021
Relative to the 2021 Olympic Trials (Wave II cuts), the vast majority of events have significantly fewer qualifiers for 2024, including 114 fewer in the men’s 50 free.
There are three, however, with more qualifiers: Women’s 1500 free, men’s 200 IM and men’s 400 IM.
Women’s Events
| Event | Qualified Swimmers In 2021 | Qualified Swimmers In 2024* | Difference |
| 50 FR | 130 | 64 | -66 |
| 100 FR | 98 | 55 | -43 |
| 200 FR | 79 | 54 | -25 |
| 400 FR | 71 | 50 | -21 |
| 800 FR | 52 | 44 | -8 |
| 1500 FR | 42 | 43 | +1 |
| 100 BK | 114 | 56 | -58 |
| 200 BK | 75 | 48 | -27 |
| 100 BR | 111 | 62 | -49 |
| 200 BR | 85 | 42 | -43 |
| 100 FLY | 100 | 58 | -42 |
| 200 FLY | 79 | 52 | -27 |
| 200 IM | 91 | 51 | -40 |
| 400 IM | 66 | 46 | -20 |
*Through January 14, 2024
Men’s Events
| Event | Qualified Swimmers In 2021 | Qualified Swimmers In 2024* | Difference |
| 50 FR | 167 | 53 | -114 |
| 100 FR | 99 | 67 | -32 |
| 200 FR | 71 | 56 | -15 |
| 400 FR | 82 | 59 | -23 |
| 800 FR | 64 | 55 | -9 |
| 1500 FR | 57 | 51 | -6 |
| 100 BK | 125 | 63 | -62 |
| 200 BK | 91 | 61 | -30 |
| 100 BR | 137 | 60 | -77 |
| 200 BR | 87 | 58 | -29 |
| 100 FLY | 109 | 65 | -44 |
| 200 FLY | 78 | 55 | -23 |
| 200 IM | 82 | 83 | +1 |
| 400 IM | 60 | 80 | +20 |
*Through January 14, 2024
BY LSC
So far, 44 of the 59 LSCs have at least one male qualifier for the Olympic Trials, and 40 have at least one female.
Leading the way for both is North Carolina, while Indiana and Southern California sit second for the men. On the women’s side, it’s Indiana in second followed by Southeastern Swimming and Florida Swimming.
Women
| LSC | Athlete Count | Event Count |
| NC | 24 | 45 |
| IN | 23 | 44 |
| SE | 21 | 40 |
| FL | 21 | 56 |
| PC | 19 | 38 |
| VA | 19 | 42 |
| KY | 17 | 39 |
| OH | 16 | 25 |
| CA | 16 | 62 |
Men
| LSC | Athlete Count | Event Count |
| NC | 38 | 73 |
| IN | 28 | 74 |
| CA | 28 | 73 |
| PC | 27 | 63 |
| FL | 25 | 53 |
| SE | 19 | 40 |
| AZ | 18 | 51 |
| VA | 17 | 33 |
| OH | 17 | 38 |
| ST | 16 | 36 |
FULL LIST OF QUALIFIERS
Women
Men
The 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials will take place June 15-23, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
How can one download this xlsx file?
Out of curiosity, what were the total number of qualifiers in 2021, 2016, 2012, 2008? Do we have those for comparison? I seem to remember one of the ones in the early 2010’s had like 1,900 in it but I may be crazy.
Has any swimmer ever met all of these times?
McIntosh has been faster than 12/14 of these times, all except
50 FR (25.78) vs (25.69) and
100 BR (1:10.79) vs (1:10.29)
Natalie Coughlin maybe? I am pretty sure she did for a nats, not 100% sure re OTs
There may be others I am totally blanking on
Katie Hoff in 2008?
Phelps? Not sure what his 800/1500 times were but he has everything else.
And they want to fill a football stadium with swim families and fans…
So USA Swimming aims at 90 per event, with two actually being allowed to swim in the Olympics. I dare USA Swimming to name any swimmer whose original qualifying time put him/her higher than the Top 24 (that’s three heats in the trials) who eventually dropped the QT and made the time.
They want all those swimmers, who come with parents, family, and friends, hopefully to fill half a football stadium and deliver more than a $1 million dollars for USA Swimming’s coffers. Disgraceful
The head coach for Team Unattached is amazing. They have some serious swimmers!
Who is the lowest seeded swimmer to ever make the team in an individual event or a relay?
Pieroni was seeded in 20’s in ’16.
I thought it was Scott Weltz, but it looks like he was actually seeded 6th in 2012. He just dropped a ton of time to make it.
Like 38th or something
That baseline was used in the methodology for determining the initial Wave II cutoff in 2021
There is a podcast (46: Kick-Set) from USA Swimming that supposedly explains how they reached their number for the 2024 Trials. And that number is 90 (NINETY) per event. Have to fill all those seats in the stadium with paying customers, who come to watch their child, friend, teammate, finish far from an evening swim.
USA Swimming claims it helps the sport, should be a thrill to swim before that many people, etc.
I call BS.
And those comments don’t even include astronomical ticket prices, and the usual TicketMaster add ons, facility tees, etc.
According to this article, Bella Sims was seeded 39th in the 200 free and made the relay. Before that, there was a 38 seed. The lowest seeded person to make a final was seeded 41st.
https://swimswam.com/bella-sims-becomes-lowest-seed-since-at-least-2000-to-make-olympic-team/
The meet is too big. Time standards should be tighter and more realistic of those with a legitimate chance to make the team. I understand you need enough swimmers to simulate prelims, semis and finals perhaps if the goal is to offer this as an experience. However, I wonder if there’s another way to select the team? Invite just the top 16 ranked swimmers in each event and hold semifinals and finals only. Maybe top 32 swimmers in events 200m or shorter…
$$$ is the reason the meet is so large.
At the moment it will be smallest meet in a long time. In the 80s we frequently had under 30 in events.
but at the same time, the number of swimmers available was also much smaller in the 80’s. Maybe more interesting would be to see how big was the standard deviation between the people that made the team and the 2 or 3rd slowest in each event.
According to the algorithm USA Swimming supposedly used to set time standards for the 2024 Trials, their aim is 90 (ninety) swimmers per event. Or more than ten heats.
If you tighten the time standards, whos going to fill up that stadium? Lol
With the current time standards, thousands and thousands of family and friends are buying the tickets for the trials
I understand this is USA swimming’s cash cow and I am not proposing to change it , but I am just wondering if it is truly the best way to select the team.
Part of the idea is to get younger swimmers (who won’t make the team now, but might make the team – or A team – four years from now) experience. So when they are a factor, they’ve experienced it all before and don’t freak out.
Keep it big.. many many highly accomplished swimmers have swam their entire lives and become very fast…. But not fast enough to make the top two times at trials. But saying you swam at Olympic trials is very big…and i think they deserve it.