2024 Martha McKee Charlotte Open
- May 16-19, 2024
- Charlotte, NC
- 50 meters (LCM)
- Meet Info
- Meet Mobile “2024 Charlotte Open”
Open to a wide array of club, collegiate and professional competitors, the annual Martha McKee Charlotte Open serves as a final tuneup before Olympic Trials for many of the fastest swimmers in the southeast.
Seven swimmers secured new Olympic Trials cuts in their races over the course of the competition weekend, with a few earning their first ever qualifications to punch their tickets to Indianapolis in June.
Audrey Derivaux, a 14-year-old on the Jersey Wahoos club team, enjoyed a successful meet; she landed two new Trials cuts, bringing her total tally up to five. Derivaux edged below the qualifying times in the 100 back and the 200 IM, winning both events in a time of 1:01.66 and 2:15.14, respectively.
Derivaux’s victory in the 200 IM propelled her up to 5th on the list of all-time top swims in the event and marked the fastest time in the event this season among the 13-14 age group. Her performance in the 200 IM was also the 32nd fastest time in the country this season.
Top 5 All-Time US Girls 13-14 LCM 200 IM
- Teagan O’Dell 2:12.53 2021
- Missy Franklin 2:12.73 2009
- Leah Hayes 2:13.06 2019
- Claire Tuggle 2:15.02 2018
- Audrey Derivaux 2:15.14 2024
Her performance in the 100 back now ranks 17th on the list of all-time top times in the 13-14 age group for the event. She also posted the 2nd fastest time this season in her age group and is 43rd on the ranking of top times in the country this season.
The runner-up behind Derivaux in the 200 IM, Katherine Helms, also secured a Trials cut in the event with a time of 2:16.09.
Helms, a rising junior at North Carolina State University, posted a personal best time by over 1.5 seconds to hit the qualifying time exactly, down to the hundredth. The achievement punched her ticket to Indianapolis, as it marks her first ever Trials cut.
Helms’ performance also bumped her up to 50th in the country in the ranking of top times this season.
Another first-time Trials qualifier was Sam Marsteiner, a 16-year-old from New Wave Swim Team, with his performance in the 200 fly.
Marsteiner took 2nd behind Baylor Swim Club’s Drew Hitchcock, throwing down a time of 2:00.04, which carved 0.81 off his personal best time and is the 2nd fastest this season in the 15-16 200 fly. His performance bumped him up to 26th on the all-time ranking for the event in the age group.
Other Notable Results
- Aislin Farris, a rising junior at University of North Carolina, punched her first ticket to Trials in the 200 back, where she was runner-up behind Derivaux in a time of 2:13.56. Farris shaved 0.32 off her personal best to narrowly slide under the cutoff time of 2:13.59. Farris is now 51st in the ranking of top times in the 200 back in the country this season.
- Jordan Willis, a 17-year-old on SwimMAC Carolina, secured a Trials cut in the 100 breast. The University of Florida commit posted a time of 1:01.23 in a timed finals session to punch his ticket to Indianapolis, dropping nearly 1.5 seconds from his previous personal best. Willis’s time is 20th on the all-time ranking in the 17-18 age group and is the 4th fastest time this season within the age group.
- University of South Carolina’s Ryan Hufford landed his first ever Trials cut in the 100 back, throwing down a time of 55.67 and shaving just under .2 off his previous personal best in the morning session to secure his qualification early on. Hufford, a rising sophomore, now sits at 80th in the all-time ranking for the 17-18 100 back and at 9th in the ranking of top times this year for the age group.
- 18-year-old Sean Setzer, who is heading to the University of North Carolina in the fall, landed a Trials cut in the 100 free with a time of 49.83, a full second faster than his previous best time. Setzer’s time in the 100 propelled him up to the 51st spot on the all-time ranking for the 17-18 age group, in addition to being the 7th fastest time this season for his age group. His performance brought his Trials cut tally to two, as he had already qualified in the 50 free prior to this meet.
This will be my first time attending the trials. I have a single day ticket for Saturday. Any words of advice on getting the full experience or things to be aware of?
Unfortunately, I’m not able to attend and use my Trials tix. Just posted them on a resale site, their lowest level at the blocks. Only tix available in those sections. Hope somebody gets to use them.
This is not the right article for this comment but I have been thinking a lot about this every time read about the upcoming trials.
I am going by vague memories, but when USA Swimming came out with the qualifying procedures for the 2024 Olympic Trials, they wanted to reduce the number of qualified swimmers from 1800-1900 down to 1100-1200 and that was the reason for the change in cuts and qualifying time frame.
I do feel that there is a chance that we will have fewer than 800 swimmers at this year’s trials (I hope I am wrong), ex. swimmers who have retired / injured / conflict in scheduling etc.
Once again I hope I am wrong,… Read more »
I think there will be 1000 or so.
There are always some qualifiers who retire, get injured, etc., and while they sort of get outsized attention, on net their numbers are always quite small. Maybe 30-40 total.
I’ve asked USA Swimming if they have historical data on number of qualifiers vs. number of entries.
Check Katherine Helms, she had trial cuts last time (not first ever).
Also first trials cut for Ray Prosinski from the University of South Carolina in the 400IM.
Sam’s teammate and UNC commit James Bennison picked up his first cut in the 200 Back. Teammate and Masters swimmer Kim Ruiz (32 yo) scored her first ever cut in the 100 Breast as well.