Caeleb Dressel Scratches 200 Fly on Day 3 Prelims of U.S. Olympic Trials

2021 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

Caeleb Dressel dropped his only event on day 3 of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II,  the 200 fly. He seems to be resting up for his other races ( the 100 free, 200 IM, 100 fly, 50 free) because he scratched the 200 free semifinals last night.

The women’s 200 free had the most scratches from top swimmers. 6th seed Madisyn Cox and 13th seed Melanie Margalis scratched the 200 free to focus on the 200 IM. They’re seeded 1-3, respectively, in the 200 IM. 14th seed Mallory Comerford and 23rd seed Katie Drabot also scratched. This was Comerford’s only event of the morning, but she is the 2nd seed in the 100 free on Thursday, while Drabot holds the #3 seed in the 200 fly tomorrow.

In the 200 IM, #24 seed Phoebe Bacon dropped the event. This was her only prelims race of the day, but she will have the 100 back final tonight.

Today will be the first day in U.S. Olympic history that we will see the women 1500 free contested at Olympic Trials. 8th seed Leah Smith scratched the event to focus on the 200 free where she is ranked 7th. Emma Weyant (#23), Claire Weinstein (#33) and Erin Gemmell (#34) followed suit to focus on the 200 free.

All Event Scratches in Top 40

Women’s 200 free

Men’s 200 Fly

Women’s 200 IM

Women’s 1500 Free

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Landen
3 years ago

He’s competing in the 2IM?!?!

Sarcastic
3 years ago

I’m thinking with some of these upsets, the veterans are realizing they are going to have to fight for some of these spots harder than they originally thought.

Hswimmer
3 years ago

Dang, really wanted to at least see what he would post in prelims. Guess he doesn’t really care about this event. I picked him second just in case he swam through to final. This is why I hate pick ems you can’t edit when they scratch.

Swimmer
3 years ago

Looks like Urlando scratched the 2free final. Foster is in

Friuti
Reply to  Swimmer
3 years ago

:O

PVSFree
Reply to  Swimmer
3 years ago

Great for Foster, I hope the kid gets a spot

Irish Ringer
3 years ago

It’s too bad his events aren’t spread out a bit more like Phelps. I do wonder if he should have swum a semi for the 200fr and try to put down a 1:45 to secure a spot. The way these guys are swimming a 1:46 could be enough.

nuotofan
Reply to  Irish Ringer
3 years ago

Phelps had always 200 free and 200 fly in the same session.., and the 100 fly as fifth individual event with also two relays in the mix.. and he started Olympics (and finished Worlds) with two rounds of 400 IM… Dressel, in LCM, is an incredible 50-100 freer and 100 flier, and this is really remarkable for itself.

nascardz
3 years ago

it will be interesting to see if luca decides to do the double tonight

Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

I scratched it too. We both had the same likelihood of swimming it. Zero. Of course, he qualified for it.

Wave 1.5 Qualifier
3 years ago

Can’t say I fully understand the Bella Sims strategy. Qualified in 11 events, only enters in 5 (mostly the shorter events), and now scratching.

Throwing all the marbles at the 800 free and/or 200 fly?

OldSwimmer
Reply to  Wave 1.5 Qualifier
3 years ago

She’s on the heat sheet for 200 free today, though I agree it was a very strange decision to scratch the 400 free.

About Annika Johnson

Annika Johnson

Annika came into the sport competitively at age eight, following in the footsteps of her twin sister and older brother. The sibling rivalry was further fueled when all three began focusing on distance freestyle, forcing the family to buy two lap counters. Annika is a three-time Futures finalist in the 200 …

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