Colby Mefford Moves up in Rankings of Men’s 200 Back on His Way to Wave II

2021 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

• When:
  • Wave I Dates: June 4-7, 2021
  • Wave II Dates: June 13-20, 2021
• Prelims: 10am CDT | Finals: 7pm CDT
• Where: CHI Health Center / Omaha, Nebraska
• 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Cuts
• Wave I & II Event Order
• LCM (50m)
• Prelims Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Prelims Live Stream (NBC Olympics)
• Finals Live Stream (Olympic Channel)
• Wave I Psych Sheets
• Wave I Live Results
• Day 1 Finals Heat Sheet
• Day 1 Finals Impact
• Day 2 Finals Impact

WOMEN’S 400 FREE

1. Sally Tafuto (OSU) – 4:13.98 (Projected seed: 44)
2. Malia Rausch (ASC-ST) – 4:15.04 (Projected seed: 52)

MEN’S 400 FREE

1. Ivan Kurakin (TAC-SI) – 3:56.17 (Projected seed: 52)
2. Brice Barrieault (SAND) – 3:56.61 (Projected seed: 55)

WOMEN’S 100 FLY

1. Nikki Venema (TIDEVA) – 59.24 (Projected seed: 29)
2. Lexi Cuomo (CAV) – 1:00.06 (Projected seed: 51)

MEN’S 100 FLY

1. Micah Slaton (TRI) – 53.02 (Projected seed: 30)
2. Aaron Sequeira (CM) – 53.08 (Projected seed: 32)

WOMEN’S 200 BACK

1. Sophie Brison (DYNA) – 2:13.08 (Projected seed: 40)
2. Bayley Stewart (UN-CO) – 2:13.35 (Projected seed: 46)

MEN’S 200 BACK

1. Colby Mefford (SMST) – 1:59.85 (Projected seed: 21)
2. Blake Hanna (CATS) – 2:00.11 (Projected seed: 23)

Only two of tonight’s twelve Wave II qualifiers have already earned a spot in next weekend’s meet. 400 free runner-up Malia Rusch and 200 back winner Colby Mefford finished in the top two of a previous finals session. Mefford secured his spot when he finished second in the men’s 200 fly on Day 1. Last night, Rusch won the women’s 200 free by 0.01 seconds to advance to Wave II.

Tonight, the pair picked up more Wave II qualifications. Although the rules state that once an athlete earns a spot in Wave II they can swim all of their Wave I events, Rusch and Mefford fought to finish in the top 2.

Mefford’s time of 1:59.85 will make him the top-ranked swimmer of tonight’s group. His is projected to be the 21st going into next weekend’s meet. If he can repeat tonight’s swim, he will have a shot at making it back in the top 16.

100 fly winner Nikki Venema will also be ranked highly going into Wave II. Her time of 59.24 puts her in 29th place. She has the chance to move up in the rankings and squeeze into a final if she too is able go the same time as she did this evening. Venema also saw a large jump in her rankings. Going into the prelims heats, she was ranked 46th with a time of 59.86. Her 0.62-second drop moved her up 17 places.

Sally Tafuto made a similar jump when she came from behind to win the women’s 400 free. Her time of 4:16.05 placed her 58th amongst the American women. After a 2.1-second drop, she now sits at 44th.

With one day to go, 33 swimmers have secured their ticket to return to Omaha next weekend for Wave II of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Day 1 & 2 Wave II Qualifiers:

• Camille Spink
• Kristina Paegle
• Katie Trace
• Emma Sticklen
• Autumn Haebig
• Kobie Melton
• Hayden Miller
• Abigail McCulloh
• Heather McCausland
• Zoe Skirboll
• Kate McCarville
• Patrick Sammon
• Luke Miller
• Carl Bloebaum
• Jacob Steele
• Nathaniel Stoffle
• Garrett McGovern
• Luke Johnson
• Liam Bresette
• Zhier Fan
• Reid Mikuta
• Tyler Kopp
• Kyle Ponsler