2016 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS
- Sunday, June 26 – Sunday, July 3, 2016
- CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska
- Friday-Sunday – Prelims – 9:00 am EDT Finals – 6 pm EDT
- SwimSwam Preview Links & Schedule
- Psych Sheets
- NBC Broadcast Schedule
Katie Ledecky may be using the Olympic Trials to expand her event repertoire a bit, as she is listed on the psych sheet as entered in all five freestyle events, plus the 400 IM.
Now, as we’re stating in every one of these articles, chances are that swimmers who are entered in a lot of events will choose to skip several of their weaker events to focus on their stronger ones, but if you turn your head sideways and squint just a little, you can kind of see a path where Ledecky may actually swim the whole six event schedule. This is what it would look like for her, assuming she qualified for all semifinals and finals:
Sunday – 400 IM prelim/final
Monday – 400 free prelim/final
Tuesday – 200 free prelim/semifinal
Wednesday – 200 free final
Thursday – 100 free prelim/semifinal
Friday – 800 free prelim, 100 free final
Saturday – 50 free prelim, 800 free final, and 50 free semifinal
Sunday – 50 free final
There was no surprise about Ledecky being entered in the 100-800 freestyles. She’s the world record holder in the 400 and 800 freestyle events, she’s the defending world champion in the 200 freestyle, and she has indicated that she would like to swim on the 4×100 free relay for the USA.
She’s also shown interest in the 400 IM, having swam it at the Arena Pro Series stops in Minneapolis and Orlando this season, as well as at the Atlanta Classic meet in May. She recorded her personal best in Atlanta, a 4:37.93 that puts her 5th on the psych sheet for Omaha.
It’s tough to bet against Ledecky, and she has such an advantage in the 400 free the next day, that swimming a couple 400 IM’s the day before is not likely to jeopardize her spot on the Olympic Team. However, the top two woman on the psych sheet, Elizabeth Beisel and Caitlin Leverenz, both have seed times of 4:31, some six seconds faster than Ledecky, and even if Ledecky did qualify to swim it in Rio, it takes place in the same session as the 4×100 free relay.
The 50 free was a little less expected, but it does make some sense. The preliminary heats take place Saturday morning, where she has nothing else to swim. She’s seeded 25th with a time of 25.45, from last November in Minneapolis. It’s certainly possible that she could make semifinals, which take place after the finals of the 800 free Saturday night. That’d be only her only double of the entire trials, but there’s only the finals of the men’s 50 free, so that’d be a very short turnaround time. However, her schedule for the week would otherwise be done, so it’s not like she’d have anything to lose by giving it a shot.
Chances are that even Ledecky and her coach, Bruce Gemmell, are not 100% sure whether or not Ledecky will swim the 400 IM and 50 free, but should she qualify for either or both events, it will continue to continue to solidify her place in the history books.
*Caitlin Levernz
not Caitlyn
I hope she swims the 400IM. I believe she can make the team in this event.
I think what she’ll do is swim the 400IM prelim like it’s a final, swimming it for time. If she can’t swim sub 4:34, she’ll drop it. Same with the 50. If she can’t swim at least 24.5 or 24.6, she’ll drop it. Every other event (but the 100) is gonna be everybody else saying their prayers.
The Sky Is her limit – we know that and she is not stopping her ascension . The 200 free will be epic
C’mon ledecky, give the other competitors a chance lol
I turned my head sideways and squinted and, wow, that really is a beautiful sight. I am craving a Ledecky 4IM. I wanna see some Ye Shiwen-esque final 100 that defies logic. And even if she made the team she may just pull a Phelps and drop the event for another swimmer if she doesn’t think she can medal and wants to focus on the relay and other events. But I guess anyone who gets top 2 in this event is probably a medal contender… hmm.