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)
- Day 2 Finals Live Stream
- Psych Sheets
- Wave II Live Results
- Day 2 Finals Heat Sheet
During semifinal #2 of the women’s 100 back, 19-year-old Regan Smith ripped out a 57.92 to break the U.S. Open record and qualify first into tomorrow’s final. Rounding out the top three times for the evening were Olivia Smoliga (58.50) and Katharine Berkoff (58.62), who set her second lifetime best of the day to move up to No. 6 all-time in the US rankings.
Smith’s time dipped 0.08s under Kathleen Baker‘s 2018 U.S. Open record (and former World/American record) of 58.00. Comparing Smith’s splits this evening in comparison to Baker’s 2018 U.S. national title swim, Smith (28.24/29.68) closed the gap between her splits more than Baker (27.90/30.10).
This is also Smith’s second time swimming under 58 seconds, just behind her 57.57 American record set leading off the title-winning 400 medley relay. Looking all the all-time top performances list, Smith’s 57.92 now registers as the 4th-fastest 100 back in history, not to mention the 5th swim under 58 seconds.
ALL TIME TOP PERFORMANCES – WOMEN’S 100 BK LCM
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 57.45 – 2021
- Regan Smith (USA), 57.57 – 2019
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 57.63 – 2021
- Regan Smith (USA), 57.92 – 2021**
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 57.93 – 2020
2020-2021 LCM Women 100 Back
McKeown
57.45
| 2 | Regan Smith | USA | 57.64 | 07/29 |
| 3 | Kylie Masse | CAN | 57.70 | 06/19 |
| 4 | Kathleen Dawson | GBR | 58.08 | 05/23 |
| 5 | Olivia Smoliga | USA | 58.31 | 05/15 |
Reported by James Sutherland.
WOMEN’S 100 BACK SEMI-FINALS
- World Record: Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 57.45 (2021)
- American Record: Regan Smith – 57.57 (2019)
US Open Record: Kathleen Baker (USA) – 58.00 (2018)- World Junior Record: Regan Smith (USA) – 57.57 (2019)
- 2016 Olympic Champion: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 58.45
- 2016 US Olympic Trials Champion: Olivia Smoliga – 59.02
- Wave I Cut: 1:02.69
- Wave II Cut: 1:01.49
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:00.25
- Regan Smith (RIPT), 57.92 US
- Olivia Smoliga (ABSC), 58.50
- Katharine Berkoff (NCS), 58.62
- Isabelle Stadden (CAL) / Rhyan White, 58.99
- –
- Phoebe Bacon (WA), 59.62
- Catie Deloof (CA-Y), 59.90
- Lisa Bratton (AGS), 1:00.18
Regan Smith stamped her authority as the woman to beat in tomorrow’s final, putting the second sub-58 swim of her career in the second semi-final of the women’s 100 backstroke.
The 19-year-old clocked in at 57.92, breaking Kathleen Baker‘s U.S. Open Record of 58.00 and marking her fastest swim since breaking the world record at the 2019 World Championships in 57.57. That record was broken recently by Kaylee McKeown at the Australian Olympic Trials in 57.45.
2016 Trials winner Olivia Smoliga topped the first semi-final in 58.50, qualifying second for the final, and Katharine Berkoff hit a second best time of the day in 58.62 for third. Berkoff also becomes the sixth-fastest American of all-time.
18-year-old Isabelle Stadden broke 59 seconds for the first time from the first semi in 58.99, ultimately tying with Rhyan White for fourth overall.
Baker, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in this event, went out fast in the second semi, flipping just .07 back of Smith at the 50, but faded coming home and ended up 11th in 1:00.51.
2 top Times ever at 19 and within 2 years , not too shabby for Regan 😃
Regan is awesome but that intro package nbc wrote for her was embarrassing
No way. It was awesome and fun.
I thought it was superb, so much better than most versions which are overly dramatic and therefore a waste. This one allowed Regan to have fun with it and sort of spoof herself, along with great glimpses of her family life. All year I thought she was overly nervous and worried about fulfilling expectations from 2019. That video made me considerably more confident in her chances.
Do you have no sense of humor? I thought it was great and different from many of the slick and superficial profiles we usually see.
Very bold prediction:
Katharine Berkoff throws down a 58.05, getting the second spot for the Olympic Team.
I am going to say something that some may not agree with, however, I still do think Regan is the one to beat in this event. Yes, Kaylee McKeown did get the WR a few days ago, but Smith hasn’t tapered until now, so that 57.57 she had back in 2019 could go to a 57.36 in tomorrow’s final (considering she hits her taper correctly). Tonight wasn’t even the final and she broke the US Open record, tomorrow is going to be very exciting.
Regan Smith needs to win the women’s 100 meter backstroke at the 2021 Olympic Team Trials and save her best performance of the year in the final of the women’s 100 meter backstroke at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
Then if/when she doesn’t it will be.
“I didn’t realise this was Tokyo.”
Ledecky was apparently going to make a point today as well.
It’s tremendously predictable. Maybe Ledecky and Smith beat McKeown and Titmus at Tokyo, maybe they don’t, all 4 are already all time great swimmers. But times at trials either matter or they don’t, and many on here act like they only matter when it suits them (on both sides). Turns every comment section into just stupid mud slinging.
I think Smith gave 100% tonight and that’s why she wasn’t thrilled with her swim. Her best bet for a gold is to pick either the 100 or 200 and focus just on 1 of them 100% and she can pull off a gold in that one and settle for silver/bronze in the other
200 back is better event for her if i should choose.
Bold prediction :
Smoliga will go sub 58 and win the trials.
If Olivia Smoliga swims the heats and semis of the women’s 200 meter freestyle, Olivia Smoliga will not even finish top two.
https://www.usaswimming.org/news/2019/03/20/2020-u.s.-olympic-team-trials—swimming-event-order
Maybe, and no.
Gotta feel for Kathleen Baker. She’s been a great champion and rep for USA. Goota be frustrating. But as all of us swammers can attest to, sometimes your body just can’t respond the way you want even if you put in the work.
She broke her ankle in May
Ya bud you can tell her ankle wasn’t the reason she fell apart. She wasn’t conditioned and her chest fell apart and tightened.
Er… what?!
those accidents are part of the growth path and learning curve , as disappointing as she felt ; I am sure She will find the silver lining to this painful outcome
I thought she looked disappointed with the time when they zoomed in on her right after the finish.
She looked happy and surprise i think, she even said that she was glad to get back under 58.
Agree, she had a rough year and looked relieved to have a fast swim under her. Could be the confidence boost she needs to carry through the meet knowing she coming up on that top end speed of hers.
Regan Smith looked more relieved than disappointed especially after Regan Smith’s performances (heats, semis) in the women’s 100 meter butterfly.
Disappointed? Are you nuts? That was pure emotion in her eyes. She saw the 57 and was thinking my gosh it’s still there. Too many posters around here have been matter of factly assigning massive improvement due to taper. Regan herself was not confident at all. It’s been blatant via how many times she’s emphasized the backstroke doesn’t feel good. She’s been well aware how many times she’s tightened up late. This time the underwater was superb and she carried the momentum almost to the wall. But it’s going to take 5 extra meters of relaxation to defeat McKeown.
Looks like Curzan’s 58.82 was omitted from the list. So there are actually 6 Americans in top 10!
I think you will Seebhom 58.59 & O’Callaghan 58.86 in coming 2nd & 3rd to McKeown are also omitted
The article is about Regan Smith not about the Aussies.
They’re just pointing out that the ranking in the article is wrong. Maybe you should let Jonathankkh know the article isn’t about Curzan. Oh wait Curzan is American.
The article pertains to the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials with an emphasis on the U.S.
I hope FINA updates the rankings by the end of the week for calendar year 2021.
https://www.fina.org/swimming/rankings?gender=F&distance=100&stroke=BACKSTROKE&poolConfiguration=LCM&year=2021&startDate=&endDate=×Mode=BEST_TIMES®ionId=all&countryId=