USA Swimming on Tuesday announced a new set of qualifying standards for the 2021 US Olympic Swimming Trials.
As explained in full here, the meet will be split into two events, with a “Wave I” consisting of lower-ranked qualifiers and a “Wave II” consisting of the top 50-60 qualifiers in each event.
The Wave II Cuts are set based on the 41st qualifier for the Olympic Trials as it stands today. Anybody who has already hit a Wave II cut, or who hits a Wave II Cut going forward, will be able to swim at the Wave II event. In other words, there is a time cut for the Wave II meet, not a hard placement cut.
The top 2 finishers from the Wave I meet will advance to the Wave II meet.
Swimmers who have at least one Wave II cut can swim “Bonus” races in any event where they have a Wave I cut.
All meets will be held at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
- Wave I Dates: June 4-7, 2021
- Wave II Dates: June 13-20, 2021
- Qualifying Period for Wave I: November 28, 2018 – May 30, 2021
- Qualifying Period for Wave II: November 28, 2018 – May 30, 2021
2021 US Olympic Swimming Trials Time Standards
| MEN | WOMEN | |||
| Wave II Cut | Original Cut Time (Wave I Cut) | Event | Original Cut Time (Wave I Cut) | Wave II Cut |
| 22.71 | 23.19 | 50 Free | 25.99 | 25.65 |
| 49.74 | 50.49 | 100 Free | 56.29 | 55.56 |
| 1:49.65 | 1:50.79 | 200 Free | 2:01.69 | 2:00.24 |
| 3:54.21 | 3:57.29 | 400 Free | 4:16.89 | 4:13.28 |
| 8:08.95 | 8:12.99 | 800 Free | 8:48.09 | 8:44.01 |
| 15:35.76 | 15:44.89 | 1500 Free | 16:49.19 | 16:44.60 |
| 55.51 | 56.59 | 100 Back | 1:02.69 | 1:01.49 |
| 2:00.81 | 2:02.99 | 200 Back | 2:14.69 | 2:12.94 |
| 1:01.97 | 1:03.29 | 100 Breast | 1:10.99 | 1:09.55 |
| 2:15.28 | 2:17.89 | 200 Breast | 2:33.29 | 2:30.49 |
| 53.37 | 54.19 | 100 Fly | 1:00.69 | 59.59 |
| 1:59.63 | 2:01.19 | 200 Fly | 2:14.59 | 2:12.56 |
| 2:03.02 | 2:04.09 | 200 IM | 2:17.39 | 2:15.26 |
| 4:23.24 | 4:25.99 | 400 IM | 4:51.79 | 4:47.72 |
Wave I Event Schedule
Prelims begin each morning at 10 a.m. CDT, while finals begin at 7 p.m. CDT.
| Women’s Event # | Event Order | Men’s Event # |
| Friday, June 4 | ||
| 1 | 100m Freestyle | 2 |
| 3 | 100m Backstroke | 4 |
| 5 | 200m Butterfly | 6 |
| 7 | 800m Freestyle* | 8 |
| Saturday, June 5 | ||
| 9 | 200m Freestyle | 10 |
| 11 | 100m Breaststroke | 12 |
| 13 | 400m Individual Medley | 14 |
| Sunday, June 6 | ||
| 15 | 400m Freestyle | 16 |
| 17 | 100m Butterfly | 18 |
| 19 | 200m Backstroke | 20 |
| Monday, June 7 | ||
| 21 | 200m Individual Medley | 22 |
| 23 | 50m Freestyle | 24 |
| 25 | 200m Breaststroke | 26 |
| 27 | 1500m Freestyle* | 28 |
* The 800m and 1500m freestyle events will be conducted as timed finals, with the fastest seeded heat in each of these events swimming in the Finals sessions. All other heats of the 800m and 1500m freestyle events will swim fastest to slowest, alternating women and men following the conclusion of that morning’s preliminary session.
Wave II Event Schedule
| Session begins at 10 a.m. CT | Session begins at 6:45 p.m. CT (actual start time 6:51 – 7:03 p.m. due to TV) |
| Preliminaries | Semifinals & Finals |
| Sunday, June 13 | Sunday, June 13 |
| Men’s 400 Individual Medley | Men’s 400 Individual Medley – FINAL |
| Women’s 100 Butterfly | Women’s 100 Butterfly – Semifinal |
| Men’s 400 Freestyle | Men’s 400 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Women’s 400 Individual Medley | Women’s 400 Individual Medley – FINAL |
| Men’s 100 Breaststroke | Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Semifinal |
| Monday, June 14 | Monday, June 14 |
| Women’s 100 Backstroke | Women’s 100 Butterfly – FINAL |
| Men’s 200 Freestyle | Men’s 200 Freestyle – Semifinal |
| Women’s 100 Breaststroke | Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Semifinal |
| Men’s 100 Backstroke | Men’s 100 Breaststroke – FINAL |
| Women’s 400 Freestyle | Women’s 400 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Men’s 100 Backstroke – Semifinal | |
| Women’s 100 Backstroke – Semifinal | |
| Tuesday, June 15 | Tuesday, June 15 |
| Women’s 200 Freestyle | Women’s 200 Freestyle – Semifinal |
| Men’s 200 Butterfly | Men’s 200 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Women’s 200 Individual Medley | Women’s 100 Backstroke – FINAL |
| Women’s 1500 Freestyle | Men’s 100 Backstroke – FINAL |
| Women’s 100 Breaststroke – FINAL | |
| Men’s 200 Butterfly – Semifinal | |
| Women’s 200 Individual Medley – Semifinal | |
| Wednesday, June 16 | Wednesday, June 16 |
| Men’s 100 Freestyle | Men’s 100 Freestyle – Semifinal |
| Women’s 200 Butterfly | Women’s 200 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Men’s 200 Breaststroke | Men’s 200 Butterfly – FINAL |
| Men’s 800 Freestyle | Women’s 200 Butterfly – Semifinal |
| Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Semifinal | |
| Women’s 200 Individual Medley – FINAL | |
| Women’s 1500 Freestyle – FINAL | |
| Thursday, June 17 | Thursday, June 17 |
| Women’s 100 Freestyle | Men’s 800 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Men’s 200 Backstroke | Men’s 200 Breaststroke – FINAL |
| Women’s 200 Breaststroke | Women’s 100 Freestyle – Semifinal |
| Men’s 200 Individual Medley | Men’s 200 Backstroke – Semifinal |
| Women’s 200 Butterfly – FINAL | |
| Men’s 100 Freestyle – FINAL | |
| Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Semifinal | |
| Men’s 200 Individual Medley – Semifinal | |
| Friday, June 18 | Friday, June 18 |
| Women’s 800 Freestyle | Women’s 200 Breaststroke – FINAL |
| Men’s 100 Butterfly | Men’s 200 Backstroke – FINAL |
| Women’s 200 Backstroke | Women’s 200 Backstroke – Semifinal |
| Men’s 200 Individual Medley – FINAL | |
| Women’s 100 Freestyle – FINAL | |
| Men’s 100 Butterfly – Semifinal | |
| Saturday, June 19 | Saturday, June 19 |
| Men’s 50 Freestyle | Men’s 100 Butterfly – FINAL |
| Women’s 50 Freestyle | Women’s 200 Backstroke – FINAL |
| Men’s 1500 Freestyle | Women’s 800 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Men’s 50 Freestyle – Semifinal | |
| Women’s 50 Freestyle – Semifinal | |
| Sunday, June 20 | Sunday, June 20 |
| No Preliminaries | Men’s 50 Freestyle – FINAL |
| Women’s 50 Freestyle – FINAL | |
| Men’s 1500 Freestyle – FINAL |
wpDiscuz
What about order of events for wave 1? This is a 3 day meet for this wave? Is a distance swimmer supposed to swim a mile, 400IM, 200 Back, etc in a 3 day meet? Certain events were focused on based on the order of events at trials. Making the team wasn’t the goal for some of these kids but a chance to not embarrass themselves would be nice. The more I think about this the less I like it. Glad they get to swim but it’s not a fair thing to do to the athletes looking for the experience or their families. Can we get an order of events to know where to focus for what time is left?
Order of Events for Wave I has been added.
Wave I is a 4 day meet, Friday-Monday.
thank you
Hi Braden, I have been trying to click on the numbers for agreeing to comments or not agreeing to comment and it’s not excepting my clicking. Can you tell me why? Also if you happen to know how they’re going to handle kids who have qualifying cuts in both waves ??? Are they supposed to swim in both waves or do they just swim all their events in one wave? Here again is a reason why they need to split this male and female.
Comment votes – no idea why. It’s a 3rd-party system that we don’t have much control over. If you email me a screenshot or screenrecord of what happens when you click the vote button I can troubleshoot it.
As written above, anybody who qualifies for Wave 2 may only swim in Wave 2, and they may swim any event in Wave 2 where they have at least a Wave 1 cut. So if your swimmer is qualified for Wave 1 in the 50 free and 200 free, and Wave 2 in the 100 free, they can swim the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free in Wave 2, but are not eligible to swim in Wave 1.
Four day meet (June 4-7) is as long or longer than 99% of meets and only one day shorter than Summer Nationals. Isn’t it better than not being invited at all….ala Canada.
They have not been invited, they have been disinvited. They created a new BS meet to make more money that means nothing but still requires the same financial commitment from swimmers and families without the experience of swimming in fast meet on the biggest stage. It is an insult and hope no one attends Wave 1 meet. Disgraceful
Might be time to step away from your desk and get some fresh air. Give yourself some time to process before emotionally flooding all over the internet.
Keep working, keep racing, maybe you’ll drop that last second or two you need to make the Wave 2 cut.
a meet made up only of a few hundred swimmers with OT cuts doesn’t count as a ‘fast meet’? Standards are the fastest of any meet held in the country up to that point, period. Yes, Katie and Caleb won’t be there, but they aren’t at Nationals during a World Champs year anyway and that doesn’t invalidate that meet. And here there is actually a shot to get a second swim and play the ‘what if’ wild card game of shocking the world. I get it. I’d rather get to say I swam at a meet with Caleb Dressel as well, but when I’m swimming 6 heats before him am I there to actually compete or just name drop if… Read more »
Wrong, Juniors, Nationals, TYR, NCAA’s were all faster and all these kids have swam in these meets and many have finaled and competed against the worlds fastest and been on ABC sports doing so. This meet does not compare to any of those as those all possess the fastest competitors.
What?
Agree 100%slap in the face. So here again another disappointment for kids who have experienced so much disappointment. Are you kidding me – less chance of covid with how many people? Ridiculous. Vaccine is out in case you haven’t heard! CA and other states open again… we have 4 months. lots can happen in 4 months. Who would blame the kids who just give up swimming. At this rate They just keep getting slapped in the face with effort at practice day in and day out Then comes the big reward – The Pinnacle moment for all that you’ve given up in hard work and dedication for the last 10 years, you get there and then they say at the… Read more »
Wow! I see you’re upset but there needs to be some perspective here. Some others in the US are a little more “disappointed” than you and some swimmers during this pandemic.
What does that have to do with this decision? People are pissed because they changed the rules last minute and now 100’s of athletes are scrambling to figure out a path to requalify. Some athletes have postponed their lives after college to train and swim at trials and that has been taken away from them. Many different scenerios of people who did what was necessary to make and compete at trials and that has been taken from them. Let’s not pretend like this meet could not have taken place being we just finished NCAA football with very limited interruptions without a vaccine. I am guessing you have no skin in the game which is why you are here commenting on… Read more »
Will the events be Live Streamed / televised ?
Wave 2 will be on NBC. TBD on Wave 1.
People are going to rise to this challenge. I guarantee they will have over 60 people meet the harder qualifying times in multiple events.
But then USA Swimming will just change the rules again. Mark my words.