SwimSwam Pulse: 64% Suspect Wave I Qualifiers Will Not Swim Wave II Trials

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers if any Wave I standouts would choose not to swim in Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Trials:

RESULTS

Question: Will any top-2 finishers at Wave I Trials choose not to swim Wave II?

• Yes – 63.8%
• No – 36.2%

Almost two-thirds of voters expected at least one top-2 finisher from Wave I of U.S. Olympic Trials to pass on the chance to swim in Wave II.

The biggest factor might be cost: athletes who competed in Wave I already had to pay for four or more nights in a hotel in Omaha, plus meals out, and other expenses like car rentals. With six extra nights in a hotel between the end of Wave I and the start of Wave II, the cost could skyrocket for a swimmer who had to make emergency lodging plans at the last minute.

On the other side, the biggest complaint about splitting Olympic Trials into two waves was that the Wave I meet would be ‘watered down’ because young Olympic Trials qualifiers wouldn’t get to compete at the same time as established stars like Katie Ledecky or Caeleb Dressel. For a Wave I swimmer who finished in the top 2 to forgo the opportunity to move on and swim with those stars would perhaps undercut that argument against the split Trials format.

We may not know until meet day whether any Wave I wild card winners aren’t moving on – we’ll likely see them scratch off of Wave II start lists, or perhaps leave the token empty lane in the pool for prelims.

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters to pick the winning time of the Olympic women’s 200 breaststroke:

 Loading ...

ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE

The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner