Session 1 of the Olympic Trials is in the books. There was a lot of great swimming, but most swimmers did not beat their seed times. This is typical at Trials. The amount of dropped time appears to be in line with past Olympic Trials. It’s too early to tell exactly how well the top swimmers are performing (no finals or semis yet), but the field performed a bit worse than 2012 relative to their seed times. Here’s a look at time changes from seed this year vs 2012 trials (positive time change is slower):
| 2016 | 2012 | ||||
| Median Time Change | % Who Went Faster in Prelims | # Faster | Median Time Change | % Who Went Faster in Prelims | |
| Men 400 IM | 1.2% | 18% | 17 | 1.0% | 27% |
| Women 100 Fly | 1.0% | 18% | 24 | 1.0% | 22% |
| Men 400 Free | 0.8% | 17% | 17 | 0.9% | 23% |
| Women 400 IM | 1.4% | 16% | 19 | 1.5% | 13% |
| Men 100 Breast | 0.7% | 31% | 41 | 0.6% | 36% |
The overall proportion of swimmers who improve on their seed times will likely go up as the swimmers who made it back improve in later rounds.
The biggest drops of the session by percentage were:
| Event | Name | Time Change | Seed | Prelim Time |
| Men 400 IM | Robert Owen | -1.4% | 4:23.89 | 4:20.29 |
| Women 100 Fly | Annie Ochitwa | -1.2% | 1:00.72 | 59.98 |
| Men 400 Free | Jeff Newkirk | -1.4% | 3:58.67 | 3:55.34 |
| Women 400 IM | Bethany Galat | -2.2% | 4:44.51 | 4:38.39 |
| Men 100 Breast | Brandon Fiala | -3.4% | 1:03.56 | 1:01.40 |
The biggest time additions by percentage were:
| Event | Time Change | Seed | Prelim Time | |
| Men 400 IM | 5.7% | 4:22.01 | 4:36.83 | |
| Women 100 Fly | 8.0% | 1:01.01 | 1:05.92 | |
| Men 400 Free | 7.8% | 3:58.36 | 4:16.92 | |
| Women 400 IM | 5.5% | 4:50.54 | 5:06.47 | |
| Men 100 Breast | 4.5% | 1:05.89 | 1:03.03 |
Very kind not to name names in the “most time added” categories.
This is not surprising and actually more the norm, at any national championship meet (NCAA’s, USS, etc) that requires meeting a qualifying standard or selection limitation. The grwat majority of qualfying times are achieved during a “Finals” session when rested/tapered &/or shaved. While at the vast majority of swims at nationals/Trials are preliminary swims.
There is definitely a marked difference in metabolism and performance from prelims to finals. Thus, it is that much more difficult to improve upon a time done during a Finals session when fully prepared, or at least semi prepared, during a Preliminary session, even when on your “best” preparation.
“Men 100 Breast 4.5% 1:05.89 1:03.03”
not an addition
“Women 8.0% 1:01.01 1:05.92”
didnt write the event