U.S. National Team Tracker: 48.01 Now 6th in Men’s 100 Free After Day 1 of Nats

2019 PHILLIPS 66 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The race is still on for spots on the 2019-2020 U.S. National Team, and swimmers at the U.S. Nationals are trying to break the American top 6 in their respective events to qualify for the squad. To make the team, swimmers have to be in the top 6 of their individual events with times determined by the FINA world rankings from January 1st, 2019 to August 25th, 2019. Tonight, swimmers at Nationals competed in the men’s and women’s 200 fly and 100 free. We also saw the women’s 800 free and men’s 1500 free.

SELECTION CRITERA:

Here’s a look at how the 2019-2020 U.S. National Team will be selected. You can see the full criteria here.

  • Top 6 athletes in each individual Olympic event
    • as determined by FINA.org’s World Rankings from January 1, 2019 through August 25, 2019
    • Rankings will be pulled from the FINA site on September 3 (giving swimmers a chance to make sure their time is included in the database)
  • Prelims, semifinals and finals (A, B, C and D) from all USA Swimming or FINA sanctioned meets are eligible
  • Relay leadoffs, time trials, swim-offs and intermediate splits are not eligible

DAY 1 UPDATES:

The men’s 100 free is looking much faster now than it was in the last Olympic cycle. Last season, we had no American men under 48 seconds. This season, we have 5, and one of them (Caeleb Dressel) is under 47. It takes a 48.01 to even rank among the top 6 Americans right now, with Zach Apple occupying that 6th spot. We haven’t even seen Olympic champion Nathan Adrian compete at Pan Ams yet, so it’s conceivable that it could take a sub-48 to make the national team this season.

Today, we had Ryan Held, Maxime Rooney, and Tate Jackson all break 48 individually for the first time. Dean Farris nearly hit the mark as well, with his 48.07 putting him just 6 hundredths outside of potentially qualifying for the national team in this event.

Abbey Weitzeil had a breakthrough in the 100 free with her first best time since 2016. She’s now 3rd in the U.S. rankings for this year. Gretchen Walsh and Erika Brown, who tied for 2nd tonight, are tied for 5th in the rankings. Worlds team members Lia Neal and Margo Geer will be swimming the 100 free at Pan Ams. Geer is already ranked among the top 6, while Neal, a 2-time Olympian, will still be vying for a spot.

We saw 16-year-old Charlotte Hook steal the show in the B final of the 200 fly tonight. Her 2:07.87 has her currently ranked 6th among Americans. Sarah Gibson is slated to swim that race at Pan Ams. Regan Smith, Lillie Nordmann, and Dakota Luther also moved into the top 6 in that event tonight as the top 3 in the final.

Below is a full list of the current top 6 for each of tonight’s individual events.

MEN’S 200 FLY:

Luca Urlando 1:53.84
Zach Harting 1:55.26
Miles Smachlo 1:55.94
Nicolas Albiero 1:56.05
Trenton Julian 1:56.09
Tom Shields 1:56.12

MEN’S 100 FREE:

Caeleb Dressel 46.96
Ryan Held 47.39
Maxime Rooney 47.61
Blake Pieroni 47.87
Tate Jackson 47.88
Zach Apple 48.01

MEN’S 1500 FREE:

Bobby Finke 14:51.15
Zane Grothe 14:56.10
Jordan Wilimovsky 14:59.94
Michael Brinegar 15:00.82
Arik Katz 15:05.93
Nick Norman 15:09.29

WOMEN’S 200 FLY:

Hali Flickinger 2:05.96
Katie Drabot 2:06.59
Regan Smith 2:07.26
Lillie Nordmann 2:07.43
Dakota Luther 2:07.76
Charlotte Hook 2:07.87

WOMEN’S 100 FREE:

Simone Manuel 52.04
Mallory Comerford 53.10
Abbey Weitzeil 53.18
Margo Geer 54.09
Gretchen Walsh 54.13
Erika Brown 54.13

WOMEN’S 800 FREE:

Katie Ledecky 8:10.70
Leah Smith 8:16.33
Ally McHugh 8:26.04
Erica Sullivan 8:26.15
Sierra Schmidt 8:27.13
Ashley Twichell 8:27.36

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ShimSwam
4 years ago

would be interesting to know where these swims took place and who is swimming at Pan Ams still as theyre likely the only people left to cause a shake up

DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

When was the last time Adrian wasn’t officially part of the national team?

Zanna
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

2007?

Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Over to you, Chadwick and Adrian. If times keep getting faster from WUGS-WORLDS-NATS, Pan-Ams is going to be lit.

Iarre Lafort
4 years ago

Does Zach Apple’s 47.7 lead-off not count from the University games?

Zanna
Reply to  Iarre Lafort
4 years ago

No

Lauren Neidigh
Reply to  Iarre Lafort
4 years ago

That’s all explained in the “selection criteria” section of the article.

Ryan
4 years ago

Wow. If we put in Zapples 47.75, we would have 6 guys under 48

JimSwim22
4 years ago

Is love to see these lists with the 6 who started the day listed then crossed out with new swims above so we can see the impact each day.

SprintKing
4 years ago

I think Zach Apple went a 47. lead off on a relay at WUG’s….does that not count

Admin
Reply to  SprintKing
4 years ago

I think you’ll find the answer to your question the “Selection Criteria” section.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

There should be two SwimSwam options. The current one, and (the one a prefer), just the title and the comments section. Reading is hard.

MTK
4 years ago

When the guy that nearly got bronze at WCs is barely in the top 6, you’ve got some serious depth.

Ragnar
Reply to  MTK
4 years ago

When you win the 4×100 relay without two of your best four swimmers, you’ve really got some serious depth

0202oykot
Reply to  Ragnar
4 years ago

not to mention came close to a very fast WR

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  0202oykot
4 years ago

With a 47.6 not 46.9 leadoff.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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