A special thanks to SwimSwam’s Barry Revzin for helping compile the data in this article.
In the previous article, I examined the results of the 2021 Wave I Olympic Trials meet through the perspective of the event winners. Surprisingly, out of the 27 swimmers who won an event at Wave I in 2021, only 1 progressed to make a final at the 2024 US Olympic Trials. However, other figures prove that there were many swimmers who saw significant progress after competing in Wave I, with 176 swimmers from that meet swimming at the 2024 US Olympic Trials
Quick Notes:
- There were 14 swimmers who swam at Wave I who made a final at the 2024 US Olympic Trials
- 4 swimmers who competed at Wave I in 2021 went on to make the 2024 US Olympic Team
- Those 4 swimmers combined for 2 gold and 3 silver medals in Paris
- Aside from the 4 Olympians, 3 swimmers from Wave I are on the 2023-2024 US National Team
The following swimmers competed at Wave I in 2021 and then advanced to make a final in 2024:
- Aaron Shackell
- Alex Shackell
- Anna Peplowski
- Aurora Roghair
- Caleb Maldari
- Chris Guiliano
- Colby Mefford
- Emma Sticklen
- Kayla Han
- Kyle Ponsler
- Leah Shackley
- Luke Miller
- Teagan O’Dell
- Tommy Janton
As mentioned in the previous article, Mefford was the only swimmer that won an event at Wave I to advance to make a final in 2024. In 2021, Mefford won the 200 backstroke at the Wave I meet. However, he shifted his butterfly for the 2024 Olympic Trials meet, finishing 5th in the 200 butterfly.
The 2024 Olympians
There are a few swimmers on this list who also standout as they were members of the 2024 US Olympic Team: Alex Shackell, Aaron Shackell, Chris Guiliano, and Anna Peplowski.
Both Alex Shackell and Aaron Shackell were fairly young when competing at Wave I back in 2021, with Alex only being 14 and Aaron being 16. At that meet, Alex swam the 100 butterfly, where she finished 23rd (1:01.48), while Aaron contested the 200 butterfly and placed 20th (2:04.76). Since 2021, both swimmers have become significantly more mature, seeing great progressions in their performances. Aaron, now 19, won the 400 freestyle at the 2024 US Olympic Trials meet, upsetting multiple veterans to claim a spot on his first senior international roster. He went on to post a personal best 3:45.45 in the prelims in Paris to make the final before ultimately finishing 8th in the event. Alex saw her breakout a little earlier, making the 2023 World Championship team in the 4×200 freestyle relay. Then, at US Trials she had a fantastic performance to earn yet another roster spot on that same relay, but also earn an individual swim in the 200 butterfly. In Paris, the 17-year-old managed a 6th place performance in the 200 butterfly (2:07.73), also helping the US to a gold medal in the women’s 4×100 medley relay and a silver medal in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
After finishing 4th in the 50 freestyle at the Wave I Trials meet, Chris Guiliano had his first breakout in 2023, finishing as the runner-up in the 100 freestyle at US Nationals to qualify for the 2023 World Championships. With his first international meet under his belt, Guiliano came back firing in 2024, having one of the best Olympic Trials meets in recent memory to qualify for the team in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle, becoming the first swimmer since Matt Biondi in 1988 to do so. Though he wasn’t as quick in Paris, Guiliano managed to make the 100 freestyle final individually, finishing 8th (47.98). He also won a gold medal as a member of the US men’s 4×100 freestyle relay, and earned a silver medal via a prelims swim on the 4×200 freestyle relay.
Anna Peplowski swam both the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke at Wave I in 2021, finishing 31st in the 100 back (1:04.03) and making the final of the 200 freestyle to finish 4th (2:02.52). Since then, she has made huge strides in the latter of the two events, dropping over 5 seconds off of that time over a 3 year span. At the 2024 US Olympic Trials, Peplowski fended off a strong field, posting a 5th place finish in the 200 freestyle to earn herself a berth to Paris as a member of the 4×200 freestyle relay. In Paris, she contributed a 1:57.98 lead-off leg for the US team in prelims, earning a silver medal for her performance.
Other Notable Names
Aside from the 4 Olympians in the group, there are several other notable names in the group from Wave I.
In 2021, Kayla Han was the youngest swimmer at the US Olympic Trials meet, swimming in the 400 IM in Wave I at only 13-years-old. In 2024, the now 16-year-old Han progressed to the finals of the 400 freestyle, placing 4th overall to likely secure herself a spot on the 2024-2025 US National Team. Han actually is already on the current (2023-2024) US National Team roster in both the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle.
Teagan O’Dell is another young star who made the 2023-2024 US National Team. In 2021, O’Dell swam both the 100 back and 200 back at Wave I Trials, making the B-finals of both events. She progressed to make the finals of the 200 back at 2024 Trials, finishing 8th overall (2:09.21). At the 2024 US Trials meet, O’Dell also finished 10th in the 100 back, just missing out on another finals swim. Leah Shackley actually finished just ahead of O’Dell in that 100 backstroke, with the rising college freshman posting a 59.40 to finish 7th overall in the final. Back in 2021, Shackley finished 24th in the 100 back at Wave I, swimming a time of 1:03.70. Since then, she has quickly become one of the top rising stars to watch in one of the most crowded events in the US, dropping several seconds off of her best time.
On the men’s side, Tommy Janton is another backstroker who likely punched his ticket to the US National team with his performances at the 2024 US Olympic Trials. After only finishing 48th in the 100 back and 32nd in the 200 back at Wave I in 2021, Janton had a great performance in 2024 to final in both of the events. In the 100 backstroke, he placed 8th in a time of 53.87, coming just shy of the 53.81 personal best that he set in the semis. In the 200 back, he finished 4th in a time of 1:57.12, with another Wave I swimmer, Caleb Maldari coming in right behind him to finish 7th (1:58.31).
Aurora Roghair and Emma Sticklen both followed up big NCAA seasons with incredible meets at US Trials this summer. Sticklen swam both the 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly at Wave I back in 2021, coming in as the runner-up in the 200 fly (2:12.58). In 2024, she started her year on a huge wave of momentum by winning the NCAA title in the 200 fly. She used that momentum to have a big meet at Olympic Trials, where she made the finals of both the 100 fly and 200 fly. In the 100, she placed 8th in a time of 58.44. However, she nearly made the team in the 200 fly, swimming a time of 2:08.07 for 4th place, only about 1.5 seconds shy of Shackell. Roghair had one of the biggest breakouts of the year, with the Stanford swimmer advancing to the finals of the 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free at Olympic Trials. In both the 400 free and 1500 free, she finished 5th, while she finished 4th in the 800, dropping personal bests in all 3 events. In 2021, Roghair didn’t even qualify to swim the 800 freestyle at Wave I, while she swam the 200 free, 400 free, and 1500 free. Her highest finish came in the 1500 free, where she placed 4th, a huge indication of how far she has come in 3 years.
The Takeaways
Looking at many of these swimmers, it’s clear that they have all seen big improvement curves since 2021. Though some of the swimmers in question were very young and probably extremely inexperienced on a national stage during Wave I, like Shackell and Han, their improvements and performances in 2024 remain remarkable.
Without the 2021 meet being split into 2 waves, a swimmer like Guiliano might not have had the opportunity to swim in Olympic Trials final prior to 2024. For Guiliano, it is likely that his experience provided some form of advantage mentally, potentially allowing him to have such a great meet in 2024. It also might have helped relieve some of the pressures associated with the meet itself, knowing that it wouldn’t be completely foreign to the swimmers competing.
Whatever advantage or disadvantage the 2021 Wave I meet might have provided, it is clear that the competition was filled with talent. Despite the unusual format that the meet was held under, it allowed swimmers to develop both mentally and physically into better athletes, providing an opportunity to them that might not have been possible otherwise.
