2022 U.S. Swimming World Championships Trials: Caeleb Dressel clocks fastest 100m freestyle time in 2022; Katie Ledecky dominates 800m free
Find out who will make the U.S. team for the 2022 World Championships
The heat is on for the best US swimmers.
It's World Championship Trials time at the Greensboro Aquatic Center as the top US swimmers are fighting for a ticket to the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.
The competition kicks off on Tuesday morning and will conclude on Saturday night with the top two finishers in each individual event being selected for the worlds in Hungary from June 17 - July 3.
Olympics.com will provide you with regular updates of the action.
7:17 pm - Bobby Finke closes out the night with 1500m win
The final race of the night was the men's 1500m, which went to two-time Olympic champion Bobby Finke. His 14:45.72 is the third best time of the year. Second place went to Charlie Clark, who swam a 14:51.78, holding off David Johnston's 15:08.90. Clark's time was a personal best by 13 seconds.
"It was a pretty good race. I think I went out a little too fast. I was watching Charlie that last 800 just starting to catch me. I was just trying to swim for my life at the end there," Finke said.
6:54 pm - Ledecky cruises to 800m free win
Katie Ledecky easily won the 800m freestyle crown, the event in which she is a three-time Olympic champion (2012, 2016, 2020). She swam a 8:09.27, the sixth fastest time of her career and fastest since 2018, nearly 10 seconds faster than second-place finisher Leah Smith (8:17.52). Bella Sims, 8:22.36, was third.
"It was awesome, I haven't been under 8:10 in a couple years now and that was a little bit of a goal of mine coming in. I felt like I could do that tonight, so really happy to see that on the board," said Ledecky who was visibly excited when she saw her time.
What does that fast time mean for Ledecky ahead of the worlds? Well, she's feeling good.
"I just know that I know how to swim that race, so I just kind of let instinct take over when I dive in," she said with a laugh. "I know that I'm in a good spot. I think I knew before the race and so, I'm really excited about the rest of the week and what's to come."
6:37 pm - Dressel takes men's 100m freestyle victory
Tokyo 2020 Olympic men's 100m freestyle champion Caeleb Dressel was in fine form, notching a comfortable victory in the fourth final of the evening. His 47.79, which is the fastest 100m free time in the world this year, was well ahead of Brooks Curry's 48.04 and Ryan Held's 48.18 times.
"I just swam it better than this morning. That's the whole point of racing, you gotta look for things to get better," he said. "What a fun race... a good race and I'm happy with it."
He's also happy with how he's spent his time in the last 8 months since winning five gold medals at Tokyo 2020.
"It's been great being back in Gainesville, just training with my teammates, the Gators," he said. "It's been so much fun. That was the goal this year: be happy. I think we've gotten a good grasp on that."
6:29 pm - Teenagers Huske, Curzan top women's 100m free standings in star-studded field
Seven Olympians competed in the A final for the women's 100m free with two youngsters, Torri Huske, 19, and Claire Curzan, 17, finishing first and second, respectively. Huske was in at personal best time of 53.35 ahead Curzan's 53.58 and Erika Brown's 53.59.
Both Huske and Curzan won silver medals at last year's Tokyo Olympic Games as part of the 4x100m relay team.
"I was just really excited to race... it's a stacked field. So many fast ladies," said Huske afterward. "When the level of competition is really good, I feel like I get even more excited to swim and these people are the best people out there."
The American record holder and 2017 and 2019 world champion Simone Manuel was not in the field.
6:20 pm - Urlando chases down Julian in men's 200m butterfly
Luca Urlando came from behind to win the men's 200m butterfly, chasing down Trenton Julian in the final lap. Urlando's 1:54.10 was just .12 ahead of Julian's 1:54.22. Zach Harting was third at 1:55.09.
Despite the close finish, Urlando said in the water he didn't know how much he needed to make up to catch Julian but could feel Harting challenging until the end.
"I felt Zach closing pretty hard on me in the last 50," he said after swimming the third fastest time in the world for 2022. Julian's time is the fourth best of the year.
Chase Kalisz, who is the Tokyo 2020 400m medley gold medallist, finished fourth.
6:13 pm - Flickinger, Smith go one-two in 200m butterfly
Hali Flickinger, the Tokyo bronze medallist in the event, and 2020 silver medallist Regan Smith went one-two to punch the first tickets to Hungary in the women's 200m butterfly. Flickinger's 2:06.35 was the second fastest time in the world so far this year.
Smith clocked a 2:07.93 for second, while Charlotte Hook's 2:08.80 was good for third.
"It was OK. It was alright, I had some things I wanted to work on. We'll see if I did it once I see splits," Flickinger said on NBC's Olympic Channel.
"I'm so excited," she added of her trip to the worlds. "I love representing our country and the best way I know how is to swim. So I'm really excited to able to do it again.
10:48 am - Dressel advances to 100m free final with top time
Seven-time Olympic gold medallist Caeleb Dressel advanced easily to the 100m freestyle final with a time of 48.12. At Tokyo 2020, the 25-year-old won five gold medals including individual titles in the 50m and 100m freestyle races and the 100m butterfly.
Ryan Held was second in the qualifying heats at 48.20, followed by Drew Kibler (48.28).