Gretchen Walsh outpaces the fast field at night two 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
At night two of the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials, Gretchen Walsh, Carson Foster and Nic Fink earned nominations to Team USA for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, while Katie Ledecky kept winning, taking the top time in the 200m freestyle semifinal.
Walsh followed up her world record performance in the semifinals with a 55.31 win in the finals of the 100m butterfly. She now has the two fastest times in history, and has secured a quota for Paris 2024. Breaking records is not new for Walsh, as she broke four records throughout the 2023-24 NCAA season while swimming for Virginia, but she still felt some jitters knowing she had such a big performance to repeat.
“Going into tonight, I was definitely nervous. I just had a lot of what was going through my head of just being, coming off of breaking a world record and then thinking, well, I need to do that again, or I might miss the team. And what if I got third? And what would that even look like? Because going into this meet, I don't think people had many expectations for me. And last night kind of said a lot,” Walsh said.
It was a discussion with one of her coaches that made the difference.
“I had a talk with my confidence coach today, and we were just saying, all I have to do is execute. And that's what I was and have been telling myself this entire time. And it's really, we say, nothing more, nothing less, just execute. And so I went into tonight knowing that that's all I needed to do is stick to my race plan, stay in my lane, and, I was just able to get my head on the wall first.”
Torri Huske, a silver medalist from the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, took second with a time of 55.52, and will wait until later in the week to find out if she will make the U.S. team with her second place finish. Regan Smith, a three-time medalist in Tokyo 2020, took third with a 55.62.
The semifinals on Saturday saw Walsh break the world record with a time of 55.18. Huske and Smith broke 56, as well, with Huske swimming 55.79 and Smith finishing in 55.92.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Carson Foster wins 400m IM by staying in his lane
Carson Foster won a nomination to the team with a big win in the men’s 400 individual medley. He and Chase Kalisz were less than a second apart after 300 meters, but Foster pulled away in the freestyle to take the win with a time of 4:07.64. Foster took third in this race at the U.S. Olympic Trials for Tokyo 2020, making this race even sweeter.
“I've struggled in the past with staying in my own lane, and the first thing that goes wrong in my race in the past, it was lights out for me. And I would just battle those inner negative voices. Tonight was just different. And I worked on everything I've been working on and staying in my own lane, sticking to my strategy that I know works, that I do in practice and I do it in practice meets and then just knowing when I turn on the freestyle that I was going to be the fastest one in the pool,” Foster said.
Kalisz took second with a time of 4:09.39, and is eligible for a nomination to Team USA. Jay Litherland, the silver medalist in the 400 IM at Tokyo 2020, took third.
In the men’s 100m breaststroke, Nic Fink won a nomination to Team USA with a time of 59.08. The field was tight until Fink pulled ahead in about the final 20 meters. Charlie Swanson finished second with a time of 59.16, and is hoping to find out later in the week that he earned a nomination.
Katie Ledecky on night two of the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials
Ledecky’s busy week continued with the 200m freestyle semifinals, where she faced a challenge from the other U.S. swimmers in her heat. Alex Shackell had the lead for the first 100m, but Ledecky pushed ahead in the final 100m to win with a time of 1:55.25. Shackell, whose brother Aaron won big on night one, finished sixth.
Ledecky has already won her nomination to the U.S. team with her win in the 400m freestyle on Saturday (15 June.) She will now have the chance to break Jenny Thompson’s record as the American woman with the most Olympic medals.
Lilly King, a native of Indiana, easily won her semifinal in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:05.57. With her college and training center in nearby Bloomington, Ind., King had a large contingent of fans cheering her every move. King is a two-time gold medalist, and will have a chance to get a nomination to Team USA with a win in Monday evening’s finals.