2024 U.S. Olympic Trials: Day 3 Finals Live Recap
By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS
June 15-23, 2024
Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, IN
LCM (50 Meters)
Session Start Times (ET):
11 a.m. Prelims
7:45 p.m. Finals (varying based on broadcast needs)
Meet Central
Broadcast Info
SwimSwam’s Definitive Guide to Trials
Psych Sheets
Live Results
SwimSwam Preview Index
SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
Finals Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
Prelims Live Stream
Day 3 Finals Live Stream (USA)
Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet
The Paris Olympic roster promises to grow by a significant margin tonight with five of the six events on tonight’s schedule being finals, and two of them with relay berths up for grabs.
The night will kick off with the final of the women’s 400 IM, where Tokyo silver medalist Emma Weyant and two-time World Championship silver medalist Katie Grimes are the overwhelming favorites to claim the two American roster spots after cruising to the top two seeds this morning.
Day 3 Finals Live Stream (USA)
Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet
Next up we’ll see the men’s 200 free, the first relay selection final of the competition which will be a must-see showdown.
The top three seeds, Luke Hobson, Kieran Smith and Drew Kibler, all broke 1:46 in the semis and figure to be the three men battling for the two available individual slots at the Games, while the rest of the field will be fighting it out for the remaining relay slots.
One man in the hunt for one of those spots is Blake Pieroni, the 28-year-old veteran who briefly retired from the sport and has come back with a newfound fire over the last year. Pieroni has a chance to qualify for his third straight Olympics if he finishes inside one of the relay spots, which will be officially the top four tonight and likely the top six at the meet’s end.
Tokyo Olympians Brooks Curry and Jake Mitchell, 400 free Olympic qualifier Aaron Shackell and one of the 100 free favorites, Chris Guiliano will be the other swimmers in the hunt. Shackell got into the final after winning a tightly contested swim-off on Sunday night.
The third final of the night will be the men’s 100 back, where Ryan Murphy aims to earn his third straight Olympic berth and begin his pursuit of reclaiming the gold medal he won in Rio. At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Murphy won bronze behind Russians Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, who will be absent in Paris.
Hunter Armstrong is expected to land the other Olympic spot in the event, having placed 9th at the Games in Tokyo (missing the final by .01). Armstrong is coming into tonight’s final after avoiding a scare in the semis, having slipped off the blocks and rallying to erase an early deficit.
One of just seven men in history to have broken 52 seconds, Armstrong will be out in Lane 6 tonight after clocking 53.57 in the semis, trailing Adam Chaney (53.08) and Jack Aikins (53.23) who both set best times in the semis.
The women’s 100 breaststroke final promises to be interesting, with home crowd favorite Lilly King leading the charge after a dominant showing in the semis. Defending Olympic champion Lydia Jacoby is poised for a showdown with Kaitlyn Dobler and Emma Weber, and maybe even Kaelyn Gridley and Alex Walsh, for the second spot after all five were separated by just 45 one-hundredths in the semis.
The session’s finale will surely bring fireworks with Katie Ledecky and Claire Weinstein ready for another showdown and Simone Manuel likely having another trick up her sleeve in the women’s 200 free.
Manuel will have another opportunity to provide some outside smoke, as the two-time Olympian will be situated out in Lane 8 tonight after she showed some incredible front-half speed in the semis. However, it projects to be Ledecky, Weinstein and potentially Paige Madden and Erin Gemmell, in the battle for individual spots.
The other four women will be battling for the final two relay spots: Katie Grimes, Alex Shackell, Anna Peplowski and Manuel.
We’ll also see the semi-finals of the women’s 100 back tonight, and world record watch will be in effect after Regan Smith made her 57.93 prelim swim look way too easy.
WOMEN’S 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINAL
World Record: 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2024 Canadian Trials
American Record: 4:31.12, Katie Hoff – 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials
U.S. Open Record: 4:28.61, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2022 U.S. Open
World Junior Record: 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2024 Canadian Trials
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Emma Weyant, 4:33.81
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 4:38.53
Katie Grimes (SAND), 4:35.00
Emma Weyant (FLOR), 4:35.56
Lilla Bognar (TG), 4:37.86
Leah Smith (TXLA), 4:39.87
Leah Hayes (TIDE), 4:41.32
Lucy Bell (ALTO), 4:41.40
Zoe Dixon (FLOR), 4:42.01
Audrey Derivaux (JW), 4:46.89
Lucas Oil Stadium was brought to its feet over the final 100 meters of a thrilling final in the women’s 400 IM, as early leader Katie Grimes was caught by Emma Weyant and Lilla Bognar on the breaststroke leg and the three swimmers went toe to toe coming home to find out who would lock in a spot on the Paris Olympic team.
After leading by more than three seconds at the 200, all of a sudden Grimes found herself in 3rd place at the 300-meter turn, but she didn’t panic. Grimes produced the top freestyle split in the field to pull ahead of Bognar and then locked in a stroke-for-stroke battle with Weyant, getting the best of her over the closing meters to book the win in a time of 4:35.00.
Although the time is well shy of her lifetime and season-best times, the performance does secure Grimes a berth on the pool swimming roster for Paris after she qualified in open water last year.
Weyant, the Tokyo silver medalist, had a solid performance to earn the runner-up finish and another Olympic berth, touching in 4:35.56. The swim is her fastest this season by more than three seconds.
Team Greenville’s Bognar dropped more than three seconds from her personal best, clocking 4:37.86 to place 3rd and move into 9th all-time in the girls’ 17-18 age group. The 17-year-old had previously been 4:40.97 last year at Junior Worlds.
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE — FINAL
World Record: 1:42.00 — Paul Biedermann (GER), 2009
American Record: 1:42.96 — Michael Phelps, 2008
U.S. Open Record: 1:44.10 — Michael Phelps (USA), 2008
World Junior Record: 1:42.97 — David Popovici (ROU), 2022
2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Kieran Smith, 1:45.29
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 1:47.06
WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS
World Record: 57.33, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2023 World Cup – Budapest
American Record: 57.51, Regan Smith – 2024 NOVA Speedo Grand Challenge
U.S. Open Record: 57.51, Regan Smith (USA) – 2024 NOVA Speedo Grand Challenge
World Junior Record: 57.57, Regan Smith (USA) – 2019 World Championships
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: 58.35, Regan Smith
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 59.99
Finals Qualifiers:
MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE — FINAL
World Record: 51.60 — Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 2022
American Record: 51.85 — Ryan Murphy, 2016
U.S. Open Record: 51.94 — Aaron Peirsol (USA), 2009
World Junior Record: 52.53 — Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2018
2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Ryan Murphy, 52.33
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 53.74
WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE — FINAL
World Record: 1:04.13 — Lilly King (USA), 2017
American Record: 1:04.13 — Lilly King, 2017
U.S. Open Record: 1:04.45 — Jessica Hardy (USA), 2009
World Junior Record: 1:04.35 — Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2013
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Lilly King, 1:04.79
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 1:06.79
WOMEN’S 200 FREE — FINAL
World Record: 1:52.23 — Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 2024
American Record: 1:53.61 — Allison Schmitt, 2012
U.S. Open Record: 1:54.13 — Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2023
World Junior Record: 1:53.65 — Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2023
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Katie Ledecky, 1:55.11
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 1:57.26
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