2024 U.S. Olympic Trials: Guiliano 1st US Man since Biondi (’88) to Qualify in 50/100/200
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
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Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
Finals Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
With his second-place finish tonight, Chris Guiliano entered rarefied air as the first US male to achieve individual qualification across the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles for the Olympics since Matt Biondi did so in 1988.
36 years ago, well before Guiliano was born, Biondi at the 1988 Olympic Trial in Austin, Texas took first in the 100 free in a then WR time of 48.42, as well as placing 2nd in the 50 free and 2nd in the 200 free.
Fast forward a few decades and a few hundred miles north, and Notre Dame’s Guiliano has equaled the feat, but at the beginning of the week it would have seemed highly unlikely.
Seed
Seed Time
Prelim Place
Prelim Time
Semi Place
Semi Time
Final Place
Final Time
200 Free
29th
1:48.75
10th
1:47.05
7th
1:46.83
2nd
1:45.38
100 Free
2nd
47.49
2nd
47.65
1st
47.25
1st
47.38
50 Free
10th
21.96
4th
21.83
1st
21.59
2nd
21.69
Guiliano entered the meet as just the 29th seed in the 200, outside of the expected 16 semifinalists and even outside of the circle-seeded heats of prelims, but the Notre Dame swimmer, who has been on an impressive improvement curve of late, continued to get better.
Last summer, Guiliano was one of the breakout swimmers of the meet. He hit two successive PBs to make the team and placed second in the 100 free in a time of 47.98, but was just 30th in the 200 free (1:49.59). Obviously, something from then to now has clicked for the rising senior. His gains, however, were not limited to meters.
In yards at the 2023 NCAAs, Guiliano was 23rd in the 50 free (19.17), 10th in the 100 free (41.64), and 9th in the 200 free (1:32.31). This year, he was 4th in the 50 (18.49), 5th in the 100 (40.66), and 3rd in the 200 (1:30.38).
The freestyle sprint triple is becoming harder and harder to accomplish as more and more swimmers are extending their careers and solely focusing on the the 50, like Cameron McEvoy and Florent Manaudou, while others like Caeleb Dressel train sprint fly instead of going up to the 200 free.
MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE — FINAL
World Record: 20.91 — Cesar Cielo (BRA), 2009
American Record: 21.04 — Caeleb Dressel, 2019 / 2021
U.S. Open Record: 21.04 — Caeleb Dressel (USA), 2021
World Junior Record: 21.75 — Michael Andrew (USA), 2017 / 2017
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Caeleb Dressel, 21.04
2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 21.96
Final:
Caeleb Dressel (FLOR), 21.41
Chris Guiliano (ND), 21.69
Matt King (TFA), 21.70
Jack Alexy (CAL), 21.76
Michael Andrew (MASA), 21.81
Ryan Held (SUN), 21.85
Quintin McCarty (WOLF), 21.97
Adam Chaney (FLOR), 22.08
Caeleb Dressel is back on top.
After qualifying for Paris in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay by virtue of his third place finish, Dressel has added his first individual event to his schedule by storming to the win in the men’s 50 freestyle.
Dressel exploded off the blocks and charged through the splash and dash, clocking a 21.41 for the win. Not only is that his fastest time since 2022, it ranks him 4th in the world this year, .07 seconds ahead of his Florida training partner Josh Liendo.
Chris Guiliano added a tenth from his semifinal swim, but still got his hand on the wall a hundredth ahead of Matt King for second place. With the swim, Guiliano becomes the first American man since Matt Biondi to qualify for the 50/100/200 freestyle individually. While finishing a heart-breaking third place in as small a margin as possible, King took a tenth off his lifetime best in 21.70.
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