American Swimmer Kate Douglass Cedes 100 Free Olympic Spot to Teammate Gretchen Walsh

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024

Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024

La Défense Arena — Paris, France
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The Americans have made a rare last-minute change to their Olympic roster, with Kate Douglass ceding her spot in the women’s 100 meter freestyler to her University of Virginia teammate Gretchen Walsh for this summer’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Douglass won the 100 free in 52.56 at the US Olympic Trials in June, a time that would have made her the 6th seed. Walsh instead enters as the #9 seed with her time of 53.13 that originally placed her 3rd at the Olympic Trials.

Top 10 Seeds, Women’s 100 Free

Seed
Swimmer
Country
Seed Time

1
Siobhan Haughey
Hong Kong
52.02

2
Mollie O’Callaghan
Australia
52.08

3
Sarah Sjostrom
Sweden
52.24

4
Marrit Steenbergern
Netherlands
52.26

5
Shayna Jack
Australia
52.28

6
Junxuan Yang
China
52.68

7
Torri Huske
USA
52.9

8
Anna Hopkin
Great Britain
53.09

9
Gretchen Walsh
USA
53.13

10
Michelle Coleman
Sweden
53.41

That gives Walsh a 3rd individual event along with the 50 free, where she placed 2nd at Trials, and the 100 fly, where she won and broke the World Record. With as many as three relays seeming possible for her (though the mixed medley is always a bit of a mystery choice), she will have a big load at the Olympic Games – and a big platform to become a star.

In spite of that World Record in the 100 fly, Walsh only shaved .01 seconds off her personal best time in this 100 free versus the 53.14 that she swam

Meanwhile for Douglass, this reduces her individual events to the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, with swims in the women’s 400 free relay and women’s 400 medley relay. As the fastest woman in the 100 free, the best American mixed medley relay would also likely include her services.

While the drop for Douglass is not surprising given her event load, the timing is unusual. Most Americans announce these event choices much earlier in the process – like Katie Ledecky dropping the 200 free, which pulls in her former NCAP teammate Erin Gemmell to the event.

In prior years, USA Swimming might have pulled in the 7th place finisher in the 100 free to add to the 400 free relay, but officials explicitly closed that gap in the rules for these Olympic Games. The 7th place finishers was Catie DeLoof, who loss a swim-off to her teammate Erika Connolly for a spot on the Olympic Team.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: American Swimmer Kate Douglass Cedes 100 Free Olympic Spot to Teammate Gretchen Walsh