Chris Guiliano Makes First Olympic Team in 200 Free; Came in Seeded 29th on Psych Sheet

By Laura Rosado 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
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Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2  | Day 3
Finals Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Chris Guiliano is a U.S. Olympian, and the first to come out of the University of Notre Dame. (ND alum Jilen Siroky made the team in 1996, but she was 14 years old at the time).

After a breakout summer where he was a surprise individual Worlds qualifier in the 100 free, Guiliano has only continued to improve. He matched his best time in the 100 free exactly at the Ohio State Invite (47.93) and went on to become the 3rd fastest performer in the yards version of this event at the ACC Championships (40.62).

But Guiliano had another surprise in store for the crowd in Indianapolis tonight. He was expected to vie for an individual spot in the 100 free, where he’s the #2 seed, or even the 50 (#10), but not the 200 free, where he was seeded way down at 29th on the psych sheets.

Swimming out of lane 1, Guiliano crushed his best time in the 200 free to take the second individual spot behind winner Luke Hobson. Guiliano now clocks in as the 11th fastest American performer of all-time; Hobson was already #4.

Coming into this meet, his best time stood at 1:48.75, set almost exactly a month ago at the Indy May Cup. It’s also worth noting that he only broke 1:50 for the first time at last year’s U.S. Open, the same meet where he made his first Worlds team. Check out his rapid progression below; he also got faster through every round at Trials.

U.S. Olympic Trials, June 17, 2024 (Finals)
U.S. Olympic Trials, June 16, 2024 (Semifinals)
U.S. Olympic Trials, June 16, 2024 (Prelims)
Indy May Cup, May 15, 2024 (Finals)

50
24.10
24.09
23.94
25.00

100
50.77 (26.67)
51.69 (27.60)
51.15 (27.22)
52.30 (27.30)

150
1:18.23 (27.46)
1:19.43 (27.74)
1:19.00 (27.84)
1:20.39 (28.09)

200
1:45.38 (27.15)
1:46.83 (27.40)
1:47.05 (28.05)
1:48.75 (28.36)

Over just 33 days, Guiliano figured out how to have a killer back-half. His final 50 tied with Brooks Curry as the 2nd fastest of the field, only behind Hobson.

Hobson and Guiliano will be joined by Drew Kibler and Kieran Smith on the 4×200 relay in Paris. Curry and Blake Pieroni may join them as well, provided the roster limit doesn’t come into play.

Guiliano’s success follows a wave of momentum out of Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish recorded their highest NCAA team finish ever this past March.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Chris Guiliano Makes First Olympic Team in 200 Free; Came in Seeded 29th on Psych Sheet