USA Swimming began its 2024 Olympic trials looking for superstars. And over nine whirlwind, record-breaking, exhausting days in Indianapolis, several emerged – or in some cases re-emerged.
Of course, Katie Ledecky never left. She qualified for her fourth Olympic Games, in all four of her events. And other veterans, like Lilly King and Ryan Murphy, will return to a U.S. Olympic team that looks more familiar than ever before. (More on that below.)
But the story of the week was that a program emerging from a disappointing 2023 World Cup identified additional top talent it could return to the sport’s pinnacle in Paris.
Here are five insights – and new names to know – from trials that concluded Sunday with a 48-member swimming team that should win plenty of medals at the 2024 Olympics in late July and early August.
Regan Smith is definitely back – and better than ever
Regan Smith entered 2020 and 2021 as a heavily hyped and predicted star of those Olympics. The associated pressure crushed her and left her without a gold medal. But over the past two years, she has rebuilt her mind and her swimming. And this time she’s really ready to make an impression at the Games.
With a third personal best in two months, she shattered the world record in the 100 meter backstroke during trials. She ultimately qualified in three events and will be favored to win gold or silver in both the 100 and 200 back. In fact, she was also great in a fourth event, the 100m butterfly, and would have qualified there had it not been for her…
Long track Gretchen Walsh has arrived
Gretchen Walsh was already a superstar on the NCAA circuit, where pools are 80 feet long. In previous years she had struggled to translate that success on the short course to the Olympic 50-meter pool (long course). But she worked on both her stroke and her self-confidence. She made her breakthrough in Indy in a semi-final with a world record in the 100 fly.
On the last test evening, Walsh also qualified in the 50 meter freestyle. She will swim these two events, plus the 4×100 meter freestyle relay in Paris.
Caeleb Dressel loves swimming and can win gold in Paris
Dressel has been something of an enigma for almost two years, ever since withdrawing midway through the 2022 competition. He then gave up swimming for months to prioritize his mental well-being, and to explain why the sport that made him a superstar also made him so “miserable.” He returned in 2023 but failed to qualify for that year’s world championships. As 2024 approached, no one really knew what he would be capable of or where his mind was.
Dressel answered these unknown questions this past week. After finishing third in the 100 freestyle at trials, he won the 50 free and the 100 fly, and qualified for those individual events. Including the 4×100 meter free relay, he will have the opportunity to defend at least three of his five gold medals in Tokyo in Paris.
And most importantly, while still a work in progress, his relationship with swimming is much healthier. “I’m happy,” Dressel said on Saturday after his last test race. “I’m happy with a lot of my swimming and to be back where I wanted to be with the sport is exceptional. I’m really proud of myself for that.”
A new generation of American male swimmers is emerging
Michael Phelps’ retirement in 2016 left a void in men’s swimming. Dressel arrived just in time to fill it. But he’s no longer a one-man band. And one of the highlights of his week, he said, was seeing a new generation of American men blossom.
In the freestyle events, Chris Guiliano, 20, became the first American man since Matt Biondi in 1988 to qualify in the 50, 100 and 200.
In the 100 and 200 flights, Thomas Heilman was introduced to the moment. At 17, he will be the youngest American male swimmer at the Olympics since Phelps and Aaron Peirsol in 2000. Heilman, who has broken national age records previously held by Phelps, is being hailed as a future star, but he could can step into the future. this summer in the spotlight earlier than expected.
And in the individual medleys, Carson Foster won both the 200 and 400 IM. Foster, a 22-year-old debut Olympian who last week spoke about working with mental performance coaches since missing the team in 2021, is one of the few men with an outside chance of challenging French phenom Léon Marchand in the medleys in Paris .
How the Tokyo Olympics postponed and prepared Team USA for 2024
At each of the past three Olympics, in 2012, 2016 and 2021, the U.S. swimming team had 16 or 17 holdovers from the previous Games. The 2024 team will have 23 holdovers. The uptick reflects broader trends in the sport — increased professional opportunities are allowing more athletes to pursue careers beyond their early 20s — but it is also a product of the pandemic-induced postponement of the Tokyo Games.
In 2020, Katie Grimes was 14; Torri Huske was 17; Kate Douglass was 18; and at best they were attempts to make the Olympic team.
The following summer they succeeded. And now their experiences in Tokyo could propel them to stardom. Grimes, an endurance queen, will take on a grueling Paris schedule: the 1500 free, the 400 IM and the 10-kilometer open water race on the River Seine. Known for her versatility, Douglass will be a medal favorite in the 200 IM, 200 breaststroke and 100 freestyle (she won all three at trials). And Huske, who missed a medal by 0.01 seconds in Tokyo, will compete in the 100 free and 100 fly.
“My last Olympics will have really helped me start the next one,” Huske said. “When I first made it last time, I was like, ‘Wow.’ That was kind of my whole goal: just make the team. … Now it’s like, okay, I got this, and it’s done, and now I can focus on the future and my other goals [at the Olympics].”
