Day 9 Finals Live Recap

2024 us olympic trials

Friends, this is it: the final session of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. After a week of incredible racing, there are just two more finals left to race – the women’s 50 freestyle and the men’s 1500 freestyle.

Gretchen Walsh And Tory Huske The losses came in last night’s 50 freestyle semi-finals, breaking lifetime bests of 24.06 and 24.09 respectively. Not only does this move them to fourth and sixth on the list of the fastest Americans in history, but it also puts them off the rest of the field by nearly four-tenths—a huge margin. But abe weitzel And simon manuel Have been the top two in this event in the last two Olympic Trials. They are the third and fourth qualifiers for the final and both aim to lock up an individual competition for the Paris Games.

bobby finke Should take control of the men’s 1500 freestyle. He’s coming off a sweep of the men’s distance events in Indianapolis, winning the 800 freestyle earlier this week. It would be a huge upset if an American dethrones Finke, the record holder and third-fastest ever, as he looks to win the event for the second consecutive trial. The race for second place is intensifying behind him luke whitlock Eyes are set on another Olympic event. But besides Finke, the only person in the final who has been under the OQT (15:00.99) is Charlie Clark Who can gain an edge over Whitlock and other potential contenders david johnson And Daniel Matheson,

Women’s 50 Freestyle – Final

Last:

1. simon manuel (Sunday), 24.13
2. Gretchen Walsh (NAC), 24.15
3. abe weitzel (CAL), 24.26
4. Tory Huske (AAC), 24.33
5. Riley Erisman (LAKR), 24.62
6. Erica Connolly (TNAQ), 24.63
7. Katy Deloof (NYAC), 24.69
8. Maxine Parker (CA-Y), 24.90

Last night of trial, simon manuel took her swimming comeback to a new level by adding an individual event to her Olympic program in Paris. She had already qualified for Team USA in the 4×100 freestyle relay, but her win here in the 50 freestyle gives her the opportunity to compete in the 50 freestyle for her third consecutive Olympics.

In 2021, Manuel punched his ticket to Paris at this event – ​​it was his last time. Tonight, Manuel grabbed his last chance at the individual event with both hands, swimming his fastest time since the 2019 World Championships and winning in 24.13. The time shaved .21 seconds off her season’s best and moved her to 8th in the world this season.

Both Gretchen Walsh And Tory Haske Added to their semifinal times, that would have placed them first and second in the final. Despite adding .09 seconds, Walsh was still able to get her hands on the wall in second place with 24.15, tying her Paris event. She was .02 seconds behind Manuel’s time and the swim is the second fastest swim of her career.

abe weitzel She swam strongly, finishing third in 24.26, .01 seconds off her season’s best time and ahead of Huske’s 24.33.

15 year old Riley Erisman Finished 5th in 24.62, .04 seconds off her personal best. In the semifinals, she moved up to second place in the USA Swimming 15–16 age group with a time of 24.66. With this swim she improved her hold on second place in her age group, only behind Claire Curzon24.17.

Men’s 1500 Freestyle – Final

• World Record: Sun Yang (CHN) – 14:31.02 (2012)
• American records: bobby finke – 14:31.59 (2023)
• US Open Records: bobby finke (USA) – 14:42.81 (2023)
• World Junior Record: Franco Grgic (CRO) – 14:46.09 (2019)
• 2021 US Olympic Trials champions: bobby finke – 14:46.06
• 2024 olympics qualifying time: 15:00.99

Last:

1. bobby finke (SPA), 14:40.28 US Open record
2. David Johnson (TST), 14:52.74
3. luke whitlock (Fast), 14:53.00
4. Daniel Matheson (Sunday), 14:59.51
5. Luke Ellis (Sand), 15:06.71
6. Charlie Clark (OSU), 15:12.60
7. William Mulgrew (SAC), 15:17.62
8. Carson Hick (KYA), 15:17.92

as expected, bobby finke Ran the men’s 1500 freestyle, and won the men’s distance race for the second consecutive Olympic Trials. Finke broke her own US Open record by winning the event in 14:40.28. He set that mark at 14:42.81 during the 2023 US Nationals; Later that summer in Fukuoka, he became the third-fastest performer in history (14:31.59), winning the world silver medal after an incredible race. Ahmed Hafnaoui,

His time tonight moves him to second in the world after this season Daniel WiffenGold medal performance at Doha Worlds in February.

There was a great race for the second and final men’s Olympic roster spot. During the early part of the race, it was Daniel Matheson Who held second place in lane 1, which he overturned luke whitlock At the 250 meter mark. david johnson He was also moving around, and he passed Matheson at the 450-metre turn into third place.

During the second 500 metres, Matheson began to lose contact with Whitlock and Johnston. Whitlock and Johnson were running right next to each other and keeping a close eye on each other. Johnson took second place at 1100 meters and began to increase his lead over Whitlock from there, consistently splitting 29-mids to Whitlock’s 29-heights.

Heading into the final 100 metres, Johnson took a 1.75 second lead over Whitlock. But like the 800 freestyle, Whitlock had a killer closer to his race. He kicked into gear and erased almost all of Johnson’s lead. The 18-year-old split 57.19 in the final 100 (with a field-best 27.74 final 50) but ran out of space to catch Johnson, finishing third, .26 seconds behind Johnson.

Johnston clocked a huge lifetime best of 14:52.74 to place second behind Whitlock. That’s a drop of 9.68 seconds for Johnson, who is sailing under the OQT and earned her first Olympic berth after finishing third in the 400 free and fourth in the 800 free earlier this week.

Only the pair of Finke and Clarke were broken 15 minutes before the final. Johnson, Whitlock (14:53.00), and Matheson (14:59.51) all cleared that hurdle for the first time tonight. Whitlock dropped a massive 14.36 seconds to take her third place and Matheson took 2.44 seconds off her old personal best to take fourth in 14:59.51.