USA Swimming brought its Olympic Trials to Indianapolis feeling hopeful but uncertain on many levels. Was this meeting going to work in a football stadium? And were American swimmers going to respond to the increasing competitive challenges coming from around the world?
Coming out of the nine-day meeting, the uncertainties have been resolved. With emphasis.
Swimming in a football stadium works brilliantly. Almost everyone liked it. There will be no further cuts from this.
And, most importantly, America is still a very fast swimming country. Australia and a handful of outstanding individual talents are likely to win their share of medals in Paris, but the US has plenty more to offer and could rack up a ton of medals – gold and overall – after a stellar performance at the 2023 World Championships.
If things break, so be it.
The US won only six gold medals at the ’23 Worlds, while Australia won 13. US coach Bob Bowman reported that the Americans won 38–25 on aggregate, prompting the trash talk heard around the world from Australian veteran star Kate Campbell.
An Australian TV talking head inspired Campbell by calling Americans “sad, pathetic losers” and she was immediately involved.
“Such sore losers,” Campbell said. “I mean, it’s one thing for Australia to come out on top in the world, but to beat America is even cooler.
“The first night of the competition, we didn’t have to listen the star Spangled Banner Walk around the stadium. I can’t tell you how happy that made me. Bring it to Paris. All I have to say to America is stop being a loser.
“When we’re right next to each other in the warm-up area, America has this monster cowbell that they ring, and as soon as someone comes out to go into the competition pool, they’re going ‘USA, US -A’ and I play I’ve never wanted to punch anyone more and steal that cowbell.”
Campbell, who told Sydney Morning Herald Having said in April that his comments were in jest, he did not swim at the World Championships last year and did not make the Australian team for the Olympics. But she will remain top of mind for many Americans. When it comes to swimming, it would be the Cowbell Games.
“We’re all bringing cowbells,” said American runner Abby Weitzel. “Whenever comments are made about your country or your jobs, it’s all competitive, and I think we are all competitive, our competitive side comes out. So we’re all bringing the cowbells extra loud.”
Sprinter Hunter Armstrong was offered the position, commenting, “We need more cowbells.”
And the greatest swimmer of them all, Michael Phelps, said on NBC after watching Campbell’s clip: “If someone said that to me, I would lose it. I would give them a hard time for every word they said about me.”
There are many reasons to believe that the 46-member squad selected here – 26 men and 20 women – can lead the United States back to double-digit gold medals in Paris and perhaps even as many as 15.
Start with this: This is an older, wiser, and faster American team.
There is one swimmer in her fourth Olympics (Katie Ledecky), seven in her third Olympics and another 15 swimmers who have now competed in their second Summer Games. Seven of these veterans have won individual gold medals in the past. They’ve been through battles – some of them in their own minds – and have come back stronger.
They include Caleb Dressel, who was not on the U.S. team for 2022 last year in his comeback from a mental-health episode that nearly took him out of the game. Dressel, who has won seven gold medals in the last two Olympics, will swim two individual events and all the relays he can handle. He was important in 2021 and will be this time too.
Dressel leads a group of cutthroat racers who will compete fiercely with everything they swim. Lily King, Ryan Murphy, Bobby Finke and Simon Manuel have a long history of being the first to hit the wall.
But it’s a different group, with no individual gold medals yet to their name, that could change the situation for American Tokyo Olympians Regan Smith and Kate Douglas, both of whom won three events here at the trials and figure prominently in the mix in Paris. Will be. Women’s side. On the men’s side, Chris Guiliano—the first Notre Dame swimming Olympian—qualified in three individual events and will be the best finisher in the relays.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are new faces, as always. The roster consists of eight teenagers, including the brother-sister combo of Aaron and Alex Shekel. Half of them are men while women usually get ready first. Youth has always been served in American swimming.
USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey said before the trials that the team’s goal in Paris is to win the meet (maximum medals) and the gold medal. The night’s promotional video here featured several clips of the American swimmers winning silver medals. Perhaps it was just an accurate recounting of how 2023 went for America, but it could also be a controversial national fuel.
Nonetheless, the United States will bring a better team to Paris this year. How much better it will be remains to be seen, but the sound of the cowbell will definitely be heard.
Discover more from news2source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
