World Champ Trials Day 1 – Wednesday, July 25, 2018
200 Butterfly Women
This is an event that we have continued to under perform in as the most dominant swimming country ever. We’ve got only 7 girls seeded under 2:10. At Olympic Trials in 2000, we had 2 break 2:10 — Kaitlin Sandeno as a 17 year old and Misty Hyman aka Madame Butterfly Killer. Compare that to what has happened on the Men’s side of things and it’s completely opposite.
Poor timing for one of the greatest SCY swimmers ever: Stanford’s Ella Eastin. She has been diagnosed with mono and anyone that has ever had it themselves knows how life draining it can be. Hopefully it put her into a taper coma for 3 weeks and she’s completely 100% rested. #fingerscrossed
Hali Flickinger, former Georgia Bulldog, is the woman to beat. She is seeded first and has been on top in the USA for some time now in this event. A couple weeks ago she went 2:07 high but her best time is still from from the Rio Olympics (2:06.6).
We are looking forward to seeing Katie Drabot in this event, another Stanford superstar who had an awesome NCAA season. Keep your eyes peeled for her Cal nemesis, Katie McLaughlin, as she is a year removed from her neck injury and has also been swimming excellent. Dakota Luther has an Olympic bloodline and an Olympic coach, though it seems she doesn’t have an official team. That won’t matter, though.
Olivia Bray, a University of Tennessee commit from Virginia Gators, should be ready to race. And, of course, if Regan Smith is really going to attack this event, she will be in the mix. Charlotte Hook from TAC Titans is a mere 14 years old but has a chance to grab a second swim and some high quality experience on a stage like this. She is well rounded swimmer and is better at long course. It’ll be interesting to see what her best events become over time. Her 200 IM should be disgusting.
200 Butterfly Men
Boy oh boy do we love this event. Men’s side is jam packed. We got 24 dudes under 2:00. At Olympic Trials in 2000, we had 5 under 2:00. There are 10 teenagers at this meet under 2:00.
Jack Conger has really put his head down this past year. We’ve seen him show up to some Pro Swim Series meets with a decent looking beard and perform beautifully. This year he’s already been best times in the 50 and 100 Fly (23.3/51.0). Not to mention the 1:46.9 he put together in the 200 Free. Jack Conger is an important relay component for Team USA and should find himself with more than a hand full of swims.
Pace Clark trains with two of the world’s best: Chase Kalisz and Hali Flickinger. The little side breather doesn’t have 51.0 speed but he’s got tons of guts and will be out near his best 100 time. Chase will obviously also be in this race. Last time, however, Clark out touched him.
I think this could be a good first event for Jack LeVant, the youngster from North Texas. Sam Pomajevich had an incredible season under Eddie Reese and he is built to be a LCM swimmer. Plus, he’s from Virginia. Nicolas Albiero is coming off a premier ROY season for Louisville. Beefy T Shields is looking pretty skinny as he has steered his focus away from the 100, towards the 200. Lastly, look for Jack Saunderson to pop off a best time and get into Finals. He’s been on a roll and I don’t expect it to stop now.
Strong morning swims are going to be key on the Men’s side. It’s too competitive to risk getting 9th or 10th in the morning.