The 2020 USA Swimming Olympic trials was held at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, for a fourth consecutive time. Originally scheduled from June 21 to 28, 2020, it was rescheduled to June 4 to 7, 2021, (wave I) and June 13 to 20, 2021, (wave II) due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021. The meet served as the national championships in swimming for the United States."2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming Split Into Two Events". USA Swimming. January 26, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021. Those qualifying competed for the United States in swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Qualification criteria A maximum of 52 swimmers (26 of each sex, not including open water swimmers) were chosen for the 2020 Summer Olympics from Wave II. To make the Olympic team, a swimmer must place in the top two in one of the fourteen individual events. To be considered for the U.S. 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay teams, a swimmer must place in the top six in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle, respectively. Swimmers must have achieved a time standard to be eligible to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials:
Event Men Women Men Women Wave I Wave II 50 m freestyle 23.19 25.99 22.71 25.65 100 m freestyle 50.49 56.49 49.74 55.56 200 m freestyle 1:50.79 2:01.69 1:49.65 2:00.24 400 m freestyle 3:57.29 4:16.89 3:54.21 4:13.28 800 m freestyle 8:12.99 8:48.09 8:08.95 8:44.01 1500 m freestyle 15:44.89 16:49.19 15:35.69 16:44.60 100 m backstroke 56.59 1:02.69 55.51 1:01.49 200 m backstroke 2:02.99 2:14.69 2:00.81 2:12.94 100 m breaststroke 1:03.29 1:10.99 1:01.97 1:09.55 200 m breaststroke 2:17.89 2:33.29 2:15.28 2:30.49 100 m butterfly 54.19 1:00.69 53.37 59.59 200 m butterfly 2:01.19 2:14.59 1:59.63 2:12.56 200 m individual medley 2:04.09 2:17.39 2:03.02 2:15.26 400 m individual medley 4:25.99 4:51.79 4:23.24 4:47.72 Information retrieved from USA Swimming.
Two wave structure In January 2021, USA Swimming announced its decision to break the Olympic trials into two meets called waves. This decision was made in part to follow social distancing protocols and keep attendees, athletes, and workers safer during the COVID-19 pandemic.Bachman, Rachel (January 26, 2021). "U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials Will Be Cut in Half". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 4, 2021.D'Addona, Dan (January 26, 2021). "USA Olympic Swimming Trials to be Split into Two Waves For Better Social Distancing". Swimming World. Retrieved July 4, 2021.Keith, Braden (January 26, 2021). "(UPDATE) USA Swimming Will Split 2021 Olympic Trials Into Two Separate Meets". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 4, 2021. Each wave had a different set of qualification time standards. The time standards took effect January 28, 2021 and an initial qualifying period for both waves ended May 30, 2021. Wave I swimmers who met the time standards for Wave II at the Wave I meet and finished first or second in their event qualified to compete at the Wave II meet. Finals for Wave I were conducted in an A-final and B-final format.USA Swimming (June 7, 2021). "2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave I: Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
A total of 50 swimmers from Wave I qualified to compete in Wave II.Shinn, Peggy (June 8, 2021). "50 Athletes From Swimming's U.S. Olympic Team Trials Wave I Qualify For Wave II". TeamUSA.org. Retrieved July 4, 2021. The first swimmer who swam in the Wave I meet and advanced to a second swim, semifinal or final, at the Wave II meet was Heather MacCausland in the women's 100-meter breaststroke on June 14, 2021.Johnson, Annika (June 14, 2021). "Women's 100 Breast Prelims Sees First Wave I Swimmer to Make Semi's". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 4, 2021. The most watched YouTube video from the entire Olympic trials came from Wave I not Wave II. It was a clip of Kayla Han winning the B-final of the women's 400-meter individual medley and breaking a USA Swimming national age group record in the process.Thuc Nhi Nguyen (August 21, 2022). "La Mirada teen swimmer Kayla Han makes national waves with Paris 2024 on horizon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
Between Wave I and Wave II, 2,285 individuals competed at the 2020 Olympic trials, a decrease of over 700 swimmers from the 2016 Olympic trials. As a whole, proportionally fewer Wave I swimmers and proportionally more Wave II swimmers swam faster than their seed times compared to swimmers at the 2016 Olympic trials.Johnson, Annika (July 12, 2021). "More Swimmers Beat Their Seed Times at U.S. Olympic Trials in 2020 Than in 2016". SwimSwam. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
Events The meet featured twenty-eight individual events in a long course (50-meter) pool—fourteen events for men and fourteen events for women. Events 200 meters and shorter were held with preliminaries, semifinals and finals, while events 400 meters and longer were held with preliminaries and finals. Semifinals featured sixteen swimmers in two heats; the finals included eight swimmers in a single heat. Preliminaries were seeded with ten lanes. Event order, which mimicked that of the 2020 Olympics, with the exception of the Olympic relay events, were the following for Wave II:
Date Sunday June 13, 2021 Monday June 14, 2021 Tuesday June 15, 2021 Wednesday June 16, 2021 M o r n i n g Men's 400 IM (heats)Women's 100 butterfly (heats)Men's 400 freestyle (heats)Women's 400 IM (heats)Men's 100 breaststroke (heats) Women's 100 backstroke (heats)Men's 200 freestyle (heats)Women's 100 breaststroke (heats)Men's 100 backstroke (heats)Women's 400 freestyle (heats) Women's 200 freestyle (heats)Men's 200 butterfly (heats)Women's 200 IM (heats)Women's 1500 freestyle (heats) Men's 100 freestyle (heats)Women's 200 butterfly (heats)Men's 200 breaststroke (heats)Men's 800 freestyle (heats) E v e n i n gMen's 400 IM (final)Women's 100 butterfly (semi-finals)Men's 400 freestyle (final)Women's 400 IM (final)Men's 100 breaststroke (semi-finals) Women's 100 butterfly (final)Men's 200 freestyle (semi-finals)Women's 100 breaststroke (semi-finals)Men's 100 breaststroke (final)Women's 400 freestyle (final)Men's 100 backstroke (semi-finals)Women's 100 backstroke (semi-finals) Women's 200 freestyle (semi-finals)Men's 200 freestyle (final)Women's 100 backstroke (final)Men's 100 backstroke (final)Women's 100 breaststroke (final)Men's 200 butterfly (semi-finals)Women's 200 IM (semi-finals) Men's 100 freestyle (semi-finals)Women's 200 freestyle (final)Men's 200 butterfly (final)Women's 200 butterfly (semi-finals)Men's 200 breaststroke (semi-finals)Women's 200 IM (final)Women's 1500 freestyle (final) Date Thursday June 17, 2021 Friday June 18, 2021 Saturday June 19, 2021 Sunday June 20, 2021 M o r n i n g Women's 100 freestyle (heats)Men's 200 backstroke (heats)Women's 200 breaststroke (heats)Men's 200 IM (heats) Women's 800 freestyle (heats)Men's 100 butterfly (heats)Women's 200 backstroke (heats) Men's 50 freestyle (heats)Women's 50 freestyle (heats)Men's 1500 freestyle (heats)No morning session. E v e n i n g Men's 800 freestyle (final)Men's 200 breaststroke (final)Women's 100 freestyle (semi-finals)Men's 200 backstroke (semi-finals)Women's 200 butterfly (final)Men's 100 freestyle (final)Women's 200 breaststroke (semi-finals)Men's 200 IM (semi-finals) Women's 200 breaststroke (final)Men's 200 backstroke (final)Women's 200 backstroke (semi-finals)Men's 200 IM (final)Women's 100 freestyle (final)Men's 100 butterfly (semi-finals) Men's 100 butterfly (final)Women's 200 backstroke (final)Women's 800 freestyle (final)Men's 50 freestyle (semi-finals)Women's 50 freestyle (semi-finals)Men's 50 freestyle (final)Women's 50 freestyle (final)Men's 1500 freestyle (final)
U.S. Olympic Team The following swimmers qualified to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics (for pool events):"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Roster". USA Swimming. June 21, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
Men Michael Andrew, Zach Apple, Hunter Armstrong, Bowe Becker, Gunnar Bentz, Michael Brinegar, Patrick Callan, Brooks Curry, Caeleb Dressel, Nic Fink, Bobby Finke, Townley Haas, Zach Harting, Chase Kalisz, Drew Kibler, Jay Litherland, Bryce Mefford, Jake Mitchell, Ryan Murphy, Blake Pieroni, Andrew Seliskar, Tom Shields, Kieran Smith, Andrew Wilson.
Women Phoebe Bacon, Erika Brown, Claire Curzan, Catie DeLoof, Kate Douglass, Hali Flickinger, Brooke Forde, Katie Grimes, Natalie Hinds, Torri Huske, Lydia Jacoby, Lilly King, Annie Lazor, Katie Ledecky, Paige Madden, Simone Manuel, Katie McLaughlin, Allison Schmitt, Bella Sims, Regan Smith, Olivia Smoliga, Erica Sullivan, Alex Walsh, Abbey Weitzeil, Emma Weyant, Rhyan White.
U.S. Olympic Team members in open water swimming events:
Men Jordan Wilimovsky.
Women Haley Anderson, Ashley Twichell.
Results Key:
Men's events 50 m freestyle"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.Caeleb Dressel 21.04 USMichael Andrew 21.48 Nathan Adrian 21.73100 m freestyle"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.Caeleb Dressel 47.39 =USZach Apple 47.72Blake Pieroni 48.16200 m freestyle"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2021.Kieran Smith 1:45.29Townley Haas 1:45.66 Drew Kibler 1:45.92400 m freestyle"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2021.Kieran Smith 3:44.86Jake Mitchell 3:48.17 Ross Dant 3:48.30800 m freestyle"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 800m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.Bobby Finke 7:48.22Michael Brinegar 7:49.94 Ross Dant 7:50.661,500 m freestyle"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 1500m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.Bobby Finke 14:46.06Michael Brinegar 15:00.87 Jordan Wilimovsky 15:05.29100 m backstroke"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Backststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2021.Ryan Murphy 52.33Hunter Armstrong 52.48 Shaine Casas 52.76200 m backstroke"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Backstroke Final Results". Omega Timing. June 18, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.Ryan Murphy 1:54.20Bryce Mefford 1:54.79 Austin Katz 1:55.86"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.Michael Andrew 58.73Andrew Wilson 58.74 Nic Fink 58.80"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.Nicolas Fink 2:07.55Andrew Wilson 2:08.32 Will Licon 2:08.50100 m butterfly"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results". Omega Timing. June 19, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.Caeleb Dressel 49.87Tom Shields 51.19 Luca Urlando 51.64200 m butterflyZach Harting 1:55.06Gunnar Bentz 1:55.34 Luca Urlando 1:55.43200 m IM"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Individual Medley Final Results". Omega Timing. June 18, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.Michael Andrew 1:55.44Chase Kalisz 1:56.97 Kieran Smith 1:57.23400 m IMChase Kalisz 4:09.09Jay Litherland 4:10.33 Carson Foster 4:10.86
Jake Mitchell did not meet the qualifying standard (3:46.78) in the final, nor had he achieved the time elsewhere within the Olympic qualifying period (March 1, 2019 to June 27, 2021). Since the latter had only been achieved by the 11th-place finisher, USA Swimming organised a time trial for the 2nd to 10th place finishers, which was held 2 days after the initial final. Mitchell recorded 3:45.86 to win the time trial, which qualified him for the Olympic team."The Most Electric Time Trial In Swimming History" SwimSwam. June 15, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2024.