Morning Splash: Cassidy Bayer Has Big Opportunity in the 200 Butterfly

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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By David Rieder

The women’s 200 butterfly at Olympic Trails has one undisputed favorite to win the event and contend for a medal in Rio.

But at this meet, second place is as good as first, and there could be a real opening for that second spot.

The favorite, of course, would be Cammile Adams, the Pan Pacs champion in 2014 and the silver medalist in the event at the World Championships last year. Katie McLaughlin was also in that World Championship final, finishing sixth after leading much of the way, but she is still working her way back from a neck injury sustained in January.

Maya DiRado would figure in as a legitimate contender in the 200 fly, but she almost certainly will not swim the event. The 200 fly semifinals would come right before the 200 IM final, and DiRado’s chances of making the Olympic team—and perhaps winning a medal—are much higher in the IM.

You of course have to look at Hali Flickinger and Kelsi Worrell as legitimate contenders in the 200 fly as well. Flickinger is coming off a surprising finals appearance in the 100 fly, and Worrell, as you likely already know, had a pretty solid 100 fly of her own.

But don’t count out 16-year-old Cassidy Bayer, who is swimming faster than ever coming into her signature event.

Bayer finished fourth in the 100 fly Monday, posting a 58.35 in the semifinal after lowering her best time from 58.87 to 58.11 in her semifinal swim Sunday evening.

But Bayer wasn’t even expecting to be in the final of the shorter butterfly.

“I wasn’t expecting fourth place right now,” Bayer said after the semifinal. “I was expecting, make it to the semis, and if you don’t make finals, that’s fine. But seeing where I stand, I’m pretty happy with it.”

A lot of 16-year-olds would walk out for their first Olympic Trials swims wide-eyed and panicked, but not Bayer. So far, she has managed to turn any nervous energy into motivation to keep on pushing and trying to advance to the next round.

Bayer has some experience with the three round format that includes semifinals after swimming at the World Junior Championships last summer in Singapore. But Bayer finished fourth in both the 100 and 200 fly at that meet and swam her slowest races in the final each time.

“That’s something I’ve been focusing on a lot,” she said. “Focusing on that finals swim, to get those three swims in and be good the whole time. These three 200s aren’t going to be easy.”

Bayer enters seeded fifth in the 200 fly in 2:08.03, but based on her 100 fly performance she should have a sizeable drop in her—and she will almost certainly need to post a time under 2:07 to have a shot at qualifying for Rio. But even with how well she performed in the 100 fly in Omaha, it was just a warmup for the 200-meter distance, which has been her circled event all year.

That second spot may be up for grabs, but Bayer knows she still has her work cut out for her.

“These girls are fast,” she said. “I’ll try. We’ll see what comes out of it. If I make the team, that’s great. If I don’t, no big deal. But that’d be great if I could.”

Bayer knows she can’t control what anyone else does—only herself. And with all the training and race preparation complete, the game right now is all mental.

At her first Olympic Trials, Bayer is staying positive, having fun and fueling her own confidence.

“Live in the moment. Put it all out there,” Bayer said. “I’ll try to go another best time, and we’ll see what comes out of it.”

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