Kelsi Worrell Now Undisputed American Queen of 100 Fly

Photo Courtesy: The Arizona Republic-USA TODAY Sports

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By David Rieder.

The last time Kelsi Worrell traveled west to race a 100 fly, she got her hand on the wall first, but it wasn’t pretty. At the Arena Pro Swim Series meet in Mesa, Ariz., Worrell had to come from behind to get to the wall before Louise Hansson, and her final time was a sluggish 58.60.

“The race felt really heavy. From the beginning that’s how I describe it. Nothing was easy about it,” Worrell said after that race in Mesa.

But Worrell explained that she had a very good reason to be feeling sluggish in the water: She had just returned from her first-ever altitude training camp, where she swam with Greg Meehan and several members of his Stanford women’s team for two weeks in Colorado Springs.

“It’s definitely humbling,” Worrell said of training with a group that includes Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky. “They train so well, and so I walked way like, ‘Wow.’ I got my butt kicked a little bit, but I also had fun. They’re a great group to train with. I was able to push myself, and it has translated back at Louisville.”

She’s also translated that success to the racing pool, as Worrell’s efforts her signature 100 fly have been much improved at the last two stops of the Arena Pro Swim Series. She won in Atlanta in 57.50 and then in Santa Clara in 57.44.

Her Santa Clara time ranks as the second-best in-season performance of her career and the sixth-fastest time in the world. Worrell actually swam faster than she did in the Olympic semi-finals, where she finished a disappointing ninth.

Worrell first broke out as a short course star, becoming the first woman to swim the 100-yard fly under 50 seconds at the 2015 NCAA championships, but over the last two years she has grown into a prolific long course 100 butterflyer.

That rise culminated with her win in the event at Olympic Trials last year, when she beat then-defending gold medalist Dana Vollmer and touched in 56.48, making her only the second American woman to ever crack 57. Now, after a full year as a professional swimmer, Worrell only feels more comfortable in the race.

“This year I didn’t race a lot of short course, and so I put a little more emphasis on long course training,” she said. “I haven’t been rested for a long time now—this is my first year without a rested short course meet. It’s been a different experience this year. I am really enjoying 100 fly long course now.”

dana-vollmer-100-fly-prelims-2016-rio-olympics

Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

When Worrell did not make the Olympic final in the event, the U.S. team had a solid fallback option in Vollmer, who ended up capturing the bronze medal. Now, with Vollmer expecting a second child this summer and out of competition, Worrell is clearly the No. 1 U.S. option in the event.

If she finishes first in the 100 fly at U.S. Nationals as expected, Worrell would earn spots in that event as well as the 50 fly and on the U.S. 400 medley relay team at the World Championships in Budapest.

On top of that, she could also go after a spot in the 200 fly or on the 400 free relay—and even possibly the 50 free. Worrell won that event in Santa Clara in 25.11, a time that only two Americans (Simone Manuel and Madison Kennedy) have surpassed this season.

Worrell does have some experience swimming a larger program at a major meet—at the Short Course World Championships this December in Windsor, Worrell won silver medals in all three butterfly events while also filling holes for the U.S. team on five different relays.

“It makes it a lot more fun,” Worrell said. “Instead of sitting around—at the Olympics I was sitting around for five or six days between my events. Still loved cheering and being part of Team USA, but it is different to be part of so many relays and so many events, so that is a motivation for this year, too.”

But regardless of what she can manage in the off-events, Worrell’s abilities in the two-lap butterfly race mean she’s likely to be a key piece of the American squad that heads to Budapest.

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Thomas A. Small

6 years ago

Congratulations