Olympic Trials: 8 Best Performances From the Days of Omaha (With Videos)
As we inch closer to June 21, 2020, the original dates of the Olympic Trials, we at Swimming World wanted to give fans something to salivate over even with no Olympic Trials next week. The Trials will head to Omaha, Nebraska and the CHI Health Center for the fourth time, as the event has become one of swimming’s greatest spectacles.
The intensity of the Olympic Trials has been associated with the atmosphere of the basketball arena, and swimming fans from all over flock to Nebraska to watch their favorite swimmers chase their Olympic dreams for eight days. Even with no Olympic Trials next week, we wanted to take a look at eight of the best performances from the three Olympic Trials (2008, 2012, 2016) that happened inside the CHI Health Center.
Men’s 400 IM – 2008
Putting the Olympic Trials in a basketball venue in 2008 was a sign of how big swimming was getting in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics. And who better to start off the first night of the 2008 Trials than two of the biggest names in swimming – Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Their 400 IM duel at the 2008 Trials remains one of their most iconic battles in their storied rivalry. There was hardly a debate if anyone else in the field could challenge for the top two, so all the anticipation was on what Phelps and Lochte could go. Phelps was aiming to qualify for five individual events that would set him up for the greatest medal haul in a single Olympic Games, while Lochte was a serious threat to Phelps’ perfect eight gold medal run.
Ultimately on that first night in Omaha, Phelps and Lochte broke the world record, as the 23-year-old Phelps let the world know that he meant business in starting his run toward eight gold medals. Phelps touched in 4:05.25 and Lochte was at 4:06.08.
Women’s 400 IM – 2008
On that very same night in Omaha, about 30 minutes after Phelps broke the 400 IM world record, Katie Hoff gave the Qwest Center crowd an encore with a world record in the same event. Hoff was the two-time reigning world champion at the time and had set the world record the previous year in 2007, erasing a seven-year-old record in the process. However, three months prior to the Olympic Trials, Hoff’s world record had been broken by Australia’s Stephanie Rice and there were whispers all throughout the swimming community about whether Hoff could get her record back at Olympic Trials, setting up a duel later on at the Olympic Games.
Using her incredible back half, Hoff also made a statement on the first night of Olympic Trials that she was here and she was ready to swim fast. She took her world record back with a 4:31.12 – which still stands as the American record. And finishing second behind her was a breakout star in 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel, securing her first of three trips to the Games.
Women’s 100 Back – 2008
In the heats of the 100 backstroke, about 12 hours after the fireworks came out for the 400 IM world records, Hayley McGregory wasted no time in showing what she was made of, blasting a world record in the 100 backstroke with a 59.15. The swim took Natalie Coughlin’s 59.21 off the record books that she had set four months prior. Coughlin, who was set to swim in the very next heat, saw McGregory take her world record from her, and rather than waiting until the final to get it back, Coughlin decided to push her heat swim and nabbed her world record right back with a 59.03. That set up for a much-anticipated duel in the final, where it seemed almost obvious that it would take a world record to win.
In the final, Coughlin and McGregory took center stage again, with the former becoming the first woman to break 59 seconds with a 58.97. But McGregory finished in a heart breaking third place behind Margaret Hoelzer, who went on to win the bronze medal in Beijing.
Men’s 200 Breast – 2008
It was one of the craziest moments that any hardcore swimming fan can remember from the Olympic Trials. Brendan Hansen was the odds on favorite to win the 200 breaststroke and try to get his world record back from Kosuke Kitajima that he had lost earlier that year.
The race unfolded as expected with Hansen taking the lead early with Eric Shanteau in tow. Shanteau had pulled even at the 150 and it looked like Hansen was in trouble. The two training partners at the University of Texas were looking like the two representatives for the United States, but the 18,000 capacity crowd could sense something was wrong. And on the final 50 when Hansen was being passed by Texas teammate Scott Spann and Nebraska native Scott Usher. It was truly a shocking site. Hansen, who had been the number one 200 breaststroker in the United States for the better part of seven years, was not going to go to Beijing in the 200 breast. Spann won the race at 2:09.97 and Shanteau finished in second at 2:10.36.
We did not know it at the time, but Shanteau had been diagnosed with testicular cancer a couple weeks prior. Just before the team left for Beijing, Shanteau was cleared by doctors to go and compete and was able to undergo treatment after coming home from the Games.
Men’s 200 Back – 2008
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Having the Olympic Trials in a basketball venue was a special moment for the sport of swimming in the United States, as it created a precedent for swimming as a TV event and a spectacle rather than just a normal swim meet. Night six of the 2008 Olympic Trials fell on July 4, and the entire arena was decked out in either red, white or blue T-shirts. Aaron Peirsol, perhaps the second most famous swimmer on the U.S. team at that point, lined up to race Ryan Lochte, arguably the third most famous (on the men’s side) in the 200 backstroke final. The year prior, Lochte had ended Peirsol’s unbeaten streak that started at the 2001 World Championships, as the Florida Gator had beaten Peirsol’s world record in the process with a 1:54.32 at the World Champs. That set up a rematch at the 2008 Trials.
Much like the aforementioned 400 IM, the top two had solidified themselves as the front runners and everyone else was racing for third. Lochte and Peirsol had virtually nothing between them the entire race, as they were no further apart than two tenths at each of the three turns. Coming into the finish, as the world record line flashed on the screen, it looked like whoever would touch first would walk away with a new world record. It turns out, they both would. Peirsol won with a 1:54.32, with Lochte in second at 1:54.34. Peirsol tied Lochte’s world record from the year before, in one of the most exciting stroke for stroke races at the Olympic Trials.
Women’s 100 Back – 2012
Moving four years to the 2012 Trials, one of the marquee names was 17-year-old Missy Franklin and did she have what it takes to live up to the hype after such a spectacular showing at the 2011 Worlds? Franklin’s first opportunity to qualify was in the 100 backstroke final, just minutes after the semifinals of the 200 freestyle, and she was going to line up alongside the two-time reigning Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin. Even though Coughlin had the pedigree, it looked like the torch was going to be passed to the next generation as a pair of high schoolers Rachel Bootsma and Olivia Smoliga also posed threats to make the team for London.
Coughlin took the race out hard in lane seven, and was out under world record pace. But Franklin turned on the jets on the final 25, and secured her spot on her first Olympic team with a new American record of 58.85. Bootsma finished second at 59.49. Coughlin finished in third, and almost immediately swam over to congratulate Franklin and Bootsma, as they carried the American torch passed on to them from Coughlin.
Women’s 800 Free – 2012
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Leading into the 2012 Olympic Trials, only the most dedicated swimming fans knew of 15-year-old Katie Ledecky out of Washington DC. Leading into Trials, Kate Ziegler was the big favorite to take the 800 free in Omaha and fight for a medal later in London. Ledecky had been competitive at a few Pro Series meets that year and had a lot of momentum building into Trials. The year before, she had broken out as the junior national champion in the 400, 800 and 1500 free, and all of a sudden she was among the contenders to make the team for London.
In the 800 final, Ledecky wasted no time in grabbing the lead. She never relinquished and held off her idol Ziegler, for a spot on her first Olympic team. Ledecky touched at 8:19.78 with a big fist bump in the air, while Ziegler was second at 8:21.87. It was an iconic photograph – a lanky teenager candidly celebrating a truly great swim. And yet she was not done, Ledecky went on to win the Olympic gold medal in perhaps the biggest upset of the London Games, beating home favorite and world record holder Rebecca Adlington.
Men’s 100 Fly – 2016
Michael Phelps had made headlines at the 2016 Olympic Trials because everyone in attendance knew that it would be his last meet on U.S. soil, as he was preparing to ride into the sunset after the Rio Games. He had gotten the job done in the 200 butterfly, securing his fifth trip to the Games as he held up five fingers in the water. In the 200 IM, he held off his good friend and long-time rival Ryan Lochte. That left just the 100 fly as his last individual event to qualify in for Rio.
The semifinal of the 100 fly had fallen the night of the 200 IM final so Phelps drew lane 7 in the 100 fly final. The top six had all swam 51’s so it was going to be a huge dog fight to get on the team, and everyone in the building knew Phelps wasn’t going to finish his career on US soil in second place. But still, no one knew what could happen in a race that required so little margin for error.
Phelps turned fourth at the 50, but turned on his patented Phelps finish and had one of the best final 25s of his career. He touched first at the finish with a 51.00, and punched the water in celebration, capping off his final swim on US soil with a victory – the Phelps way.