U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 3 Notebook: Murphy (and Cal) Back?

Ryan Murphy going off the blocks at Olympic Trials -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 3 Notebook: Murphy (and Cal) Back?

For Ryan Murphy, the last taste of a major international competition was not a great one. After the 2019 World Championships, he left wanting more from his performances. His 200 back was solid as he earned a silver medal behind Evgeny Rylov, but in the 100 back, he faded badly down the stretch and ended up fourth after going out under world record pace. And then, he finished the meet with a rough 52.92 leadoff split on the 400 medley relay that left the American men at a significant disadvantage, and Great Britain took advantage on the way to a big upset.

Murphy entered Olympic Trials as clearly the country’s top backstroker, but he still flew under the radar somewhat after not recording any scintillating swims during the season. In the morning prelims, he toyed with the field in prelims after he went out in 26.30—slower than all but one of the other eventual semifinal qualifiers—but then accelerated to finish in 53.08 to tie for the third seed. In semifinals, however, Murphy went off. He swam a 52.22, his fastest effort since winning Pan Pacs gold in 2018 in 51.94.

A 51-second effort could be in the cards in the final, and Murphy has only done that three times in his career. He is already ahead of his winning time of 52.26 from the 2016 Trials. But more significantly, Murphy is chasing the Russian duo of Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, who have traded their country’s national record this year and each swum in the 52.1 range on multiple occasions. Xu Jiayu, the silver medalist in Rio and the two-time world champion in the event, is also looming.

Look for just how quick Murphy can swim in finals, but it’s clear the margins between those top four swimmers (and maybe more) set up to be tight at the Olympics.

Golden Bear Revival

Bryce Mefford before a race at Olympic Trials — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Murphy’s group from Cal that trains with U.S. head men’s Olympic coach Dave Durden got off to a sluggish start at the beginning of the meet. Sean Grieshop missed the 400 IM final, and both Reece Whitley and Josh Prenot were surprisingly shut out of semifinals in the 100 breast. That was not a great sign for a squad with so many contenders to not only qualify for the Olympic team but to make an impact for the U.S. in Tokyo.

But Cal’s fortunes have begun to shift. In addition to Murphy, Bryce Mefford qualified for the 100 back final after swimming under 53 in both prelims (52.99) and semifinals (52.87). Mefford’s previous best was a 54.34, so that was a massively impactful swim. Mefford is better in the 200 back, where he enters seeded fifth in 1:57.39, so this could be a sign of a big swim for him in that event.

Trenton Julian, meanwhile, is in good shape for a strong 200 fly after qualifying third for semifinals in 1:56.42. Julian was the top swimmer in the country this year before Zach Harting swam a 1:55.34 in prelims.

Lydia Jacoby Aiming For an Alaskan First

Lydia Jacoby after winning her semifinal heat of the 100 breast at Olympic Trials — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

In Monday’s 100 breast semifinals, Lydia Jacoby cut more than a half-second from her personal best time to take third seed in 1:05.71. Jacoby faces a tough fight to try to get onto the Olympic team with Lilly King the heavy favorite and Annie Lazor coming off an impressive effort in the semifinals. But Jacoby will be going for history: no swimmer from Alaska has ever qualified for an Olympic swim team. Elite swimmers from that northern state have been very rare, but Jacoby, already committed to further her swimming career at the University of Texas in 2022, has risen to that level.

After her semifinal swim, Jacoby reflected on the significance of representing a nontraditional swimming community. “It’s been amazing to be able to represent such a great group of people. We are closer than a lot of LSCs because we have a small amount of people, and I hope I made them proud.”

Unofficial Members of the Women’s 800 Free Relay?

Officially, the top six swimmers from Olympic Trials will (likely) be selected for the team to compete on that relay. But a lot of swimmers could make unofficial bids for that relay after not swimming the event at Trials. That’s exactly what happened in 2016, when Maya DiRado joined the squad to help deliver Olympic gold in Rio, and Natalie Coughlin was a late add to the 800 free relay finals squad at the 2004 and 2008 Games.

Melanie Margalis competing at Olympic Trials — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

In 2019, Simone Manuel led off the U.S. women’s 800 free relay at the World Championships, and Melanie Margalis swam the third leg. The two combined with Katie Ledecky and Katie McLaughlin to break the existing world record and earn a silver medal, just 0.37 behind Australia. But at Trials, Margalis scratched out of the event to focus on the 200 IM later in the day, and when heat five came to the blocks, Manuel was not in behind lane four as scheduled.

One heat later, Olivia Smoliga also scratched, choosing instead to focus her attention on the 100 back coming up in the evening. Smoliga currently owns the second-fastest time by an American this year, but the event schedule forced the 26-year-old to make a tough choice. Her best event, the 100 back, is coming up in Tuesday’s finals, and she is seeded second.

But should Manuel, Margalis and Smoliga all qualify for the team in some other event, they are eligible for relay duty, and that will leave the U.S. coaches with some tough decisions to make. Regan Smith could be another that makes a case for the 200 free after she didn’t even enter the event because of schedule considerations. Anyone who goes to Tokyo as a relay alternate has to actually compete, so the coaches could not simply drop someone at the last minute to add one of that trio. Perhaps that means a time trial during Olympic training camp would be in order to determine who swims where on the relays.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use