U.S. Olympic Trials: Early Thoughts on Tuesday’s Prelims

Commentary by Jeff Commings

OMAHA, Nebraska, June 25. IT'S just an hour after the water boiled at the CenturyLink Center at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, where Ryan Lochte and others set the arena ablaze with world-leading swims. Now, it's time to look at what we will see — or in a couple of cases, what we will not see — in tomorrow's prelims.

Tyler Clary finished third in the men's 400 IM final today, and is taking Tuesday off to recuperate physically and mentally. The FAST swimmer was entered in the 200 free, but is not listed in tomorrow's heat sheet. Clary had a fairly realistic shot at making the final, where six swimmers will be chosen for the 4×200 freestyle relay. Clary's next event is the 200 butterfly, where his odds of making the team are quite high. But is he backing off the 200 free in order to reset his engines for a run at revenge over Michael Phelps? Since 2009, Clary had been the second American in the 400 IM, and has to be steaming over Phelps' decision to race the event tonight.

Elizabeth Beisel is entered in the 400 freestyle, not the 100 backstroke. It's hard to evaluate Beisel's Olympic odds in these events, both of which are stacked with depth. She was seeded eighth in both events, but probably figured her odds of making the final were better in the 400 free. The field does looked a little bit more stacked in the 100 backstroke, but judging by the way Beisel swam in the 400 IM tonight, I'm not counting her out in the 400 free final tomorrow.

I'm thrilled to see Randall Bal in the heat sheet for the men's 100 backstroke. Seeded ninth tomorrow, Bal hasn't raced domestically since 2010, but has been racing in Europe periodically. Bal was a favorite to make the Olympic squad in the 100 back in 2008, but finished fourth. It will be a bigger challenge for Bal in 2012, with the likes of David Plummer, Nick Thoman, Matt Grevers and possibly Ryan Lochte in the hunt.

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