U.S. Olympic Trials: Lilly King Crushes 1:04.72 100 Breast, Annie Lazor Records Second Fastest Time in the World

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Olympic Trials: Lilly King Crushes 1:04.72 100 Breast, Annie Lazor Records Second Fastest Time in the World

Lilly King was already the overwhelming favorite for Olympic gold in the women’s 100 breast, entering the summer as the defending Olympic gold medalist, two-time world champion and world record-holder, and she further extended her margin with a brilliant semifinal performance. King went out in 30.13 and then swam her way to a 1:04.72, the fastest time recorded in the event since King set the world record of 1:04.13 back in 2017. The time was the eighth-quickest performance in history, with only King, Ruta Meilutyte, Yulia Efimova and Jessica Hardy having ever been quicker.

But just as notable was the second-place finisher in the heat. Annie Lazor, King’s training partner at Indiana, swam a 1:05.37 to clobber her previous best time of 1:05.92 (set earlier in the day in prelims). Lazor moved to second in the world rankings, well ahead of previous world No. 2 Sophie Hansson of Sweden (1:05.69), and she became the 10th-fastest performer ever in the event.

“I haven’t been under 1:04.9 since 2017. It’s been a long road and I’m really happy with that. Training is paying off,” King said. “My plan was to take off and hold on for dear life, and I knew Annie was next to me having a good swim, and I just wanted to race her.”

King and Lazor are rounding into form at the right time, and the two will be favored in the 200 breast later in the week in addition to this 100 breast final.

“It is just like practice every day. I pushed it but still think I have more in me,” Lazor said. “(King) is the one who has pushed me the past few years. We have something cool that we both want to do this summer, and we want to do it together.”

In the first semifinal, veteran Bethany Galat held the top seed after cracking 1:06 for the first time in the morning prelims, and she held an early lead in the heat before 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby ran her down and took the lead down the stretch. Jacoby ended up touching in 1:05.71, crushing her previous best time of 1:06.38 from earlier this year and moving her to fourth in the world rankings behind King, Lazor and Hansson. Galat took second in the heat in 1:05.96. The Americans will already own four of the top six times in the world heading into the event final.

“I feel great. I’m so excited. That’s a great place for where I want to be tomorrow,” Jacoby said. On being an elite swimmer from Alaska, Jacoby said, “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.”

Four other swimmers qualified for the final between 1:07.03 and 1:07.28. Molly Hannis, a 2016 Olympian in the 200 breast, initially qualified for the final after recording a 1:07-low, but she was disqualified, opening the door for Kaitlyn Dobler to move up and claim lane eight for her first Olympic Trials final.

Results

Lilly King 1:04.72
Annie Lazor 1:05.37
Lydia Jacoby 1:05.71
Bethany Galat 1:05.96
Micah Sumrall 1:07.03
Emily Escobedo 1:07.23
Miranda Tucker 1:07.26
Kaitlyn Dobler 1:07.28

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