U.S. Open Preview: Welcome to a New Olympic Year
In the words of Bill Murray in the 1993 film Groundhog Day, “It’s the Olympic Year. Again.” As the coronavirus pushed back the Olympic Games to 2021, we are once again entering “the Olympic year” with so much emphasis on long course training and gearing up for another chance at peaking in June for the Olympic Trials. That march to Omaha begins this weekend with the U.S. Open.
This year’s Toyota U.S. Open will look a little different than year’s past. The meet will be spread out over nine different sites across the country in order to minimize travel and allow for more realistic social distancing while the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the United States. Many of the best American pro swimmers are overseas competing in the International Swimming League, but most of those that chose to stay stateside will be at the U.S. Open, along with some of the best amateur collegiate swimmers.
This will be the first long course domestic meet in traditional style since the Des Moines Pro Series in early March, before the pandemic screeched everything to a halt on March 12. Most of the racing will be done virtually as USA Swimming will provide a leaderboard each night, compiling all the swims from the nine locations, giving fans an opportunity to compare where their favorite swimmers stack up against the others around the nation.
Toyota U.S. Open sites (Psych Sheets)
- Beaverton, Oregon – Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center
- Des Moines, Iowa – Wellmark YMCA-The YMCA of Greater Des Moines
- Greensboro, North Carolina – Greensboro Aquatic Center
- Huntsville, Alabama – Huntsville Aquatics Center
- Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana University Natatorium
- Irvine, California – William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center
- Richmond, Virginia – SwimRVA
- San Antonio, Texas – North East ISD Blossom Athletic Complex
- Sarasota, Florida – Selby Aquatic Center
Here are a few storylines to watch from the Toyota US Open and where they will be happening:
How Good are the Virginia Women? (Richmond)
Photo Courtesy: Virginia Athletics
We already saw the Virginia women, last year’s top seeded team at the canceled NCAA championships, swim in a few intrasquad meets this season and the times were good, as the Cavaliers seem hungry to get the national championship this year. Their women’s team is possibly even stronger this season with the addition of Alex Walsh as the 2021 Olympic hopeful will be in the 200 IM, 100 and 200 back, and 100 fly, racing against Virginia native and Stanford commit Torri Huske this weekend. Walsh will be able to show off her improvements after swimming the semester in her new home in Charlottesville, and fans will be eager to see what she goes.
Kate Douglass, Paige Madden and Ella Nelson will also be in attendance as the Virginia women will get to show the nation what they are made of as they make a run at next year’s NCAAs and Olympic Trials. The Cavalier women made a huge boost last season after being seeded first at NCAAs when the school had never been higher than fifth, but were unable to swim at NCAAs and get a tangible opportunity to win a championship. And this weekend, Virginia will be able to prove they can translate short course success to long course.
Another Year of Lochte (Sarasota)
Ryan Lochte will be a face to watch at the Toyota US Open. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble
The Sarasota meet notably has a number of Florida-based swimmers as 36-year-old Ryan Lochte is training for what would be his fifth Olympic Games next year. He will race alongside fellow Gator Kieran Smith in the 200 free and 200 IM and many fans will be itching to see what kind of racing shape Lochte is in since last racing at the TYR Pro Series in March.
In that time since, he has starred in his own documentary on Peacock and has remained focused on training for Olympic Trials and fathering his two children. Some have written Lochte off, but he will get a chance to announce his arrival as an Olympic contender this weekend after an extended break from the pool. What kind of shape is he in? Does he have what it takes to make another run at the Olympics in the 200 IM? What about as a relay contender? Although Kieran Smith and Bobby Finke have become the new faces of Gainesville swimming, Lochte will still be causing fans to refresh meet mobile to see what kind of 200 IM he produces.
Maggie MacNeil’s Return to Racing (Indianapolis)
Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant
Leading into this season, perhaps the best woman swimmer in the NCAA was Michigan junior Maggie MacNeil, who was the gold medalist at the World Championships in the 100 butterfly and also was in line to potentially be the first woman to break 49 seconds in the 100 fly in short course yards. MacNeil suited up in practice this season and did a 57 long course 100 fly earlier this year that was documented, as that time would have made semi-finals at the 2019 Worlds.
So with this weekend being her first taste of real long course action in months, it will be intriguing to see the times she puts up – not only in the 100 fly but in the 50 and 100 free as well.
With a lot of current attention on the ISL and the team battle there, the Canadian women have an incredibly strong team ahead of next summer’s Olympics. The medley relay may be leaning towards the US, but with MacNeil’s emergence the last 12 months, Canada may sneak into silver, or perhaps gold, in the free relay on night one in Tokyo.
Regan vs. Phoebe (Des Moines)
Regan Smith will race in her first long course meet in eight months at the Toyota US Open. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble
One of the most intriguing matchups this weekend will be on Minnesota native Regan Smith and current Wisconsin freshman Phoebe Bacon in the 100 backstroke in Des Moines. Both Smith and Bacon were considered favorites to make the Olympic team in the 100 back this year after Smith broke the world record at the World Championships and Bacon won the US Open to conclude 2019.
In a normal year, these two would have gone off to college as 2020 grads and made impacts on their respective college teams. But with the season up in the air for the Pac-12, Smith decided to stay home instead of go off to Stanford, while Bacon is in her first year at the University of Wisconsin. The two are good friends but also are good rivals as they should definitely bring out the best in each other this weekend when they line up for the 100 back, as well as the 200 IM and 200 back. For both of them, it will be their first taste at real racing in months, and it will be a good kickstarter ahead of the new Olympic year.
Carson Foster’s Texas Transition to Long Course (San Antonio)
Carson Foster will be at the Toyota US Open in San Antonio. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble
Texas freshman Carson Foster has been the talk of NCAA swimming in this short season thus far as he became the second fastest performer all-time in the 400 IM SCY after just a few short months in his new home in Austin, Texas. This weekend’s slate in San Antonio will be his first taste of long course racing in quite a while so he and the rest of the Texas team will get to translate their impressive short course times this year to the long course venue.
Foster had an incredible age group career and a lot of hype surrounding his name. With an extra year to prepare for the Olympic Trials, many have pegged him as someone who could benefit from that and slip into the Olympic team in a number of events, and his short course times thus far have shown he is on the right track. But long course is a different animal, and this weekend will give him a chance to shoot a warning sign into the air as we conclude 2020.
Where Does Nathan Adrian Stand? (Irvine)
Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant
Ahead of the Olympic Trials in 2020, the most anticipated race would have been the men’s 100 free after the Americans had five of the ten fastest performers in the event in 2019, and won the World Championship relay gold medal with the quickest time swum in ten years. Those sprint contenders have performed nicely over in Hungary in the ISL, with Caeleb Dressel leading the 100 free rankings followed by Zach Apple in second, Blake Pieroni in fifth, Justin Ress in sixth and Maxime Rooney in eighth.
2012 Olympic gold medalist and long-time face of USA sprinting, Nathan Adrian has not been swimming in the ISL and will instead be swimming in Irvine this weekend to kickstart another year of “how crazy will the men’s 100 free be at the Olympic Trials” conversations. Adrian had a battle with testicular cancer in 2019, but still managed to anchor the United States 4×100 free relay to a gold medal at Worlds. So if he can do that off a year badly interrupted by cancer treatment, what can he do fully healthy? Adrian is just in the 50 and 100 free this weekend but a lot of eyes will be on him to see what kind of times he will put up in long course.