{"id":385243,"date":"2019-07-30T08:45:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T15:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=385243"},"modified":"2019-07-30T14:33:54","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T21:33:54","slug":"2019-phillips-66-us-national-championships-top-5-storylines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2019-phillips-66-us-national-championships-top-5-storylines\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships: Top 5 Storylines"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships begin Wednesday with plenty of intriguing storylines to make for an action-packed week at Stanford.<\/p>\n

Some of the swimmers from the world championships will participate in nationals, including Caeleb Dressel, Olivia Smoliga, Hali Flickinger, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia, Allison Schmitt<\/strong> and Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong>, among others. Will their taper continue, or will the meet seem more like a victory lap?<\/p>\n

Will some old faces like top-seeded Breeja Larson<\/strong> return to their winning ways?<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the intriguing storylines to follow at the 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships:<\/p>\n

1. Ryan Lochte\u2019s return<\/h3>\n

Ryan Lochte<\/strong> will make his return to competitive swimming at the U.S. national championships. He has been away from swimming serving a suspension from USADA<\/a> for receiving \u201can intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infusion clinic in a volume greater than 100 mL in a 12-hour period without a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).\u201d While the IV he received did not contain any banned substances, athletes are not supposed to receive any IV unless they have been hospitalized or have filed for a TUE. Despite being suspended, Lochte has continued to train in Florida. He is slated to swim a total of six events when he arrives in California, including the 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 200 IM and 400 IM.<\/p>\n

2. Dana Vollmer\u2019s last race<\/h3>\n

Seven-time Olympic medalist Dana Vollmer<\/strong> announced her retirement from swimming, following nationals. She is one of the legends of swimming. At just 12 years of age, Vollmer began her quest for Olympic success as the youngest swimmer to compete in the 2000 Olympic trials. Today, the butterfly specialist is a 5x Olympic gold medalist, and has broken and set world records at the games in both Athens and London. Dana is the first woman in history to ever swim the 100m butterfly in under 56 seconds<\/a>, which still stands as the fastest time ever recorded by an American. She made her most recent Olympic appearance in Rio de Janeiro after having her first child, and is affectionately known today as the \u201cMomma on a Mission.\u201d<\/a> In addition to earning seven Olympic medals, she has also earned sixteen world championship medals over the course of her career.<\/p>\n

3. What\u2019s left in Smith and Dressel\u2019s tank<\/h3>\n

Caeleb Dressel<\/strong> became the first swimmer to ever win eight medals in a single World Championships. His biggest highlight of the week was when he broke the world record in the 100 fly in the semifinals on day six to lower Michael Phelps\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>10-year-old record. Dressel also broke American records in the 50 and 100 free as well as the 50 fly. He also led off the mixed 4\u00d7100 free relay that broke a world record in the final.<\/p>\n