{"id":437294,"date":"2020-06-26T10:33:45","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T17:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=437294"},"modified":"2020-06-27T15:49:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-27T22:49:32","slug":"2016-trials-throwback-abbey-weitzeil-sets-u-s-open-record-in-100-fre-qualifies-with-simone-manuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2016-trials-throwback-abbey-weitzeil-sets-u-s-open-record-in-100-fre-qualifies-with-simone-manuel\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Trials Throwback: Abbey Weitzeil Sets U.S. Open Record in 100 Free; Qualifies With Simone Manuel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each day during the pre-scheduled days of the 2020 US Olympic Trials, Swimming World will take its readers back four years to the 2016 Trials in Omaha to recap each event, and will offer some insight into what the events will look like in 2021. Today: Abbey Weitzeil and Simone Manuel qualify in the 100 free.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Four years ago, the women\u2019s 100 free was the start of one of the top individual rivalries in American women\u2019s swimming.<\/p>\n

Of course, it wasn\u2019t the first time that Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong> and Simone Manuel<\/strong> competed against each other, but it was the first time with an Olympic spot on the line \u2014 and the whole country watching the friendly rivalry take shape.<\/p>\n

Since that race, the two sprinters have gone back in forth in the 100 and 50 freestyles, even the 200 freestyle at times.<\/p>\n

Both Weitzeil and Manuel each took an Olympic training redshirt year, deferring their enrollments to Cal and Stanford, respectively, to train for this moment.<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n

The Race<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Weitzeil was out a touch faster, leading Manuel and the rest of the field by seven hundredths of a second at the turn. But she didn\u2019t let up, touching the wall in 52.38 to break the U.S. Open record in the event.<\/p>\n

\"abbey-weitzeil-simone-manuel-\"

Abbey Weitzeil and Simone Manuel at the 2016 Trials; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Manuel was never far behind and touched second in 53.52 to earn her first Olympic spot.<\/p>\n

The rest of the field finished extremely close together as six more swimmers vied for four relay spots, and they were all Olympic veterans.<\/p>\n

Olympian Amanda Weir<\/strong>, who is a full decade older than Weitzeil and Manuel, finished third, while Lia Neal<\/strong> made her second Olympic team with a fourth-place finish.<\/p>\n

Two more Olympic veterans followed as Allison Schmitt<\/strong> and Dana Vollmer<\/strong> qualified for the relay, edging Katie<\/strong> Ledecky<\/strong> and Kelsi (Worrell) Dahlia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n