{"id":475789,"date":"2021-06-12T19:12:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T02:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=475789"},"modified":"2021-06-12T19:45:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T02:45:21","slug":"tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/","title":{"rendered":"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When swimmers have one meet circled on their calendar for years, one chance to make their hopes and dreams come true, emotions might spill over. At the Olympic Trials, you will see screams of jubilation and tears of crushing disappointment. Margins of hundredths of a second can determine the difference between earning the title \u201cOlympian\u201d or not, and while any success in the leadup is great, it\u2019s hard to take solace in quality training or even an otherwise-good performance if the outcome does not lead to a spot at the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>The Olympic Trials is a swim meet intensified, with flashing lights and a huge arena more than triple the capacity of any permanent aquatics facility in the country, and the stakes are ratcheted up far beyond any other qualifying meet. This is a once-every-four-years spectacle (in this case, five years), and by the time the next Olympic window rolls around, a swimmer may have moved on completely from the sport. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of the Trials participants with a real shot to make the team, and that\u2019s why emotions run so high.<\/p>\n<p>Go to YouTube to find the highlights from previous Trials, specifically those involving a swimmer becoming a first-time Olympian. Take the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=titmXC36SxA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">women\u2019s 100 back in 2016<\/a>, for instance, when <strong>Olivia Smoliga<\/strong> and <strong>Kathleen Baker<\/strong> finished first and second, respectively, not a surprising outcome considering their swims in the earlier rounds of the event but still a notable one when the previous two Olympic gold medalists, <strong>Missy<\/strong> <strong>Franklin<\/strong> and <strong>Natalie<\/strong> <strong>Coughlin<\/strong>, finished at the back of the field. After they touched the wall, both Smoliga and Baker exploded in joy. Less than 10 seconds after finishing, Baker had jumped the lane line to hug Smoliga, and the two caught their breath while screaming and celebrating.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_209992\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-209992\" data-attachment-id=\"209992\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/lilly-king-katie-meili\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2400,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D5&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;lilly-king-katie-meili-&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1467146229&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;720&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;lilly-king-katie-meili-&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials 4933\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;6\/23\/20&lt;br \/&gt;\nlilly-king-katie-meili- 2016, King Lilly, Meili Katie, Olympic Trials, Omaha, USA Swimming&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-209992\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933.jpg\" alt=\"lilly-king-katie-meili-\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933-533x355.jpg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/lilly-king-katie-meili-2016-o-trials-4933-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-209992\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katie Meili and Lilly King after becoming first-time Olympians in the 100 breast at the 2016 Olympic Trials &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n<p>What you cannot find a video of is what happened a few minutes later beneath the arena, the reunions between these new Olympians and their teammates and coaches. <strong>Katie<\/strong> <strong>McLaughlin<\/strong>, Baker\u2019s classmate at Cal, had just qualified for the 200 free final a few events before the 100 back, but she had gotten out of the warmup pool and returned to the mixed zone exit to hug Baker. And shortly after that, Baker also cut her warmdown short so she could be there to hug training partner and 100 breast Olympian <strong>Katie<\/strong> <strong>Meili<\/strong> after her big moment. The next day, <strong>Tom Shields<\/strong> finished second and qualified for the Olympic team in the 200 fly, and during an on-camera interview, then-Cal assistant <strong>Yuri Suguiyama<\/strong> walked up and wrapped Shields in a hug.<\/p>\n<p>These are special moments, the pinnacle of a swimmer\u2019s career so far. Few swimmers can contain their excitement upon qualifying for an Olympics, and only their coaches and teammates can know how much work they had put in to get to that point.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side, the disappointment of placing third is absolutely brutal. Each Trials brings swimmers wearing that same crestfallen, heartbroken face, knowing that they came so close to making it to the Games. Thinking back to 2016, several of those moments are seared into the memory of everyone in attendance. Maybe one day they will be able to look back on their journey to the Trials and be proud, but in the immediate aftermath, it\u2019s just too raw. It\u2019s impossible to look those swimmers in the eye and not feel for them and empathize with their devastation.<\/p>\n<p>This week in Omaha, some really good swimmers are going to find themselves in that situation, in third or fourth place by a tiny margin and locked off the Olympic team. Regardless of any previous success such as world titles or world records, the results at Trials are the sole qualifier for Tokyo. We don\u2019t know who will have to experience that heartbreak, but it\u2019s inevitable. A third place finish does not mean the swimmer\u2019s journey to the Trials was a failure\u2014third at a meet like Olympic Trials is an amazing accomplishment by any measure\u2014but that\u2019s no consolation in the moment.<\/p>\n<p>Take the clear-cut <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/womens-100-backstroke-the-best-race-of-olympic-trials-just-got-even-faster\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most competitive race of the week<\/a>, the women\u2019s 100 back. Six swimmers in the field have been under 59: <strong>Regan<\/strong> <strong>Smith<\/strong>, Baker, Smoliga, <strong>Rhyan White<\/strong>, <strong>Phoebe Bacon<\/strong> and <strong>Claire<\/strong> <strong>Curzan<\/strong>. All of those women will have other chances to make the team, and it\u2019s conceivable that all of them do qualify in at least one event. But odds are, at least one ends up without a spot in Tokyo and likely at least two. And despite all the success each of these top contenders has had across various competitions, swimming success is still measured first and foremost by the Olympics<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a joke that the warmup pool is half chlorine and half tears, and it is spot on. For every moment of pure happiness, another swimmer feels the ultimate letdown. That\u2019s a cruel reality of Olympic Trials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions When swimmers have one meet circled on their calendar for years, one chance to make their hopes and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":210014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,122077,17,7],"tags":[72101,60521,25418,26463,25396,26904,57822,45350,30862,25424,8376],"class_list":["post-475789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-americas","category-commentary","category-usa","tag-2020-olympic-swimming-trials","tag-claire-curzan","tag-kathleen-baker","tag-katie-mclaughlin","tag-katie-meili","tag-olivia-smoliga","tag-phoebe-bacon","tag-regan-smith","tag-rhyan-white","tag-tom-shields","tag-yuri-suguiyama"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the Olympic Trials, some swimmers will meet their ultimate goal of becoming Olympians while others feel the agony of finishing third.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At the Olympic Trials, some swimmers will meet their ultimate goal of becoming Olympians while others feel the agony of finishing third.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-13T02:12:41+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-13T02:45:21+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"733\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@David_Rieder\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\"},\"headline\":\"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-13T02:12:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-13T02:45:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\"},\"wordCount\":875,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2020 Olympic Swimming Trials\",\"Claire Curzan\",\"Kathleen Baker\",\"Katie McLaughlin\",\"Katie Meili\",\"Olivia Smoliga\",\"Phoebe Bacon\",\"Regan Smith\",\"Rhyan White\",\"Tom Shields\",\"Yuri Suguiyama\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Americas\",\"Commentary\",\"USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\",\"name\":\"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-13T02:12:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-13T02:45:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"At the Olympic Trials, some swimmers will meet their ultimate goal of becoming Olympians while others feel the agony of finishing third.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":733,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\",\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions","description":"At the Olympic Trials, some swimmers will meet their ultimate goal of becoming Olympians while others feel the agony of finishing third.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions","og_description":"At the Olympic Trials, some swimmers will meet their ultimate goal of becoming Olympians while others feel the agony of finishing third.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2021-06-13T02:12:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-13T02:45:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":733,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@David_Rieder","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/"},"author":{"name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af"},"headline":"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions","datePublished":"2021-06-13T02:12:41+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-13T02:45:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/"},"wordCount":875,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg","keywords":["2020 Olympic Swimming Trials","Claire Curzan","Kathleen Baker","Katie McLaughlin","Katie Meili","Olivia Smoliga","Phoebe Bacon","Regan Smith","Rhyan White","Tom Shields","Yuri Suguiyama"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Americas","Commentary","USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/","name":"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-13T02:12:41+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-13T02:45:21+00:00","description":"At the Olympic Trials, some swimmers will meet their ultimate goal of becoming Olympians while others feel the agony of finishing third.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg","width":1100,"height":733,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tears-of-joy-and-heartbreak-the-brutal-reality-of-olympic-trials-emotions\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tears of Joy and Heartbreak: The Brutal Reality of Olympic Trials Emotions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af","name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"David Rieder - Senior Writer"},"description":"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Olivia Smoliga and Kathleen Baker celebrate qualifying for the 2016 Olympic team in the women's 100 back -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/olivia-smoliga-kathleen-baker-2016-o-trials-4717-e1592855241122.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1ZM1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}