{"id":478491,"date":"2021-06-19T08:51:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-19T15:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=478491"},"modified":"2021-06-19T08:51:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-19T15:51:05","slug":"u-s-olympic-trials-american-womens-freestyle-relays-looking-shaky-on-road-to-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-olympic-trials-american-womens-freestyle-relays-looking-shaky-on-road-to-tokyo\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Olympic Trials: American Women\u2019s Freestyle Relays Looking Shaky on Road to Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>U.S. Olympic Trials: American Women\u2019s Freestyle Relays Looking Shaky on Road to Tokyo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While many Americans have asserted themselves or defended their status as Olympic medal contenders this week in Omaha, few events have seen more of a dropoff from the pre-meet status quo than the women\u2019s freestyles. With just two freestyle finals to go (the 800 free Saturday and the 50 free Sunday), it\u2019s hard to find a medal contender in any of these six events outside of <strong>Katie<\/strong> <strong>Ledecky<\/strong>. At the same time, the potential of the American women\u2019s freestyle relays has been drastically reduced.<\/p>\n<p>The third through sixth-place times in the 100 and 200 free at Trials were not as fast as expected, and especially with no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-olympic-trials-simone-manuel-finishes-ninth-in-100-free-after-missing-three-weeks-of-training-in-april\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Simone<\/strong> <strong>Manuel<\/strong><\/a> in the fold, the Americans will be relying on some young and internationally inexperienced swimmers to carry the load, particularly in the 400 free relay. Meanwhile, over in Adelaide, the Australian Olympic Trials saw sterling times across the board but particularly in the freestyle events.<\/p>\n<p>At the 2019 World Championships, the Australians and the Americans both beat a decade-old world record in the 800 free relay, with the Aussies taking gold by 0.37 in 7:41.50. But at this year\u2019s Australian Trials, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/after-her-153-09-in-the-200m-freestyle-ariarne-titmus-sends-a-warning-to-the-world-i-can-swim-faster\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ariarne Titmus<\/strong> missed the world record by just 0.11<\/a>, while <strong>Emma McKeon<\/strong> showed why she will still be a contender for an individual medal in Tokyo. The Aussies ended up with two swimmers under 1:55, three under 1:56 and the fourth at 1:56.0. The composite of those four times is almost two seconds faster than that world record from Gwangju.<\/p>\n<p>At the U.S. Trials, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/katie-ledecky-checks-another-box-in-200-free-as-she-marches-on-towards-tokyo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Katie Ledecky did not break 1:55<\/a> (although she was 1:54.40 earlier in the year), and the next three swimmers in the final all finished between 1:56.7 and 1:57.1. Add that up, and the American composite relay based on season-best times is <em>more than five seconds<\/em> behind Australia. Less than four tenths to more than five seconds in two years.<\/p>\n<p>The current top five countries are:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Women\u2019s 800 Free Relay<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Australia<\/strong>: Ariarne Titmus 1:53.09 + Emma McKeon 1:54.74 + Madison Wilson 1:55.68 + Leah Neale 1:56.08 = 7:39.59<br \/>\n<strong>United<\/strong> <strong>States<\/strong>: Katie Ledecky 1:54.40 + Paige Madden 1:56.44 + Allison Schmitt 1:56.79 + Katie McLaughlin 1:57.16 = 7:44.79<br \/>\n<strong>China<\/strong>: Yang Junxuan 1:54.57 + Li Bingjie 1:56.64 + Tang Muhan 1:57.83 + Dong Jie 1:58.53 = 7:47.57<br \/>\n<strong>Germany<\/strong>: Isabel Gose 1:56.93 + Annika Bruhn 1:57.17 + Leonie Kullman 1:57.64 + Marie Pietruschka 1:58.46 = 7:50.20<br \/>\n<strong>Canada:<\/strong> Penny Oleksiak 1:57.37 + Rebecca Smith 1:57.43 + Summer McIntosh 1:57.65 + Kayla Sanchez 1:58.07 = 7:50.52<\/p>\n<p>So that leaves the Americans very clearly as the second-best country as of now. However, this list comes with one big asterisk: Canada, which took bronze at the World Championships, is just beginning its Olympic Trials, so expect to see that nation move well up this list in the coming days. It probably would not be enough to surpass the Americans for second place on this list.<\/p>\n<p>For the 400 free relay, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/aussie-trials-night-5-finals-emma-mckeon-and-cate-campbell-to-lead-dolphins-sub-53-super-group-to-tokyo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">four Australians broke 53 in the 100 free at their Olympic Trials<\/a>, led by McKeon and former world record-holder <strong>Cate Campbell<\/strong>. Campbell\u2019s younger sister <strong>Bronte<\/strong>, the 2015 world champion, will be a prelim contributor.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans will bring an imperfect group here. No one at Olympic Trials managed to eclipse 53.5\u2014so no one came within a half-second of the fourth-place time from the Australian Trials\u2014but all four of them swam between 53.52 and 53.59 between the three rounds at Trials. And of the top four, only <strong>Abbey Weitzeil<\/strong> has significant international relay experience (from swimming the second leg on the American relay in Rio), while\u00a0<strong>Erika Brown<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Olivia Smoliga<\/strong> and\u00a0<strong>Natalie Hinds<\/strong> have never competed in a finals 400 free relay at a major meet.<\/p>\n<p>This composite below again includes the top five countries, and it\u2019s no surprise which country is well clear of the competition. Note that in this list, the times considered for <strong>Abbey Wood<\/strong> and <strong>Marrit Steenbergen<\/strong> are not flat-start times but rather relay splits from last month\u2019s European Championships (chosen because of discrepancies with their season-best flat start efforts).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Women\u2019s 400 Free Relay<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Australia<\/strong>: Emma McKeon 52.29 + Cate Campbell 52.59 + Madison Wilson 52.76 + Meg Harris 52.92 = 3:30.56<br \/>\n<strong>United<\/strong> <strong>States<\/strong>: Abbey Weitzeil 53.52 + Olivia Smoliga 53.55 + Natalie Hinds 53.55 + Erika Brown 53.59 = 3:34.39<br \/>\n<strong>Great<\/strong> <strong>Britain<\/strong>: Freya Anderson 53.40 + Anna Hopkin 53.43 + Lucy Hope 53.89 + Abbey Wood 53.90 = 3:34.62<br \/>\n<strong>Netherlands<\/strong>: Femke Heemskerk 53.05 + Ranomi Kromowidjojo 53.13 + Marrit Steenbergen 54.13 + Kim Busch 54.59 = 3:34.90<br \/>\n<strong>Canada<\/strong>: Kayla Sanchez 53.57 + Penny Oleksiak 53.67 + Maggie MacNeil 54.06 + Rebecca Smith 54.44 = 3:35.74<\/p>\n<p>Again, Canada will surely move up on this list, particularly with <strong>Taylor Ruck<\/strong> not yet having swum fast enough to make the national top four. The Americans\u2019 numbers do not include the season-best times for <strong>Torri Huske<\/strong> (53.46) and <strong>Claire Curzan<\/strong> (53.55), two swimmers who are qualified for the Olympic team earlier in the week but swam poor races at Trials and did not qualify for the 100 free final. Either teenager could still be considered for the squad in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<p>But barring any more surprising developments, the Americans face a tough and unlikely road to gold in both women\u2019s free relays (and stop if you\u2019ve heard that before). Missing the podium entirely, probably not, but that\u2019s definitely a risk with untested performers. But Weitzeil believes that this group has much faster performances in store than they showed at Olympic Trials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have the flag on your cap, you get stuff done,\u201d Weitzeil said. \u201cI\u2019m confident in this relay, and I\u2019m confident in Team USA. We have our work cut out for us, no doubt. The Australians are fast, and they have been fast, and I\u2019ve been on this relay, and it\u2019s tough, but it\u2019s fun. When you have the flag on your cap there is something else that comes out of you. I\u2019m confident in these girls next to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Australians finishing on top of the 400 free relay on day one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/olympics.com\/tokyo-2020\/en\/sports\/swimming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Olympics<\/a> would be nothing new. They have won the past two Olympic gold medals, and in fact, that relay has been the only gold medal the Australian women have won in both London and Tokyo. In the 800 free relay, the Americans have been gold medalists in five of the six Olympics when it has been contested, but Australia won on the other occasion in 2008. Australia has struggled mightily to maintain momentum as the meet goes along at recent Olympics, so that pattern must change if the Aussies are going to back up the success that is projected right now.<\/p>\n<p>But even if they should falter, they have such a massive on-paper advantage in both relays. It would take some massive U.S. improvements and (bold) an Australian collapse for any hope of American gold in a women\u2019s free relay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Olympic Trials: American Women\u2019s Freestyle Relays Looking Shaky on Road to Tokyo While many Americans have asserted themselves or defended their status as Olympic medal contenders this week in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":478563,"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":[72101,65138,26550,60521,27538,25031,53577,25400,32614,74161],"class_list":["post-478491","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-ariarne-titmus","tag-cate-campbell","tag-claire-curzan","tag-emma-mckeon","tag-katie-ledecky","tag-penny-oleksiak","tag-simone-manuel","tag-taylor-ruck","tag-torri-huske"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - 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