{"id":531581,"date":"2023-07-01T18:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T01:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=531581"},"modified":"2023-07-02T07:13:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T14:13:28","slug":"michael-andrew-locked-out-of-world-championships-despite-50-butterfly-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/michael-andrew-locked-out-of-world-championships-despite-50-butterfly-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Andrew Shut Out of World Championships Despite 50 Butterfly Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Andrew Locked Out of World Championships Despite 50 Butterfly Victory<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the U.S. roster for the upcoming World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, was announced, one swimmer was missing despite finishing in a spot that might typically have qualified him for the meet.\u00a0Michael Andrew<\/strong> was the winner of the 50 butterfly Wednesday night, seemingly wrapping up his spot on a third consecutive World Championships team, but a roster crunch kept him locked out.<\/p>\n

A country can take up to 26 women and 26 men for pool competition at a World Championships or Olympics, and USA Swimming selects participants to the team based on the number of swimmers who secure roster doubles, with spots in more than one event. With 27 possible entrants, Andrew was the only swimmer cut since he only qualified by the fifth priority.<\/p>\n

USA Swimming’s five priorities for selection at this meet included:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Winners of all Olympic events and top-four finishers in the 100 and 200 free<\/li>\n
  2. Second-place finishers in all other Olympic events<\/li>\n
  3. Fifth-place finishers in the 100 and 200 free<\/li>\n
  4. Sixth-place finishers in the 100 and 200 free<\/li>\n
  5. Winners of non-Olympic events (the 50-meter races of butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Andrew had qualified for the previous two World Championships as well as the Tokyo Olympics in other events, with the 100 breaststroke and 50 freestyle staples on his program at all three meets. He also raced the 200 IM in Tokyo and the 100 fly last year. But Andrew’s results in events longer than one lap this week were disappointing compared to his personal standard. He missed the final in both the 100 breast, where he is the third-fastest performer ever, and 100 fly, in which he made the final at last year’s World Championships.<\/p>\n

    Andrew’s last chance at a roster spot came in the 50 free final, the last A-final of the meet. He was the silver medalist at last year’s World Championships, but he could not produce his best swim in the final. Ryan Held<\/strong> won in 21.50 while\u00a0Jack Alexy<\/strong> was second in 21.63<\/a>, one hundredth ahead of Andrew. After the race, Andrew stared downward, acknowledging both the disappointment of missing out on Fukuoka.<\/p>\n

    All other 50-meter winners were named to the team since they qualified in either another individual event (including\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong>,\u00a0Lilly King<\/strong>,\u00a0Nic Fink<\/strong> and\u00a0Katharine Berkoff<\/strong>) or as a relay swimmer\u00a0(Justin Ress<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

    Entering the final night, five swimmers’ roster spots were pending additional doubles. There were four repeat qualifiers on the final night, with\u00a0Carson Foster<\/strong> winning the 200 IM,\u00a0Bobby Finke<\/strong> winning the 800 free and Held and Alexy\u00a0going 1-2 in the 50 free. Those results placed all relay alternates onto the team, including 100 free sixth-place finisher Ress and 200 free sixth-place finisher\u00a0Henry McFadden<\/strong>, but Andrew was eliminated from contention.<\/p>\n

    If Andrew hopes to qualify for his second consecutive Olympic team next year, he will need resurgent performances in events such as the 50 free, 100 breast, 100 fly and\/or 200 IM since the 50-meter stroke races are not contested on the Olympic level.<\/p>\n