{"id":588824,"date":"2024-06-19T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=588824"},"modified":"2024-06-19T19:45:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T02:45:56","slug":"olympic-trials-day-5-finals-kate-douglass-pulls-away-to-win-womens-100-free-huske-walsh-manuel-on-relay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olympic-trials-day-5-finals-kate-douglass-pulls-away-to-win-womens-100-free-huske-walsh-manuel-on-relay\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Trials Day 5 Finals: Kate Douglass Pulls Away to Win Women’s 100 Free; Huske, Walsh, Manuel on Relay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The biggest session of the 2024 US Olympic Trials began with the biggest gauntlet of an event.<\/p>\n

The women’s 100 freestyle is often a place where the elite in multiple events come together and the final was as stacked as ever at Lucas Oil Stadium.<\/p>\n

Torri Huske. Simone Manuel. Kate Douglass. Gretchen Walsh. Abbey Weitzeil. Catie DeLoof. Erika (Brown) Connolly.<\/strong> All Olympians.<\/p>\n

Seven of the eight finalists are Olympians with the lone outlier, Beata Nelson<\/strong>, a multi-NCAA champion.<\/p>\n

Absolutely stacked.<\/p>\n

Weitzeil and Manuel have been the sprinting mainstays for the U.S. for the past decade-plus.<\/p>\n

Douglass won the race at 52.56 despite being fourth at the turn. Huske was second in 52.93, followed by Walsh (53.13) and Manuel (53.25).<\/p>\n

Manuel made her third Olympic team, while Douglass, Huske and Walsh are all headed to their second Games.<\/p>\n

Manuel was noticeably emotional after the race.<\/p>\n

“When I think about how far I had to come and the mountain I had to climb, it is important for me to look back and be proud of myself for continuing to fight through this process and believe in myself,” Manuel said.<\/p>\n

Walsh led at the halfway point and hung on to make the relay three years after missing the team.<\/p>\n

“It means a lot. I have definitely battled with this event for a lot of years – and it has been quite a journey to even get back to the times I was going when I was 16. To get third in such a competitive event is pretty much a dream come true,” Walsh said.<\/p>\n

Weitzeil was fifth to take what should be the first alternate spot at 53.70, her third team.<\/p>\n

The second alternate spot was a tie between DeLoof and Connolly at 53.86. The process of what happens next on this is unclear.<\/p>\n

If enough spots allow, 5-6 usually go as relay alternates and usually swim the prelims at the Olympics. A possible swim-off could be looming if there are enough spots.<\/p>\n

The American record coming into the Olympic Trials was 52.04, set by Manuel. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom still holds the world record at 51.71, set in 2017.<\/p>\n