{"id":588827,"date":"2024-06-19T17:22:49","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T00:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=588827"},"modified":"2024-06-19T20:14:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T03:14:06","slug":"u-s-olympic-trials-thomas-heilman-luca-urlando-seal-200-fly-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-olympic-trials-thomas-heilman-luca-urlando-seal-200-fly-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Olympic Trials: Thomas Heilman, Luca Urlando Seal 200 Fly Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Olympic Trials: Thomas Heilman, Luca Urlando Seal 200 Fly Spots<\/strong><\/p>\n

The weight of prodigy can weigh heavily on different sets of shoulders. When it comes with tags like, \u201cthey guy who took down Michael Phelps<\/strong> record,\u201d so it, the effect is even less certain.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the challenge that both Thomas Heilman<\/strong> and Luca Urlando<\/strong> carried, a half-generation of swimmers apart.<\/p>\n

It was 2019 when Urlando took down the 17-18-year-old national age-group record of the greatest butterflier in history. That was a pandemic, two shoulder surgeries and a couple of ruined college seasons ago.<\/p>\n

It was 2023 when Heilman downed the 15-16 NAG that Phelps had owned for the better part of two decades.<\/p>\n

Each swim christened them the heir apparent. Each would have to wait, in Urlando\u2019s case at least, for the formal crown presentation.<\/p>\n

That came Wednesday, Heilman going 1:54.50 to win and Urlando finishing second in 1:55.08. Both are headed to Paris.<\/p>\n