{"id":589507,"date":"2024-06-21T17:14:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T00:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=589507"},"modified":"2024-06-21T18:41:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T01:41:44","slug":"u-s-olympic-trials-kate-douglass-and-alex-walsh-set-up-for-epic-final-in-200-im","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-olympic-trials-kate-douglass-and-alex-walsh-set-up-for-epic-final-in-200-im\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Olympic Trials: Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh Set Up for Epic Final in 200 IM"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Olympic Trials: Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh Set Up for Epic Final in 200 IM<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Virginia sabers will be out Saturday night for the final heat of the women\u2019s 200 IM between Kate Douglass<\/strong> and Alex Walsh.<\/strong> The two Virginians took no prisoners in their respective heats in the semifinal heats, however seemed to have saved some energy for the main showdown until the final heat.<\/p>\n

Douglas shot off in the first heat, and maintained easy sped in the first half of the race with a slower stroke rate and split than Torri Husk<\/strong> and Beata Nelson<\/strong>. The three women remained neck and neck, before Douglas took the reins back under her control in the breaststroke, to no one\u2019s surprise.<\/p>\n

Huske and Nelson still had solid swims in the semifinal, both improving from their morning swims by a decent amount. Huske registered a 2:09.43 for the third seed while Nelson touched at a 2:10.83 for the fourth seed.<\/p>\n

Lucy Bell<\/strong> also earned a spot in the final from Lane Seven of her heat. She swam a time of 2:12.23 to be seeded seventh in the final.<\/p>\n

Alex Walsh<\/strong> is facing a little bit of pressure every time she dives in as she gets closer and closer to knowing if she has swum fast enough for a spot on the team, but that pressure was nowhere visible tonight. Walsh was out first and stayed there confidently in her semifinal, until her hand hit the wall first at a time of 2:08.74.<\/p>\n

Leah Hayes, Isabel Ivey<\/strong> and Zoe Dixon<\/strong> were all about a second behind Walsh, but close enough to maintain visibility of each other as they charged down the pool attempting to advance to the Saturday night final.<\/p>\n

In the end, it was Hayes who topped her competition with a time that was about a half second ahead of the rest. That time was a 2:10.93 which will place her with the fifth seed. Dixon and Ivey swam a 2:11.64 and 2:12.26. Their swims will place them in the sixth and eighth spots.<\/p>\n

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