Tag: olympic swimming trials

Former Gator Caeleb Dressel competing in 3 event for USA at Paris Olympics

The U.S. Olympic swimming trial are completed and former Florida Gator Caeleb Dressel showed out as he prepares for Paris.

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials have officially come to a close and former Florida Gator [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] will represent the United States of America in three events — the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

He first qualified for the 4x100m free relay team with a third-place time of 47.53 seconds on Wednesday. Dressel was first to the 15-meter mark and finished five one-hundredths (.05) of a second from first-place finisher Chris Guiliano.

On Friday, he proved that he’s still the fastest swimmer in America by claiming first place in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.41 seconds — .20 seconds faster than his Thursday semifinal performance.

Saturday brought another victory for Dressel, this time in the men’s 100-meter butterfly. His 50.19-second finish was just .74 seconds slower than his 2021 world record.

Making it through the U.S. trials is no easy task, especially for someone who has dealt with mental health problems relating to the sport. Dressel has found a way to get from “miserable” to “happy” in swimming, though.

“I am happy with a lot of my swims, and to be back to a place that I wanted to be with the sport is exceptional,” Dressel said Saturday, according to senior reporter Henry Bushnell. “I’m really proud of myself for that.”

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Two Gators competing in USA Olympic swimming trials

Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecki are battling for a spot on the USA Swimming Olympic Team that will compete in Paris.

Swimming trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics begin Saturday and include a pair of participants with connections to the University of Florida. Former Florida Gators standout [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] partook in the event while [autotag]Katie Ledecki[/autotag], who has served as a volunteer assistant coach for the program, also was featured among the top contestants.

Up to 52 swimmers — 26 each on the men’s and women’s teams — will qualify for the Paris Games, and some of them are familiar stars from previous Olympics, including Ledecky, Dressel and Simone Manuel. Along with athletes attempting to make their first, second, third and sometimes fourth Games, there are a few rising stars fans will want to keep an eye on too.

Take a look below at the profiles of two members of the Orange and Blue competing for a spot in Paris, according to USA TODAY Sports.

Katie Ledecky

Entered: 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 1500 freestyle

College: Stanford

A swimmer who needs no introduction, 27-year-old Ledecky is first in U.S. rankings in each of the events she’s entered and is the world record holder in the 800 and 1,500 — her most dominant event, which made its Olympic debut at the 2021 Tokyo Games. She should qualify in all four events, assuming she swims them all.

In addition to trying to add to her 10 Olympic medals, seven of them gold, Ledecky is aiming to become just the eighth American swimmer to compete in four Olympic Games.

Caeleb Dressel

Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly

College: Florida

After taking some time away from swimming following the Tokyo Olympics, the 27-year-old swimmer is back and hoping to make his third Olympic team. At trials, he’s entered in the same individual events he swam in Tokyo, but based on his times, he’s got some ground to make up. He’s the fastest American in the 100 fly this year so far but enters trials currently ranked third in the U.S. in the 50 free and is tied for fourth in the 100 free.

Dressel knows nothing but gold at the Olympics as a seven-time Olympic champion.

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U.S. Olympic Trials: Swimming live stream, TV channel, start time, event schedule, how to watch

The U.S. Olympic Trials for Swimming will continue on Tuesday night, the top two finishers will qualify for the Olympics.

The U.S. Olympic Trials for swimming will be held this week and will be the first time since 2000 without Michael Phelps. The top two finishers in each event will qualify for the Olympic team in this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

These trials will be split into two separate waves, Wave I and Wave II, with Wave II being for the higher-ranked individuals. The Semifinals and finals will begin at 8 p.m. from June 13–17, at 9 p.m. on June 18 and 19, and at 8:15 on June 20.

U.S. Olympic Trials: Swimming & Diving

  • When: Thursday, June 17
  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: NBC
  • Live Stream: fuboTV(watch for free)

Schedule of Events

Preliminary heats

June 14-17 and 19: 6:30 p.m. June 18: 6 p.m.

Finals

June 13-17: 8 p.m. ET.  June 18-19: 9 p.m. ET. June 20:  8:15 p.m.

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