But Murphy was rewarded with a moment even sweeter than medal No. 7 as his wife, Bridget, and the rest of his family surprised him with a gender reveal in the form of a sign in the crowd announcing that they would be having a girl.
Murphy’s run at the Olympics may not be done yet as he has a chance to go for the fifth gold medal of his career later in the Games as he could once again be a part of the men’s 4×100 medley team, with which he won gold in each of the last two Olympics.
Fans don’t see are the endless hours of training and recovery preparing for a moment that happens only every four years.
Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, For The Win spoke with Team USA swimmers competing at the Games to learn what a typical training day is like for them. So here’s a look at a day in the Olympic training life of Regan Smith, Ryan Murphy, Katie Grimes and Chase Kalisz — all of whom are at least two-time Olympic swimmers.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JUNE 20: Regan Smith of the United States competes in the Women’s 200m butterfly final on Day Six of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 20, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Smith told For The Win in June that she has two typical training days: one when she swims twice and another when she swims and then weight lifts.
6:20 a.m. — Wake up, eat breakfast, go to practice
Breakfast for Smith is all about packing in as many nutrients, protein and overall calories. She usually eats oatmeal with a spoonful of peanut butter, a scoop of protein powder and a tablespoon of chia seeds, topped with honey, bananas, strawberries and chocolate chips.
“I eat that like every day,” she said. “Sometimes, I eat it twice a day because it’s so good, and I never get sick of it.”
7 a.m. – 8 a.m. — Swim practice
After her first practice, she heads home for a second breakfast and a nap. Then she has lunch, catches up on emails, watches TV or plays with her cat, Roo. At the time of the interview, she said she was binge-watching America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on Netflix.
For lunch, she sticks with typically breakfast food and will have two or three eggs with toast, orange juice and chocolate milk.
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. — Weight training when she doesn’t have a second practice
2 p.m. – 4 p.m. — Swim practice when she doesn’t have weight training
After her second practice, Smith is done for the day. So she eats dinner — often meal prep from Hello Fresh because she loves routine — and finds ways to relax and unwind.
“Yesterday [in June] after my second practice ended, I spent an hour and a half sitting outside reading my book in the shade because I love heat,” she said about living and training in Austin with Longhorn Aquatics. “I’m a great heat girl, so I just sat outside and it’s like 95 degrees and relaxed and then went to bed.”
Ryan Murphy: 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke
Jun 16, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Ryan Murphy starts in the 100 meter backstroke during the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
Back for his third Olympics, 29-year-old Murphy has been remarkably consistent over the years, and at U.S. trials, he became the first swimmer to win the men’s 100 and 200 backstroke at three straight U.S. trials. He trains at Cal Berkeley, where he competed in college, and For The Win spoke with him on campus in May.
5:15 a.m. — Wake up, drink an espresso shot, eat a banana and energy bar
6 a.m. – 8 a.m. — Swim practice
After his first practice of the day (on days when he has doubles), Murphy heads home for a second breakfast and gets some non-training work done.
“I’m building a swim school in my hometown of Jacksonville right now,” Murphy said. “So I’ll always have some calls with that. The building’s still going up, so it’s calls with contractors.
“And then I’m also an advisor to do two different investment firms out here. So I’m an advisor to a venture capital group that’s investing in companies with a Cal co-founder, and then I’m an advisor to a private equity group that’s investing in medical devices. So I try to keep myself busy in between the practices.”
12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. — Weight training
2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. — Swim practice
“When I go home at night, then I’m typically recovering for the next day,” Murphy said. “So I’ll turn on the sauna, get in the sauna for a little bit, have a have an ice bath, and then, typically, I’ll do some stretching to make sure I’m loose for the next day.”
The at-home sauna and cold plunge is a huge perk and probably the No. 1 tool in recovery, he said.
“I’m able to get way deeper into my muscles when I’m stretching in the sauna,” he said. “Then when I go to the cold tub, your heart rate just plummets. So I’ll go into the sauna, I’ll be at about 150 heart rate. And I’ll go into the cold tub, and a minute later, I’ll be at a 36 heart rate. So it’s really a nervous system reset when you go back and forth between the two, and so it just makes you feel really good the next day.”
Katie Grimes: 400-meter individual medley, 1,500-meter freestyle, 10k open water marathon
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JUNE 19: Katie Grimes of the United States competes in the Women’s 1500m freestyle final on Day Five of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 19, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The most versatile swimmer on Team USA’s Olympic roster, 18-year-old Grimes has been training for very different events: a marathon swim, the longest race in the pool and the 400 IM, which is a grueling spectacle of 100 meters butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle. So her Las Vegas training days start early, especially as she finished high school.
3:45 a.m. — Wake up, eat breakfast, head to the pool
5 a.m. – 7 a.m. — Swim practice
7:30 a.m. — Return home, eat a second breakfast
“I always have oatmeal before morning practice because it’s light, and it doesn’t upset my stomach,” she said in June. “And then after practice, I eat breakfast again, and sometimes I’ll have waffles or pancakes or something like bacon and eggs.”
Until she recently graduated from high school, Grimes said she’d get some school work done for two or three hours. She was an online student, which helped enable her training schedule. Sometimes, she’d sneak a nap in there too.
Midday — Lunch
“I’m so basic, and I can eat the same thing every day if I have to,” Grimes said. “But usually, I’ll just have white rice and grilled chicken or steak or salmon or something like that with a vegetable. And then it’s usually the same for dinner.”
3 p.m. – 5 p.m. — Swim practice
5:15 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. — Weight training
7:15 p.m. — Get home, eat dinner, hang out with her family on the couch
9 p.m. — Bed
“And then wake up and do it again.”
Chase Kalisz: 400-meter IM
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JUNE 20: Chase Kalisz of the United States competes in a preliminary heat of the Men’s 200m Individual medley on Day Six of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium on June 20, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
A three-time Olympian with a gold and a silver medal, 30-year-old Kalisz is aiming to make history in Paris. Although no man at least 30 years old has ever won an Olympic swimming medal in a race at least 400 meters long, as Swimming World magazine noted, Kalisz could be the first if he makes the podium.
For The Win spoke with Kalisz, who was promoting his partnership with Eli Lilly and Company, while he was training at the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs in May.
“It’s not too fun, but it’s part of the job,” he said about training at altitude.
9 a.m. – 11 a.m. — Swim practice
Midday — Weight training on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
5 p.m. – 7 p.m. — Swim practice
Kalisz said at the training center, he was doing two swim practices a day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, along with Saturday mornings. Wednesdays, he would just have a morning workout and the afternoon off, and Sundays were rest days.
“It’s quite a bit hectic schedule for just going back and forth to the pool, trying to recover, trying to eat, trying to mentally prepare for the next workout,” he said.
“And then you throw in the aspect of being up at altitude where just walking down the street makes you sore. So I think it’s a very crucial part of my training, and this is my third month-long camp this year that I’ve been to. I think collectively — I’ve looked it up — I’ve done about two years of my life total up here in Colorado, and I’ve never lived here once.”
When the difference between an Olympic medal and being left off the podium can boil down to hundredths of a second, every little detail matters on race day. Perfect execution, no unnecessary drag and, of course, a racing suit.
Tech suits, as they’re called, can impact everything from how swimmers move through the water to how they feel mentally preparing in the final minutes before taking their marks.
“The first time I put on a tech suit, I felt like Superman in the water,” said Ryan Murphy, now a three-time Olympian headed to Paris. “I felt like I was flying.”
Speedo is a global leader in developing tech suits for elite swimmers with the Olympics always front of mind. From the first non-wool swimsuit in 1928 to debuting its Fastskin suits at the 2000 Olympics, the 110-year-old innovative teams aim to push the boundaries of what’s possible in swimming.
Along with Speedo, TYR and Arena are also popular tech suit brands seen at elite competitions, including the Olympics.
“The performance is won and lost by the athlete,” Speedo senior vice president Simon Breckon told For The Win. “Our job is just to enable them on that journey.”
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Speedo swimmers will race in two new tech suits: the Fastskin LZR Intent 2.0 and the Fastskin LZR Valor 2.0. Designed with input from elite swimmers and inspired by sharks (seriously!), athletes can pick the most comfortable — though still skin tight — and buoyant option, depending on their events. The more coverage of a suit, the more efficient it is.
Team USA Olympic swimmers Kieran Smith, Regan Smith, Caeleb Dressel and Ryan Murphy (Speedo)
“For me as a sprinter, I’m looking for compression,” said Abbey Weitzeil, a lifelong Speedo wearer who’s headed to her third Olympics.
“My favorite thing about it is that when I dive in — I wear the closed-back Intent — I feel like I have good body position, and it holds my body position and my body line.”
Speedo’s 2024 Olympics suits incorporate elements from sharks and space exploration
There’s a noticeable difference between a regular training suit and a tech suit. Murphy said in a tech suit, he glides further off the wall compared with his regular practice one, estimating it probably shaves about a second off his times for every 50 meters.
For Speedo’s tech suits, the goal is to reduce friction in the water and improve hydrodynamics. Teams of designers, scientists, materials experts, garment engineers and researchers want it to feel like a second skin, locking swimmers into a smoother shape and lifting them in the water.
Team USA Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy (Speedo)
Speedo actually does draw inspiration for textiles and design from one of the scarier sea creatures: sharks.
Led by Aqualab, the company’s central innovation team based in London, researchers examine how sharks and other creatures move through the water, said Coora Lavezzo, Speedo’s head of innovation. The Fastskin LZR Intent, for example, mimics sharks’ skin with optimized textured panels to maximize efficiency in the water.
“When you look at sharks, you notice that their scales, essentially — we call them denticles — they’re different across the body of the shark,” Lavezzo said. “So in some areas, they’ll be bigger. In some areas, they’ll be really small, and they’ll vary according to the curves of the shark. … We try and take that thinking and apply it to a person’s body.”
It’s not a new concept for Speedo, however. The first Fastskin suit that debuted at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was a full-body suit inspired by shark skin to reduce drag.
Speedo’s latest innovation for both the Intent and Valor suits is a “bespoke coating” inspired by protective coating developments for space exploration, Lavezzo said. She and her team poured through 50 of Lamoral Space Tech’s coating recipes to find the most water repellant one for the 2024 Olympic suits.
Team USA Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel (Speedo)
“When you see athletes splash themselves or you see them getting out of the water, they’re glistening because you see these water droplets kind of running off of them,” Lavezzo said. “And that’s really down to the water repellency that we use.”
But designers, researchers and engineers can’t work in a vacuum, so they enlist athletes early in the development process. They share designs, swatches and as many prototype suits as possible with swimmers and ask for feedback.
“It’s normally about how I feel [about] my body alignment in the water, or whether there’s too much compression or not enough,” Weitzeil said. “They’re always changing seams. They’re always changing fabrics and how to put those together. So if I feel like something’s not as compression-y in a certain spot, or if I feel like my body alignment’s falling out of place, I’ll tell them that for sure.”
Speedo testing its suits with elite swimmers (Speedo)
The future of Speedo’s tech suits in a post-technical doping world
Innovation in tech suit designs can produce truly exceptional results. Famously, Michael Phelps won his record-breaking eight Olympic gold medals in 2008 in a LZR Racer suit. The suit included polyurethane panels, which were impossible for water to saturate, trapping air and leading to increased buoyancy.
The suit’s popularity exploded, and competitors tried to replicate it with neoprene, Breckon said.
Michael Phelps competing during the men’s 100m butterfly swimming semifinal at the National Aquatics Center during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing on August 15, 2008. (FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT/AFP/Getty Images)
But the “super suit era” caught the attention of World Aquatics, swimming’s international governing body, over concerns about them being akin to technical doping. So new rules were established, like no more full-body coverage and suits must be entirely made of fabric, no plastic or rubber panels.
Speedo works closely with World Aquatics to ensure new designs remain within the rules, Breckon said. But sometimes, there’s a little lobbying too.
“Technology now has kind of outpaced some of the guidelines in our sport, and we need to look at the balance of that,” he said.
Lavezzo and her Aqualab team have been working on suits for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics for about a year and are already looking ahead to the 2032 Brisbane Games.
Team USA Olympic swimmer Abbey Weitzeil (Speedo)
Future developments could include suits tailored to varying body shapes or event- or stroke-specific suits, Lavezzo said. One already existing suit features power bands specifically to aid hamstrings when the power dynamics shift for backstroke.
Suits could also provide real-time biometric data to swimmers, but unlike many sports, that practice currently isn’t allowed in swimming. Perhaps Speedo can convince World Aquatics to move the goalposts.
“The layman’s example I give — which my innovation team laughs at — is basically the Black Panther, the suit that returns the energy,” Breckon said. “And how do you actually get the energy and put it back into the muscle groups? How do you isolate the muscle groups and drive power [where] it needs to be, depending on your stroke?”
BERKELEY, Calif. — Don’t panic. Just breathe. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you swam laps. This isn’t a real race; it’s just one length of the pool. What’s the worst that could happen?
Those are the CliffsNotes of my internal monologue, as I stood behind the blocks at Cal Berkeley’s stunning outdoor pool, contemplating my life choices.
Sure, the beautiful pool filled with elite swimmers made me long for my 12-year competitive swimming career that ended when I was a teenager in Michigan. But in that moment, as I mentally prepared to race now-three-time Olympians Abbey Weitzeil, 27, and Ryan Murphy, 29, flashes of Gob Bluth reflecting on foolishness ran through my head.
I’ve made a huge mistake.
***
During the Olympics, fans on social media often wish they could watch a regular person out there competing to further highlight the exceptional athleticism on display. It’s a relativity thing. Understandably, it can be challenging to appreciate just how fast swimmers are going when all eight 50 freestylers finish within .60 seconds of each other.
So, I volunteered as tribute.
I had three weeks in May to prepare to “race” against two of America’s fastest swimmers. No amount of training in that time frame would have me ready physically, so I jumped in cold turkey. It had been six months since I last swam laps and about 15 years since I’d been in any kind of competitive shape — not to mention two years removed from tearing the ACL that would help launch me off the blocks.
I’m not one of those wildly mistaken washed-up athletes who think they can beat professionals at their own game — and certainly not professional swimmers with 10 Olympic medals between them. The goal simply was to not embarrass myself too badly, especially since we were shooting video.
Mental prep and hydration were all I had. It was far from enough.
Put your head down, go all out, it’s two quick races.
Of course I was nervous in the days prior, but watching Abbey and Ryan in the weight room before their afternoon practice (and before our race), I got a better idea of just how humbled I was about to be. They have pounds of muscles and what felt like 10 feet on me.
As they began practice, Cal coach Dave Durden — who also led Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics — asked for my swimming resume, wanting to set odds on my races afterward against Abbey and Ryan.
I told him to bet heavy on the favorites.
***
With Cal’s practice winding down and the races approaching, my mind time traveled back to my teenage self about to fight for a best time. Nerves, fear, excitement — all of it. Unfortunately, my competitive, race-ready body was absent, and I felt unqualified to even be near this pool filled with elite swimmers.
I’d first go against Abbey, whose Olympic gold, bronze and two silver medals were all in sprint freestyle events. But I needed a practice start.
Do I even remember how to dive off the block?
Yes, but evidently not well. The blocks were a lot higher than I remembered. My first time diving off in 12 years, I smacked my legs so hard on the water that they were red — and later bruised, along with my ego.
I tried to play it cool, but the leg-flop wasn’t lost on Abbey, who quickly fixed the backplate for my foot on the block, which wasn’t fully secured. Is that why my start was so bad? Let’s say… yes.
OK, race time. Just 25 yards. You got this.
With Abbey on my left, we climbed up on the blocks, waiting for Ryan to tell us to take our marks.
Don’t slip, don’t slip, don’t slip.
I shot off the block, far more gracefully in my head than on camera, and let the muscle memory take over, hopefully saving whatever would be left of my dignity.
When I took my first breath — there was a time when I wouldn’t breathe on sprint 25s — I could see Abbey’s wake far ahead of me.
Not good. You’re really getting your [expletive] kicked.
Never in my life had I been so focused on pulling as much water as possible. Are my arms filled with lead? I felt like I was on a hamster wheel, rapidly flailing yet barely moving forward.
Oh, god, this hurts. Come on! Pull, pull, pull!
Finally, I hit the wall about 4.5 seconds after Abbey — an eternity in sprint events — to the surprise of absolutely no one. I still never expected to win. I just wanted to stay in the same video frame, and thankfully, our drone footage ensured everyone could see exactly how many body lengths behind I was.
Panting at the wall, I felt like I’d never catch my breath again. I couldn’t believe that one length was merely an eighth of what was once my strongest event.
A total class act, Abbey reassured me that I did well, we high-fived and I floated back down to the other end of the pool, remembering I had to do this again.
***
Take deux. OK, this won’t be as bad. Ryan is doing backstroke, you’re doing freestyle. Maybe you can keep it closer.
Yeah, maybe not. He’s still an Olympic gold medal-winning backstroker who swept the 100 and 200 in Rio.
I focused more on my start and breakout strokes the second time around, but it didn’t matter. With my first breath, I could see Ryan still powering through his underwater kicks.
He hasn’t even surfaced yet? You’re toast.
As in the first “race,” this one was just as over the moment it started.
Ryan also was kind about it and said he had fun, which was hopefully at least a little true after we made them do a final sprint following their second practice of the day.
Unsurprisingly, two Olympians, about a month out from qualifying for their third Games, kicked my [expletive]. Getting supremely humbled was the expectation for sure, but how humbled can you really be when you already knew embarrassment was inevitable?
They’re two of the fastest swimmers in the world with impressive longevity out of Cal Berkeley — one of the best college and pro programs on the planet that regularly produces Olympians. And they both have strong chances of medaling in Paris. Ryan in particular has shown remarkable consistency, becoming the first swimmer to win the men’s 100 and 200-meter backstroke at three straight U.S. trials.
Obviously, I never stood a chance.
But getting wrecked by two Olympic swimmers was better than any work day I can remember. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to racing in the Olympics, and I think I held my own. Kinda.
You’ll definitely want to watch these swimmers compete for a spot on the 2024 Paris Olympics team.
The moment elite swimmers have been training for the last three years — and, for some, their whole lives — is finally here after a shortened Olympics cycle.
Swimming trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics begin Saturday, as the best American swimmers compete for a coveted spot on the Team USA roster during the nine-day event at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Hundreds of swimmers will compete, but only the top-2 finishers in each event will make the team (and top-6 finishers for some relays).
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 Katie Ledecky, Caeleb 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.
So ahead of the 2024 U.S. Olympic swimming trials, here are nine athletes to know, along with the trials events they’re entered in (but some could scratch).
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.
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.
3. Kate Douglass
(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM College: Virginia
If you can’t tell from her lineup, Douglass is one of the most versatile swimmers. It’s nearly unheard of to see a swimmer excel in such drastically different events like the 50 free and 200 breaststroke, but she’s definitely one to watch at trials. The 22-year-old swimmer enters trials seeded first in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, and she’s fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
After winning bronze in the 200 IM in Tokyo, Douglass is a good bet to make the U.S. Olympic team in multiple events.
4. Jack Alexy
(Joe Warner/Correspondent / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle College: Cal
This 21-year-old sprinter isn’t a household name, but that could easily change with a strong outing at trials and — should he make his first Olympic team — in Paris. Especially after standout performances at the 2023 world championships, where he won five medals, including gold in the 4×100 medley relay. On his way to worlds last year, Alexy was the 100 free U.S. national champion and finished second in the 50. Definitely one of the swimmers to beat at trials, he enters the meet ranked second in the 50 free to Ryan Held and first in the 100 free.
Manuel also took a break from swimming after winning her fifth Olympic medal in Tokyo, and, based on her times, it could be challenging for her to qualify individually for Paris, especially in the two shorter sprint races. However, the 27-year-old sprinter could be a solid pick to make the team via relays if she doesn’t qualify outright for her third Olympic team.
6. Gretchen Walsh
(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Entered: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly College: Virginia
Although Walsh is aiming to make her first Olympic team, she has tremendous star potential, especially after a record-breaking NCAA championship run in March when she won all seven of her events. Olympic trials are obviously on another level, but Walsh has a strong shot. She enters trials ranked third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free, along with being second in the 100 butterfly.
She’s looking to make the team with her sister, Alex Walsh, who won Olympic silver in the 200 IM in Tokyo. For trials, Alex is entered in the 200 IM, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.
Entered: 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly College: Cal
Although this isn’t Rose’s first Olympic trials, this is definitely his best shot at making his Olympics debut.. After winning the 100 butterfly at the 2023 U.S. national championships, Rose went on to win bronze in the event in his world championship debut that year. He was also a world champion in the 4×100 medley relay. Going into trials, the 21-year-old swimmer is seeded first in the 100 butterfly and eighth in the 200 butterfly.
Another versatile swimmer, 22-year-old Smith is looking to build on her Olympic resume after winning three medals in Tokyo, including a silver in the 200 butterfly and bronze in the 100 backstroke. She heads into Olympic trials ranked first in the U.S. this year in the 200 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, and she’s third in the 100 butterfly, behind Walsh and Torri Huske. She should qualify for Paris in multiple events and could make a medley relay team too.
9. Ryan Murphy
(Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)
Entered: 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly College: Cal
Already a two-time Olympian, Murphy is looking to add to his five Olympic medals, four of which are gold. He enters trials with the fastest seed time in his two backstroke events — he’s still the American record-holder in the 100 back from 2016 — but in 2024, he has the second-fastest American time in each event. As for the 100 butterfly, Murphy is seeded sixth at trials but said competing in the event at trials will be a “game-time call.”
After a decade leading the Texas women’s golf program, Ryan Murphy stepped down as coach Friday.
After a decade leading the Texas women’s golf program, Ryan Murphy stepped down as coach Friday.
During his 10 years as head coach after six seasons as an assistant, Murphy led Texas to unprecedented success in the Big 12. The Longhorns have claimed seven conference titles since 2017, their best stretch in conference play since winning nine Southwest Conference titles from 1987 to the SWC’s demise after the 1996 season.
“The University of Texas has been great to me and my family, and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a coach here,” he said in a statement. “I’ve enjoyed my 16 years around many terrific young people on my teams as well as many great people that work in Texas athletics. I am happy with what we achieved in my 10 years, and I believe the program is in a great place. I look forward to rooting on the players I’ve had the pleasure to coach into the future.”
This season, Texas finished 11th at the NCAA Championship, the seventh straight season that the Longhorns had placed in the top 15 at the NCAAs.
Texas freshman Farah O’Keefe and Murphy each claimed postseason honors from the Big 12 this year.
O’Keefe, an Austin native who won team and individual state championships at Anderson High School, was named the Big 12 player of the year and freshman of the year. She was also named to the Division I all-freshman team by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.
Murphy earned Big 12 coach of the year honors.
Freshmen Lauren Kim and Selina Liao joined O’Keefe on the All-Big 12 team for the conference champion Longhorns.
Travis Kelce is ready to begin his acting career (even if he’s not retiring from the NFL just yet).
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is officially making the leap to acting.
While he’s not retiring from the NFL just yet, he did just land a role on the new Ryan Murphy horror series Grotesquerie alongside Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance and Lesley Manville, per Variety.
We asked some Team USA swimmers these roundtable questions about the Olympics.
The Tokyo Olympics’ swimming lineup this week has some new events added to the mix with the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle, the men’s 800-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter mixed medley relay. But what events would some of Team USA’s top swimmers like to see added next? We found out.
Ahead of the Summer Games, For The Win asked several swimmers a variety of questions to help fans get to know them a little better. We asked about how they train, other Olympic events they think it’d be cool to compete in, what they think about while staring at the bottom of a pool for hours every day and more.
Here are the Team USA swimmers included in this roundtable, along with the (mostly) individual events they’re competing in at the Tokyo Olympics and the results if the event final has already taken place:
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.
June 13-17: 8 p.m. ET. June 18-19: 9 p.m. ET. June 20: 8:15 p.m.
We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
Postponing was really the only choice the International Olympic Committee had because, in addition to it not being safe to gather massive groups of people from around the globe during a pandemic, training facilities are closed. With only a few months out from the Games’ original start date, athletes everywhere are unable to train properly
But that’s not stopping them from attempting to train in some capacity. While practicing social distancing and staying at home, several Olympians and Olympic hopefuls are finding incredible and innovative ways to try to stay in shape and practice their respective sports at least a little.
[lawrence-related id=907524]
So we rounded up a bunch of videos showing off their creative workouts, which are really quite amazing.
April Ross, American beach volleyball player, 2-time Olympic medalist
Paul Chelimo, American track runner, Olympic silver medalist
Trying this out in case, there is a curfew! No Treadmill, No Problem!!!!!!! Tough Times calls for Tough Measures. I'm not about to show up at the Olympics Trials out of shape😅😅 Go Hard or Suffer the Rest of Your Life! pic.twitter.com/N71J2G1all
![I got my [expletive] kicked by 2 Olympic swimmers and lived to talk about it](https://feeds.usatodaysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-18-at-1.55.41-PM-e1721327824259-1200x692.png)
