2021 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
- When:
- Wave I Dates: June 4-7, 2021
- Wave II Dates: June 13-20, 2021
- Prelims: 10am CDT | Finals: 7pm CDT
- Where: CHI Health Center / Omaha, Nebraska
- 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Cuts
- Wave I & II Event Order
- LCM (50m)
- Wave II Psych Sheets
12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte is gearing up for his fifth consecutive U.S. Olympic Trials appearance, aiming to qualify for a fifth Olympic team at the age of 36.
Lochte has entered in six events for the Trials, led by his pet event, the 200 IM, where he’s the world record holder, four-time world champion and owns three Olympic medals. That event is notably the only individual event in which Lochte qualified for the 2016 Olympic team in.
The University of Florida alum has also entered the 400 IM, which, while it’s certainly a daunting task given he’s closer to 40 than 30 (Lochte will be the oldest swimmer in the field by nine years), he’s bullish on the training he’s done with coach Gregg Troy and his natural talent certainly gives him a chance, if the endurance can hold up.
Lochte’s also in the 200 free, where he’ll look to make his way onto a fifth straight 800 free relay team at the Olympics, having won gold at the past four Games.
One thing that sticks out about the 200 free in particular is that Lochte is seeded 53rd out of 61 swimmers, meaning he’ll likely find himself in Heat 2 and won’t be able to pace off of the other swimmers in his heat if he hopes to qualify for the semis.
While some fans may have had reservations on whether or not Lochte would actually go for the 400 IM this year, those three entries were all pretty predictable. But, he’s added three others to keep us guessing: 100 back, 200 back and 100 fly.
Ryan Lochte‘s Olympic Trials Entries
- 200 freestyle (#53 seed, 1:50.25)
- 100 backstroke (#27 seed, 55.08)
- 200 backstroke (#13 seed, 1:59.26)
- 100 butterfly (#38 seed, 53.25)
- 200 IM (#5 seed, 1:57.76)
- 400 IM (#15 seed, 4:18.95)
In 2016, Lochte initially entered six events as well, swapping this year’s 100 back for the 100 free, and ended up racing five of them – though he scratched the 100 free and 100 fly after the heats.
The 200 back, the only event he scratched at the Trials five years ago, was the first event in which Lochte won individual Olympic gold, doing so at the 2008 Games in Beijing. However, it hasn’t been a fixture on his competitive schedule since winning a third world title in the event in 2013.
The other two events have commonly been on Lochte’s entries in the past but he’s rarely taken them on fully. Lochte was a finalist in the 100 fly at the 2013 World Championships, but dropped the race after the prelims at the 2016 Trials., with the event’s semi-finals come shortly after the 200 IM final.
All three rounds of the 100 back coincide with the 200 free, so it’s hard to imagine him doing both. Lochte and Troy may gauge how the 400 IM plays out on the opening day before deciding which of those two events to race on Day 2, though it’s hard to imagine the 200 free being dropped given the relay implications.
I love it! Go Ryan!
Lochte has already commented that he’s all in and would swim the 800IM if offered. (on this site)
He has not trained like he has to skip the 400.
Last two 200IM swims he alternated the strokes that he focused on (only 2 at a time). If you combined those splits he was about a 1:57 pre-taper.
It’s not just that he has great tapers, he also doesn’t ‘show’ where he really is in the lead up competitions (never fires for the whole race)
He is going 1:55.3 (1st) and 4:07.8 (2nd) to qualify for BOTH IM’s.
I think there is greater than 50% chance that he does the 200 back and that he will be dangerous… Read more »
last on his program , makes sense
Guy is a bloody legend , perhaps not the sharpest tool in the shed , but hope he makes good …..
Thinking about it more, I think Lochte would have a pretty good Trials schedule if he trimmed the lineup to just the 200 free and 200/400IM. Operating under the assumption that he makes it to finals in all three, here’s his schedule by day:
Sunday: P/F 400 IM
Monday: P/S 200 free
Tuesday: F 200 free
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: P/S 200 IM
Friday: F 200 IM
That’s not an insurmountable lineup at all and should be quite achievable by someone who’s been putting in the work.
He realistically doesn’t have a shot in either of the backstrokes or the 100 fly, so if he drops those there’s nothing inherently overloaded about the resulting schedule.
If he sticks to your schedule, I think it would work out great. And let’s be realistic, here: he might have an extra rest day on Tuesday. The 200 free is deep and he might not make the final. Hope he makes the team and proves some people wrong, but it’s really tough to have any comfortable predictions with him.
Agreed. I think he’s got a great chance at the 200 IM and theoretically has as good a chance as anyone at the 400 IM if he comes out with a vintage Lochte taper.
200 free is a tougher proposition. His May/June and Trials times from the past few cycles:
2008: 1:49 – 1:45
2012: 1:49 – 1:45
2016: 1:49 – 1:46
2021: 1:51 – ?
He was faster back in March with a 1:50 at San Antonio. In March in the past cycles, he was 1:47, 1:49, and 1:48 for 2008, 2012, and 2016, respectively. If he holds close to his historical Trials drop in the 200, I expect to see him around a 1:46-1:47. That… Read more »
I think he actually has a better chance for top 2 in 400 IM than top 6 in 200 free. But it’s a bigger risk. And “better chance” is, of course, relative.
Rooting for his 200 IM.
His only “chance” is 200 IM”. Seems ridiculous that he entered all these events. Typical Lochte. Needs to retire and move on with his kids and wife now. Why is it so hard for him to walk away???
ill come back to this comment when he makes the olympic team
Somebody who never considered that this is probably the best way to support his wife and kids now.
Based just on his seed times and theoretically realistic chances at making the cut, not how the schedule plays out, he should drop both backs and the 100 fly.
I maintain that he’s got as good a shot as anyone at making the 200 IM, and has an outside chance at squeaking into finals and this the relay in the 200 free.
The 400 IM is a tricky one. His prelims 4:21 from last month (presuming he swam it like a prelims swim and not a finals swim, though) compares favorably to the 4:24 prelims swim he did in May 2016 (down to a 4:16 in finals at that meet) and the pair of 4:26s he swam in May 2012,… Read more »
I hope he only swims 200Fr and 200 IM.
I want him to make the team. Less is better