2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS
MEN’S 800 FREE — BY THE NUMBERS:
- World File: 7:32.11 — Zhang Lin, China (2009)
- American File: 7:38.67 — Bobby Finke (2023)
- U.S. Open File: 7:40.34 — Bobby Finke, United States (2023)
- World Junior File: 7:43.37 — Lorenzo Galossi, Italy (2022)
- 2020 Olympic Champion: Bobby Finke, United States — 7:41.87
- 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Bobby Finke — 7:48.22
- U.S. Olympic Trials Minimize: 8:09.69
- 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time — 7:51.65
The boys’s 800 freestyle is an analogous story to the 1500 freestyle. Over the past three years, Bobby Finke has swum away from the sector. He gained this occasion at 2021 Olympic Trials in 7:48.22, the second quickest swim of his profession to that time.
Finke hasn’t seemed again since hanging Olympic gold in a surprising upset. He’s continued to extend his lead on the opposite American distance specialists. He’s reset the American document 4 instances, bringing it down from Michael McBroom’s 7:43.60 to the 7:38.67 he swam for bronze at 2023 World Championships. That point places him practically 10 seconds forward of the sector in Indianapolis.
So, just like the 1500 freestyle, it turns into about how briskly Finke goes to be at Trials when the chance for his final aim—defending gold—remains to be two months away. Final summer time, he set the usOpen document at 7:40.34 en path to his 7:38.67 in Fukuoka.
Finke is the clear favourite on this race and like different qualification meets this quad, there’s an intense race for second taking form.
Schubert’s Squad
Out in El Toro, California at The Swim Workforce (TST), Mark Schubert has amassed an elite distance crew since returning in February 2023 from a six-month stint teaching in China. Schubert’s distance group consists of Olympian Michael Brinegar, Worlds qualifier David Johnston, and NCAA 1650-yard champion Will Gallant. All three can be in Indianapolis making an attempt to earn an Olympic berth.
Of the three, we predict it’s Johnston with the most effective shot on the second roster spot. He had a breakthrough 2023 U.S. Nationals, storming residence to win the 400 freestyle and earn a spot on his first long-course Worlds staff.
That success prompted him to take an Olympic redshirt 12 months from Texas and practice at TST full-time. Johnston is a distance free/IM specialist—he received to place that vary on show at 2024 Worlds, making the most of the completely different choice process for the meet.
In Doha, Johnston popped a lifetime finest 7:48.20 within the 800 freestyle, breaking 7L50 for the primary time. Not solely that, however he hit the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) after lacking it by .05 seconds along with his sixth place end (7:51.70).
Johnston’s time from 2024 Worlds is the quickest by an American this season. Finke will certainly higher that mark at Trials nevertheless it makes Johnston one of many strongest candidates to earn that second roster spot.
That’s one thing that his coaching companion Brinegar is aware of all about. Brinegar made the Tokyo Olympic staff in each the 800/1500 freestyle. After the Video games, he raced one other collegiate season at Indiana earlier than saying that he wasn’t taking his ultimate 12 months of eligibility and would as an alternative flip professional to concentrate on the Olympics. He stayed at Indiana briefly and ultimately moved to coach at TST.
Brinegar holds a lifetime finest of seven:49.94 from 2021 Trials, making him one among three swimmers on this subject (not together with Finke) who’ve damaged 7:50. His Olympic qualifying swim was the one time he’s been below that barrier. And whereas his quickest time within the qualifying interval is 7:54.52, this season his finest is a 7:57.11 from the Westmont Professional Collection. He’s going to want to get again down close to his finest not simply because it’s going to definitely take sooner than 7:54 to get 2nd but in addition as a result of he’s nonetheless on the lookout for the OQT (7:51.65) within the qualifying interval.
Then, there’s Gallant. He’s on an Olympic redshirt season as properly and usually races for NC State, the place he was a part of one other sturdy distance group. Gallant was named to the unique roster for 2024 Worlds, however pulled out. Nonetheless, he’s gotten loads of racing in throughout his Olympic 12 months and did race internationally at 2023 Pan Ams.
His season-best time is a 7:57.72 from the 2023 U.S. Open. That’s about seven seconds off his 7:50.75 lifetime finest, swum for third at 2023 U.S. Nationals.
Apart from Johnston’s journey to Doha, Schubert’s coaching group has had a comparatively quiet season, which leaves loads of questions on their Trials type. Johnston’s 2023 breakthrough makes him the favourite of the three for the second spot, although Brinegar’s confirmed success at Trials shouldn’t be ignored. And for all we all know, Gallant’s been saving one thing massive for this meet.
Extra Current Worldwide Representatives
Behind Finke’s steadiness, there’s been a revolving door of distance expertise taking the second roster spot. Which implies that it isn’t simply Johnston and Brinegar who’ve repped the celebrities and stripes within the distance occasions this quad.
Ross Dant had a heartbreaking 2021 Trials, notching two third place finishes (400/800 freestyle). Within the 800 free, he flipped on the ultimate flip in second place, however received overtaken within the closing meters of the race.
Two years later, he broke by means of and made the 2023 World Championship staff on this race. Dant touched the wall in second with a 7:48.10, shaving greater than two seconds off his lifetime finest and breaking the 7:50 barrier. His earlier finest on this occasion was a 7:50.66 from 2021 Trials.
After Worlds, Dant went straight into the NCAA season with NC State. And except for someday of a November twin meet between ASU and NC State, we haven’t seen Dant in long-course since Worlds. He had a quiet displaying at males’s NCAAs, inserting fifteenth within the 1650-yard free after getting 2nd final 12 months and he has not raced since.
Dant broke by means of the third place barrier decisively final season. He was the one one who joined Finke sub-7:50 within the U.S. Nationals ultimate, beating lots of the people who find themselves going to be on this Trials subject. At his finest he’s able to making the staff—however there isn’t lots of current information to inform us about his type.
We do know extra about what Charlie Clark is bringing to Indianapolis. Clark made each the 2022 and 2023 Worlds groups, making the 800/1500 free within the former 12 months and solely the 1500 free within the latter. He additionally took the autumn semester off from racing collegiately at Ohio State, although he returned to the Buckeyes for the second semester.
He posted a 7:54.87 on the 2024 World Championships, however essentially the most encouraging signal for Clark on this occasion was his swim on the U.S. Open in December. There, he clocked a season-best 7:50.49, which can be the quickest he’s been within the qualifying window. The time is simply .42 seconds off Clark’s private finest 7:50.07 from 2022 Worldwide Workforce Trials. Such a robust in-season swim is an effective signal for Clark, who’s seeking to take a agency grip on that second roster spot by making his first Olympic staff.
Whereas he nonetheless must drop extra time to be aggressive on the worldwide stage, Clark is the one man on this subject who went to all three World Championship meets this quad. Qualifying for the Paris staff would go a good distance in the direction of cementing him as a the individual to beat for the second spot on future worldwide groups.
On the lookout for An Upset
Luke Whitlock is aiming to throw a wrench into all of those plans. The Florida commit has discovered a brand new stage within the run as much as Trials, making him a severe risk to stage an upset.
On the Indy Might Cup, Whitlock posted lifetime bests within the 400/800/1500 freestyle, swimming 3:49.10/7:50.20/15:07.94. It’s troublesome to gauge what extra taper can have in retailer for him however the 800 freestyle might be his finest probability to make the staff.
Whitlock swam 8:00.79 at 2023 U.S. Nationals, then broke eight minutes for the primary time at 2023 World Juniors (7:55.00). His efficiency on the Indy Might Cup is a 4.80 second drop from his earlier finest. It launches him up the rankings to take a seat in-between Clark and Gallant’s lifetime bests and #4 on the psych sheet. He’s coming into this meet with quite a bit much less expertise than the opposite swimmers we’ve already talked about, which may very well be a problem that he wants to beat at a pressure-packed meet like Trials. However conversely, Whitlock can have much less expectations on his shoulders, which he might play to his benefit. If he’s within the ultimate then he’s received the pace to sneak forward of the older swimmers vying for that second spot.
One other swimmer who might shock is Daniel Matheson. An upset by Matheson has longer odds than one from Whitlock, purely as a result of Matheson has extra time to drop.
The Solar Satan’s sitting seventh on the psych sheet along with his 7:52.34 lifetime finest from the usPro Championship. So not solely is he seeking to bridge the hole to the highest contenders, he’s nonetheless on the lookout for the OQT. Since that swim, he’s solely raced the 800m freestyle as soon as, posting 8:15.65 at that ASU vs. NC State twin meet. Clearly, he’ll be sooner in Indianapolis. That 7:52.34 swim was a private finest by practically 10 seconds. It’s unlikely that he’s received a drop that massive in him once more but when he bridges the hole to the primary contenders then he might make the race attention-grabbing.
Remaining Components
The 2nd place instances on the final three qualification meets have been 7:49.94 at 2021 Trials, 7:50.07 at 2022 Trials, and seven:48.10 at 2023 U.S. Nationals. That implies that after Brinegar’s eighth place on the psych sheet, it’s going to take a giant drop from anybody else to get entangled in that important battle for a roster spot.
If anybody’s able to a giant time drop, it’s Luka Mijatovic. Mijatovic—who turned 15 in April—has spent the final 12 months resetting Nationwide Age Group data left and proper. He’s made historical past by swimming sooner than names like Michael Phelps (400 IM) and Ian Thorpe (200 free) did after they have been within the 13-14 age group. Within the 800 freestyle, Mijatovic owns a lifetime finest 7:59.64 (thirteenth seed). He set that mark at 2023 Junior Nationals and simply missed it at this spring’s Marin Sectionals with a 7:59.67.
Mijatovic remains to be very younger. Whereas that does make it attainable that we’ll see a giant drop from him on this occasion, it additionally implies that the expectation shouldn’t be for him to stage an upset and make the Olympic staff. It took 7:57.11 to make the 2021 Trials ultimate. Mijatovic’s in-season pace means that he’s able to decrease his lifetime finest on this occasion, which might earn him a spot within the ultimate.
Different names to observe are James Plage and Luke Ellis. Because the ninth and tenth seeds, the 2 are entered simply on the bubble of the ultimate. Plage is part of the NC State distance crew and holds a lifetime finest 7:54.77 from 2022 Cary Sectionals.
Ellis—who swims for the Sandpipers and is dedicated to Indiana’s class of 2025—clocked his lifetime finest extra just lately: a 7:56.40 at 2023 World Juniors. Neither have damaged 8:00 at in-season meets throughout 2023-24 however ought to get again below that mark in Indianapolis. Nonetheless, they’ll have to be proper on their bests with a view to upset the favorites for the ultimate.
The Verdict
That is Finke’s race to lose. And there’s nothing in his historical past to counsel that he’s at risk of mistiming this race. He’s received lots of wiggle room as he seems to be to lock up a second Olympic qualification. For him, the primary query is how briskly will he swim.
Nonetheless, there’s an intense battle shaping up for the second roster spot. 4 swimmers—Dant, Johnston, Clark, and Brinegar—have all just lately represented the uson a world staff on this occasion. Then, combine in Gallant and a possible Whitlock spoiler and this might come all the way down to the contact between a number of swimmers.
One factor to concentrate to is the truth that at 2022 and 2023 Trials, the space races have been timed finals. That’s not the case right here—all of the swimmers have to qualify for the ultimate. And for swimmers who don’t have lots of expertise transferring by means of rounds in distance occasions that may very well be a possible impediment. It seems to be like it’s going to take sooner than 2021’s 7:57.11 to make this ultimate but when any of the primary contenders mistimes their prelims swim there are many lesser-known swimmers ready to pounce.
Darkish Horse: Andrew Taylor — Andrew Taylor made an impression this NCAA postseason. The Florida freshman gained the 1650-yard freestyle title from the early heats, dropping 26 seconds within the course of. Then, he adopted up by dropping extra time to complete third at NCAAs (14:37.80). Taylor is seeded method down the psych sheet at thirty fifth with a lifetime finest 8:06.86. However after these massive swims in yards, Taylor may very well be about to make comparable enhancements in meters. It could take one other massive drop, but when his taper hits we might see Taylor properly exceed his seed and even vie for a finals lane.