2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS
We’ve got our third swim-off on deck at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, but this is our first that is happening after a finals result. We will update this article when we know when the swim-off will take place.
Erika Connolly (née Brown) and Catie DeLoof tied for 6th in the final of the women’s 100 freestyle, clocking matching times of 53.86. Both swimmer improved from their semis efforts, with a caveat: This will be Connolly’s second swim-off of the meet and in this event. She won the last swim-off for a lane in this final last night, beating out Anna Moesch. When this swim-off is over, Connolly will have swum five 100 freestyles over two days.
Connolly and DeLoof tied from opposite ends of the pool, in lanes 1 and 8 respectively.
We don’t have splits from DeLoof’s swim to compare as there appears to be a malfunction in the official results.
The 5th and 6th-place finishers in the 100 and 200 freestyles are the lowest priority to be named to the team. The official Trials handbook necessitates a swim-off in this situation according to section 1.3.8.a:
If there is a tie in an Event at the Qualifying Competition between two or more athletes, and if it is necessary to break the tie to decide the finish order int hat Event for purposes of determining (i) who would qualify for Nomination to the Team under the Priorities in Section 1.3.4, or (ii) who would be given the opportunity to swim the Event at the Olympic Games, then a swim-off between the athletes involved in the applicable tie will be conducted to determine the finish order. For example, if there is a tie for second place in the 100-meter Freestyle, a swim-off will be conducted between the two Available Swimmers to determine second place and thus who would be given the opportunity to swim the corresponding Event at the Olympic Games. As another example, if there is a two-way tie for 4th place in the 200-meter Freestyle, a swim-off will be conducted between the two athletes to determine fourth and fifth places and thus who is included under Priority #1 and Priority #3.
After the first swim-off for finals of this meet, we reported that it was the first for a finals spot since 2008.
This one between Connolly and DeLoof has much higher stakes: assuming the women’s roster doesn’t run into an issue with doubles, it will directly determine who is named to the Olympic roster.
