The Former Gator finished second in the 400m free finals after swimming a lifetime best of 3:45.76 on Saturday night.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The opening day of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials got underway Saturday in Indianapolis, Ind., as 10 Gators began their journey to Paris. Bella Sims, Michaela Mattes, Olivia Peoples, Addison Reese, Emma Weyant, Bobby Finke, Gio Linscheer, Jake Mitchell, Kieran Smith and Luke Whitlock represented Florida inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
Finke, Mitchell, Smith and Whitlock represented Florida in the Finals session on Saturday night in in front of a world-record crowd of 20,689. Fellow Gator Kieran Smith secured second-place in the 400m freestyle after recording a personal-best 3:45.76. Even though he placed in the top-two with an Olympic Qualifying Time, only the winner of each event secures a spot on Team USA. Smith has not officially made Team USA’s Olympic roster, but will more than likely be once the team fills out over the week.
HOW IT HAPPENED – FINALS SESSION
Men’s 400m Free – Results<https://www.omegatiming.com/File/00011800030101EF0104FFFFFFFFFF01.pdf>
Having won the event at the previous U.S. Olympic Trials, Kieran Smith’s second Olympic Games was looking more promising in the final 50-meters of the race. Keeping with the leading pack throughout, his final momentum solidified him second place with a new personal-best 3:45.76.
Finke also swam a personal-best, 3:46.27, marking his first 400m free time under 3:48.00. The Gator Alum finished fourth overall, making a huge jump from his eighth-place 3:48.63 seed time.
Coming into Finals as the top seed after recording a personal-best (3:46.42) during morning prelims, Whitlock swam a similar time of 3:46.55 in his Final race to finish behind Finke in fifth.
Jake Mitchell was the final swimmer representing Florida in the Finals. Having had an historic 400m free swim during the 2021 Olympic Trials, the Tokyo Olympian placed eighth with a 3:50.76 time.
HOW IT HAPPENED – MORNING SESSION
Women’s 100m Fly – Results<https://www.omegatiming.com/File/00011800030204EC0101FFFFFFFFFF01.pdf>
Oliva Peoples and Addison Reese represented Florida in the first event of trials. Peoples, who holds the Florida women’s 100Y fly School Record, finished 33rd overall after recording a personal-best time of 59.60. Reese, an incoming freshman from Windermere, Fla. swam a 1:00.73 to earn 61st overall in her Olympic Trial debut.
Women’s 400m Free – Results<https://www.omegatiming.com/File/00011800030201EF0101FFFFFFFFFF01.pdf>
Having all competed in the previous Olympic Trials, Weyant, Mattes and Sims swam in the final women’s event of the morning. Swimming in the seventh heat, Weyant finished just shy of the eight qualifying Final spots. The Florida native finished 11th after touching the wall in 4:10.58. Fellow Gator Michaela Mattes raced in the same heat as her her teammate and went 4:21.38 for 49th place. Bella Sims competed in the eight and final heat, as the 2024 SEC Women’s Swimmer of the Year finished 20th with a 4:12.49 time.
Men’s 400m Free – Results<https://www.omegatiming.com/File/00011800030101EF0101FFFFFFFFFF01.pdf>
Incoming freshman Luke Whitlock headlined the men’s 400m free after taking the top spot during morning prelims. The 18-year-old marked a new personal-best time of 3:46.42. Jake Mitchell kept close to his new teammate in the final heat for a third-place finish after going 3:47.46. Former Gators Kieran Smith and Bobby Finke both finished in the top-eight spots as well, as Smith went 3:48.25 to earn second in the seventh heat and sixth overall. Competing in the same heat with his former teammate, Finke grabbed the last advancing Finals spot with a 3:48.63 time. Gio Linscheer represented the Gators in the second heat. The junior recorded his second-best 400m time after going 3:52.11. He finished second in his heat, while placing 25th overall.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Saturday, June 15
Finals Results
Men’s 400m Freestyle Final
2nd – Kieran Smith – 3:45.76
4th – Bobby Finke – 3:46.27
5th – Luke Whitlock – 3:46.55
8th – Jake Mitchell – 3:50.76
Morning Heats Results
Women’s 100m Butterfly
*Top-16 advance to Semifinals*
33rd – Olivia Peoples – 59.60
61st – Addison Reese* – 1:00.73
Women’s 400m Freestyle
*Top eight advance to Finals*
11th – Emma Weyant – 4:10.58
20th – Bella Sims – 4:12.49
49th – Michaela Mattes – 4:21.38
Men’s 400m Freestyle
*Top eight advance to Finals*
1st – Luke Whitlock* – 3:46.42
3rd – Jake Mitchell – 3:47.46
6th – Kieran Smith – 3:48.25
8th – Bobby Finke – 3:48.63
25th – Gio Linscheer – 3:53.11
*Incoming Gators
GATOR OLYMPIC HOPEFULLS
Name
Event
Place
Time
Kieran Smith
400m Freestyle
2nd Place
3:45.76
UP NEXT
The U.S. Olympic Swim Trials continues on June 16 inside Lucas Oil Stadium. The men will compete in the 100m back, 200m free and 400m IM in the morning, while the women will swim the 100m breast and 200m free. Paris qualifiers in the men’s 100m breast 400m IM and women’s 100m fly will be determined in the night session. Additionally, the men’s 100m back, 100m breast, 200m free and the women’s 100m breast and 200m free semifinals will also take place Sunday night.
SWIMMING SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Session Start Times (ET): 11 a.m. Prelims / 7:45 p.m. Finals (varying based on broadcast needs). The trials will have 17 sessions distributed over nine days. With eight prelims and nine finals, every individual event contested at the Olympics will have a trial.
June 16 – Sunday
Prelims
Finals
Men’s 200M Freestyle
Men’s 400M IM Final
Men’s 400M IM
Women’s 100M Butterfly
Women’s 100M Breaststroke
Men’s 200M Freestyle Semi
Men’s 100m Backstroke
Women’s 100M Breaststroke Semi
Women’s 200M Freestyle
Men’s 100M Backstroke Semi
Men’s 100M Breaststroke Final
Women’s 200M Freestyle Semi
June 17 – Monday
Prelims
Finals
Women’s 400M IM
Women’s 400M IM Final
Women’s 100M Backstroke
Men’s 200M Freestyle Final
Men’s 800M Freestyle
Women’s 100M Backstroke Semi
Men’s 100M Backstroke Semi
Women’s 100m Breaststroke Final
Women’s 200m Freestyle Final
June 18 – Tuesday
Prelims
Finals
Men’s 200M Butterfly
Men’s 100M Freestyle Semi
Men’s 100M Freestyle
Men’s 200M Butterfly Semi
Women’s 1500M Freestyle
Women’s 100M Backstroke Final
Women’s 100M Freestyle
Men’s 800M Freestyle Final
Men’s 200M Breaststroke
Women’s 100M Freestyle Semi
Men’s 200m Breaststroke Final
June 19 – Wednesday
Prelims
Finals
Women’s 200M Breaststroke
Women’s 100M Freestyle Final
Men’s 200M Backstroke
Men’s 200M Butterfly Final
Women’s 200M Butterfly
Women’s 200M Butterfly Semi
Women’s 1500M Freestyle Final
Men’s 200M Backstroke Semi
Women’s 200M Breaststroke Final
Men’s 200M Breaststroke Final
Men’s 100M Freestyle Final
June 20 – Thursday
Prelims
Finals
Women’s 200M Backstroke
Women’s 200M Butterfly Final
Men’s 50M Freestyle
Men’s 200M Backstroke Final
Men’s 200M IM
Men’s 50M Freestyle Semi
Women’s 200M Breaststroke Final
Women’s 200M Backstroke Semi
Men’s 200M IM Semi
June 21 – Friday
Prelims
Finals
Men’s 100M Butterfly
Men’s 50M Freestyle Final
Women’s 200M IM
Women’s 200M Backstroke Final
Women’s 800M Freestyle
Men’s 200M IM Final
Men’s 100M Butterfly Semi
Women’s 200M IM Semi
June 22 – Saturday
Prelims
Finals
Women’s 50M Freestyle
Men’s 100M Butterfly Final
Men’s 1500M Freestyle
Women’s 50M Freestyle Semi
Women’s 200M IM Final
Women’s 800M Freestyle Final
June 23 – Sunday
Prelims
Finals
Women’s 50M Freestyle Final
Men’s 1500M Freestyle Final
SWIM TRIALS FULL TV SCHEDULE:
Live coverage of the Trials will be available every night at 8. pm. ET on NBC, along with daily preliminary heats on Peacock at 11 a.m. USA Network will have same-day delayed coverage of prelims.
DATE
COVERAGE
NETWORK
TIME
Sat., June 15
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
6:30 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Sun., June 16
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
5 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Mon., June 17
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
7 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Tues., June 18
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
6 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Wed., June 19
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
7 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Thurs., June 20
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
7 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Fri., June 21
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
5:30 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Sat., June 22
Qualifying Heats
Peacock
11 a.m.
Qualifying Heats
USA Network*
6:30 p.m.
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Sun., June 23
Finals
NBC, Peacock
8 p.m.
Sat., June 29
Paralympic Finals
CNBC, Peacock
6 p.m.
Sun., June 30
Paralympic Finals
CNBC*
1 p.m.
*Taped coverage
OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIMES:
For individual events at the Paris Games, there are two types – Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) and Olympic Consideration TIME (OCT), per World Aquatics. Swimmers who match or better the OQT in one or more individual events, qualify for Olympic competition automatically. Participating countries may enter two (2) athletes in the same event, only if both swimmers’ times are equivalent or under the OQT. The OCT threshold works differently. Should the OQT not yield a quota of 852 total swimmers, “World Aquatics will then invite athletes who have equaled or bettered an OCT, until the total quota of 852 athletes is reached.”
Men’s
Event
Women’s
Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT)
-2 Entries
Olympic Consideration Times (OTC)
-1 Entry
Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT)
-2 Entries
Olympic Consideration Times (OTC)
-1 Entry
21.96
22.07
50m Freestyle
24.70
24.82
48.34
48.58
100m Freestyle
53.61
53.88
1:46.26
1:46.79
200m Freestyle
1:57.26
1:57.85
3:46.78
3:47.91
400m Freestyle
4:07.90
4:09.14
7:51.65
7:54.01
800m Freestyle
8:26.71
8:29.24
15:00.99
15:05.49
1500m Freestyle
16:09.09
16:13.94
53.74
54.01
100m Backstroke
59.99
1:00.29
1:57.50
1:58.09
200m Backstroke
2:10.39
2:11.04
59.49
59.79
100m Butterfly
1:06.79
1:07.12
2:09.68
2:10.33
200m Butterfly
2:23.91
2:24.63
51.67
51.93
100m Breaststroke
57.92
58.21
1:55.78
1:56.36
200m Breaststroke
2:08.43
2:09.07
1:57.94
1:58.53
200m Individual Medley
2:11.47
2:12.13
4:12.50
4:13.76
400m Individual Medley
4:38.53
4:39.92
Swimming at the 2024 Olympic Games will be held at the Paris La Defense Arena, located in the city of Nanterre. Indoor swimming kicks off July 27 and runs through August 4; in total, 35 medal events will be competed. Olympic swimming competition concludes with the men’s and women’s open water (10km marathon swimming) races taking place August 8-9. The full Team USA roster for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be confirmed in July.
COMPLETE LIST OF GATORS WHO HAVE PUNCHED THEIR TICKET TO PARIS:
* Maha Amer – Egypt
* Josh Liendo – Canada
* Julie Brousseau – Canada
* Jonny Marshall – Great Britain
* Nicole Maier – Germany
* Aleksas Savickas – Lithuania
* Alfonso Mestre – Venezuela
* Alberto Mestre – Venezuela
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