Here are the highlights of Day 7 of the USA Swimming Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium:
Top story
Two stars from Tokyo 2021, Caeleb Dressel and Regan Smith, showed they are ready for Paris 2024.
Dressel won the 50-meter freestyle in 21.41 seconds, followed by Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano in 21.69. Guiliano, 20, of Douglassville, Pa., will be the second American man to swim in 50, 100 and 200 freestyles at an Olympics, following Matt Biondi in 1988.
Less than 40 minutes after his victory, Dressel posted the fastest time, 50.79, in semifinals of the 100 butterfly.
Smith won her third event of the trials, taking the 200 backstroke in 2:05.16. Phoebe Bacon was second in 2:06.27, just .07 ahead of 19-year-old Claire Curzan. Curzan won four gold medals at February’s World Championships but has not made this team.
Zionsville swimmer biggest riser in IM: ‘Looking forward, I could be making those teams’
Magical moment
Shaine Casas, making his first Olympic team, wept and hugged winner and training partner Carson Foster after the 200 individual medley.
“That swim represented my entire life’s work and everyone who supports me and who has helped me get to this point,” Casas said. “That was a physical representation of that, and I was so excited, so happy, so relieved.”
Buzzworthy
Michael Phelps is in town. Phelps, who has won more medals (28) and golds (23) than any Olympian in history, joined Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines on the NBC broadcast. He will be part of NBC’s coverage team at the Paris Olympics. Phelps also presented medals from the 200 IM, an event in which he won four golds, to Foster and Casas.
Stat of the day
Lucas Oil Stadium won’t have the record for largest indoor swim crowd after the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. SoFi Stadium will hold 38,000 for swimming, according to an announcement by the L.A. organizing committee.
Quote of the day
“I cannot stress enough how beautiful it is, clean — it tastes good. Like, I know that sounds weird. I’m not trying to be funny. Everything about the water. It’s just it really is beautiful. I mean, absolutely gorgeous. The markings, the depth, the color, blocks, everything’s gorgeous,” Caeleb Dressel on pool built inside the stadium.
What’s up next
Saturday night’s finals feature Dressel in the 100 butterfly and Katie Ledecky in the 800 freestyle. Luke Whitlock, 18, of Noblesville and Fishers Area Swimming Tigers, has heats of the 1,500 freestyle. Whitlock has made the Olympic team in the 800 freestyle.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: USA Swim Trials: Caeleb Dressel, Regan Smith ready for Paris 2024
