2024 U.S. Olympic Selection
Gabriel Rose When the 46-year-old breaststroke specialist enters the water next week in Indianapolis, he will become the oldest swimmer to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials since at least 2004, and possibly in all of modern history.
Rose, a two-time Olympian, is seeded 27th in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.13) and 46th in the 200 breaststroke (2:31.68). Rose qualified in the long distance time trial last November representing Alpha Aquatics, where she also coaches. She trains with her coach six days a week in Southern California. Scott Hubbard (1988 Olympian) Erica Hansen Stebbins (1992 Olympian) Dave SaloRose placed seventh in the 200m individual medley at the 2000 Olympic Games. Rose represented Brazil in 1996 and the United States in 2000.
Before Rose, Dara Torres At age 45, she earned the honor of becoming the oldest swimmer in modern history to compete in the Olympic Trials when she placed fourth in the 50m freestyle at the 2012 US Olympic Trials. USA Swimming has no older swimmers on its record books, but the organization is reportedly not 100% sure about records prior to 2004.
The oldest competitor at the 2021 Olympic Trials was 40 years old. Anthony ErvinAt age 35, he became the oldest Olympic swimming champion in history.
Rose was the only swimmer from the 1970s to qualify, while five swimmers from the 1980s qualified. Four-time Olympic champion Matt Grevers At 39, he is the oldest qualifier after Rose and is seeded 35th in the 50m freestyle after clocking 22.50 seconds last month, his fastest time since December 2015.
The third-oldest qualifier was 37 years old. Brooke BourkeFormer captain at Stanford University (where she was a swimmer) Brooke BishopBork is a British swimmer and mother of three. Her path to the Olympic Trials began last year when she swam the 25-yard freestyle in 10 seconds at a children's summer league meet. Then in March, she swam the 50m freestyle for the first time since the 2008 Olympic Trials in 25.24, placing 24th the following week. Bork also placed 54th in the 100m freestyle in 55.72.
“It's really fun to have a goal. I wasn't very good at it before, but once I decided to go to the trials, it became really fun,” said Bourque, the 2006 Pac-10 champion in the 50 freestyle.
The fourth oldest qualifying round is Brandon FisherFisher, a mechanical engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is seeking his first Olympic berth at his fifth Olympic Trials. Fisher, who competed at the University of Wyoming from 2009-2012 and now trains with Tri-Valley Aquatics, has an intelligent approach to the sport that has earned her the No. 23 seed in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.19) and the No. 16 seed in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.52).
Distance Specialist Ashley Twitchell Twitchell is looking to compete in her second Olympic Games, this time in the pool, after placing seventh in the 10-kilometer open water race in Tokyo a few years ago. At 32, the veteran TAC Titans swimmer became the oldest American swimmer to compete in the Olympics in more than a century since 1908. Now 34 and a mother in May 2022, Twitchell is seeded 37th in the 400m freestyle (4:14.46), 19th in the 800m freestyle (8:36.97) and 14th in the 1500m freestyle (16:22.69). She will celebrate her 35th birthday next Sunday on the second day of the Olympic Trials.
Caitlin Johnson It's been an interesting journey to her second Olympic Trials. The former Division II star (Clarion University, 2007-11) retired from swimming after the 2016 Summer Olympic Trials, discovered CrossFit training in 2021 and began racing again in 2022. Johnson, now 34, is coming off a 25.44 at the 2022 U.S. Open, placing 41st in the 50m freestyle. She has a season-best of 25.52 at the Pro Swim Series in San Antonio this April.
“I train primarily as a CrossFitter and only spend one day a week in the pool, so I feel like it's a true testament to how hard I work,” Johnson said.
