Jack Alexie, left, celebrates with Caleb Dressel after taking second and third places in the 100-meter freestyle final during the fifth day of competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Caleb Dressel, the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 100-meter freestyle, finished third at the U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials in Indianapolis on Wednesday, costing him a chance to defend his title in Paris next month.
Dressel took third place in 47.53 seconds, while Chris Juliano (47.38) and Jack Alexie (47.47) earned the U.S. team two Olympic spots in the 100-meter freestyle.
However, this result earned Dressel a spot on the U.S. 4×100 freestyle relay team, giving her a chance to win a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event. After winning two relay teams in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Dressel won both relays again in Tokyo in 2021, and also won gold in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
The top four swimmers from the U.S. Qualifier will make the 4×100 Freestyle team. The top two swimmers in all events will earn individual Olympic berths.
Also on Wednesday, Simone Manuel, the 2016 Olympic 100m freestyle champion, missed out on a spot on the U.S. team by finishing fourth in 53.25 seconds. She finished behind individual qualifiers Kate Douglas (52.56) and Tori Huske (52.93) and relay qualifier Gretchen Walsh (53.13).
Katie Ledecky won the 1,500m freestyle with ease in 15:37.35. Katie Grimes was second in 15:57.77 and Ashley Twitchell was third in 16:08.07. Ledecky won four gold medals in Rio de Janeiro and two more in Tokyo, and she already had top results in the 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle in Indianapolis.
Matthew Fallon set an American record in the men's 200 breaststroke by winning in a time of 2:06.54. The previous record of 2:07.17 was set by Josh Prenot in 2016. Josh Matheny came in second in 2:08.86.
In the men's 200m butterfly, Thomas Heilmann won in 1:54.50, and Luca Urland came in second in 1:55.08. Mason Law (1:55.37) narrowly missed out on the win, coming in third.
The trial continues until Sunday.
–Field Level Media
