She is once again on a quest for another chance to swim for the U.S. Olympic team after suffering from a back injury that had her struggling during the ’14 and ’15 seasons. Ledecky, however, knows better.
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Smith will head to her first Olympics. “Two, four, eight. Do it this summer!”
Outside of chasing her world records, there is no drama surrounding Ledecky when it comes to the distance events.
The men’s 400m IM final will be the highlight of the opening day of the week-long competition with the top two finishers earning tickets to the Rio Olympics in August.
Losing time at each split in the final 200, Ledecky paid the price for her searing early pace.
Cordes never excelled on the global level until he broke through at the world championships in Kazan past year, where the breaststroker won silver in this event and contributed to the gold-medal-winning 4×100 medley relay. “I’m probably more pumped about (Smith’s) race than mine”. “It helps having Olivia swimming, too, having someone else here”.
With her time of 4:00.65, almost three seconds faster than her lifetime best, Smith became the fourth-fastest 400 freestyler in history. “If I had broken a leg I would still go out there and swim”.
Following Monday morning’s prelims, Smith talked in an interview with Swimming World Magazine about the pressure this year compared to four years ago, when she didn’t make any finals of the swim trials. He’s entered in five events at trials – 100 and 200 freestyle, 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
But Ledecky’s remarkable range carries old-timers back further in time, to Meyer in the late 1960s and Shirley Babashoff in the first six years of the 1970s. Coughlin’s focus has been in sprint events, including the 50 and 100 freestyle races.
Zane Grothe was top qualifier in the men’s 400m freestyle which is expected to come down to a duel between Conor Dwyer, who had the second fastest effort, and Connor Jaeger, who narrowly missed out on a medal at last year’s worlds.
“I had never been able to see her feet before (in a race), so that was pretty exciting”, Smith said. She loves to be out there every day and loves that feeling.
The spectacle at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials includes colored spotlights swirling around CenturyLink Center, fountains spewing flames next to the medal stand, thumping music and a giant flip-flop signed by each newly minted Olympian.
Ledecky? She’s a machine.
That is the new measure of competing with Katie. Elizabeth Beisel, the 2012 Olympic silver medallist, finished three seconds behind at 4:36.81.
Ledecky was with her mother at a USA Swimming-related function when they ran into Meyer.
The two event schedules are overlapping Monday and Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday if a third game at the CWS is needed for a best of three series.
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“I’m just so excited to be here”, Worrell said.
