[ PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK ]
>> Michael Andrew & Chase Kalisz
Strengths and Weaknesses of the U.S. Men’s Swim Team for Tokyo Olympics BY DAVID RIEDER
A
t the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the U.S. men’s swim team captured five individual gold medals and 14 total individual medals. Ten different men were responsible for those honors: Ryan Murphy, Michael Phelps, Anthony Ervin, Chase Kalisz, Cody Miller, Conor Dwyer, David Plummer, Josh Prenot, Nathan Adrian and Connor Jaeger.
Kieran Smith is the top U.S. hope in the 200 and 400 free, but while he swam his best times by a significant amount at Trials, he will still need to drop more to make a podium push. He ranks sixth in the world among Olympic qualifiers in the 200 free at 1:45.29 and eighth in the 400 free at 3:44.86.
Five years later, after a Trials that likely marked the end of the road for a huge group of veterans, only two of those men are on the team for the Tokyo Olympics. But now that the team has taken shape at the Olympic Trials, there are just four American men who are favored to capture individual honors: returnees Murphy, Kalisz and Caeleb Dressel, who has blossomed into the world’s best sprinter, and first-time Olympian Michael Andrew. Aside from that, the American men could be in some trouble.
It’s the same story with a third Florida Gator, Bobby Finke, in the 800 and 1500 free, strong enough to likely make a final but not yet to contend for a medal. Finke ranks ninth among Olympic qualifiers in the 800 free at 7:48.22 and fourth in the 1500 at 14:46.06.
Freestyle Caeleb Dressel is the favorite for gold in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and he is a threat to each of Cesar Cielo’s world records in those events. He swam a 21.04 in the 50 free at the Olympic Trials to tie his American record, and while he ranks second in the world in the 100 free at 47.39, he has been as quick as 46.96, just 0.05 off the world record. Meanwhile, both Michael Andrew in the 50 free and Zach Apple in the 100 free have outside shots at podium finishes. 18
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Backstroke Backstroke is the strongest of the strokes for the U.S. men, and it’s largely because of Ryan Murphy, who won Rio gold in both backstrokes. Murphy is currently third in the world rankings in the 100 back, close behind Russian rivals Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, and second behind Rylov in the 200 back. Murphy likely has more in the tank from U.S. trials, and it would be surprising if he does not medal in both events at the Tokyo Olympics. He certainly has a shot at repeat gold, particularly in the 100 back. Accompanying Murphy are two Olympic rookies, Hunter Armstrong in the 100 and Bryce Mefford in the 200, and while both swam
