OMAHA — On the first night of the swimming Olympic Trials, a hush fell on CenturyLink Arena for the singing of the national anthem. Almost immediately after the singer hit the first notes a cappella, his microphone failed. But his solo voice still could be heard, if barely, and soon he was accompanied by a chorus of thousands in the crowd of more than 14,000.
Michael Phelps, who would make his fifth Olympic team a few days later, turned to an acquaintance and said, “That was cool.”
Yes it was, and it set a tone for a week in which several stars fell short and exciting surprises emerged. Reigning Olympic champions Matt Grevers and Tyler Clary failed to make the team. Ryan Lochte, the reigning 400-meter individual medley champion, failed to qualify in that event, although he made the team in others.
Both the men’s and women’s rosters are loaded with first-time Olympians, which will bring added excitement to the pool deck while Americans watching back home will be Googling lots of new faces. One is Maya DiRado, for whom Rio will be her first and last Olympics. The 23-year-old Stanford grad, who will go to work for a consulting firm in Atlanta after the Games, won the 200 backstroke and both individual medleys. She insists she won’t race after Rio.
Another exciting new face is Lilly King, 19, who just finished her freshman year at Indiana and won both breaststroke races here (as she did at the NCAA championships in March).
Lochte looked endangered early in the week, blaming a pulled groin muscle after falling short in the 400 IM, but he made the team in the 200 IM. Allison Schmitt, who took gold in the 200 free and silver in the 400 free in London, didn’t make the team in an individual event, although she is in the relay pool.
Most of the attention on the U.S. team will be focused on Katie Ledecky, who won the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles, and Michael Phelps, who made his fifth Olympics in the 200 IM, 100 fly and 200 fly. The contrast between the two will be interesting. Ledecky, 19, seems ready to break a world record almost every time she races. Phelps, 31, was pleased with his wins here but insists he’ll have to be faster to add to his record 22 Olympic medals.
It is transition time for USA Swimming.
“When people are great for long periods of time, that can retard some of the development of athletes,” said national team director Frank Busch. “Who wants to swim the 200 IM when you’ve got Michael and Ryan? You know you don’t have a chance. Who wants to swim the 200 freestyle if you have Michael and Ryan? It can deter people from making the next step.
“I feel like people bought into, ‘OK, this is their last go-round, itap time for me to step up.’ The doors opened and some young people sensed that.”
Take David Plummer, married with two kids, who made his first Olympic team at age 30 by finishing second in the 100 backstroke.
But with so many rookies, it’s harder to predict how Team USA will do.
“Itap a wild card with these young kids whose goal probably was come here, make the team,” said Summer Sanders, who claimed three individual medals at the 1992 Olympics. “Now they have that shocking moment, they have to regroup and try to figure out how to make their goal to get on the podium and win medals. For the longest time, we’ve always known who are stars were going to be. Letap just take a deep breath, get on the couch with your favorite meal and your favorite people and watch the Games and not know — be surprised and be shocked, as we’ve been here at the trials.”
