The 2024 Doha World Championships will go down in historical past as a little bit of an anomaly. Some nations handled it as an in-season meet, whereas others approached it like every other Worlds meet. Many questioned if a Worlds meet originally of an Olympic 12 months would disrupt athletes’ Paris preparation.
The U.S. despatched solely 20 athletes to compete in pool swimming occasions in Doha, fielding a roster that was a mixture of large names and first-timers. Now that the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials are within the books, let’s check out how these athletes fared.
At a look, seven members of the Doha pool swimming roster will compete in Paris later this summer time. 4 of them have been first-time Olympians and three represented the U.S. in Tokyo. Three athletes who have been on the Tokyo staff didn’t qualify for a second Olympics.
There have been Olympic spots on the road for open water swimmers in Doha. The U.S. had six entrants.
First-Time Olympians from Texas*
Seven athletes who represented the U.S. in Doha have been named to the Olympic staff 4 of them are first-time Olympians.
Shaine Casas and Carson Foster are probably the most skilled of this group, having been Worlds teammates in 2022 and 2023. Coincidentally, they each certified for Paris within the 200 IM (with Foster additionally incomes qualification within the 400 IM).
It was a redemptive efficiency for each swimmers in Doha, who had been favored to make the Tokyo staff again in 2021 however each had heartbreaking Third-place finishes at Trials.
Apparently, Casas didn’t contest the 200 IM on the 2021 Trials, as a substitute opting to go all-in on the backstroke occasions.
The opposite two are Luke Hobson and David Johnston, who have been additionally part of the 2023 Worlds staff. Hobson certified for the 200 free after selecting up a bronze medal in Doha, whereas Johnston certified within the 1500 free, an occasion he didn’t even contest in February.
All 4 first-time Olympians have ties to the College of Texas, with Casas, Foster, and Hobson all coaching in Austin. Johnston took a redshirt season to coach with Mark Schubert’s The Swim Staff in El Toro, California, however has plans to return to Texas within the fall.
It’s additionally price noting that neither Casas nor Johnston medaled individually in Doha.
Returning Olympians
The three returning Olympians from the Doha staff are led by Kate Douglass, who certified for the 200 IM, 200 breast, and 100 free. She medaled in each 200s in Doha, selecting up gold within the IM and silver within the breaststroke, in addition to incomes a silver within the 50 free. Regardless of being the American document holder within the 50 freestyle from her Doha efficiency, Douglass opted to not contest the occasion at Trials.
Douglass had the largest program growth of the trio, as she solely swam the 200 IM in Tokyo. She now provides two extra particular person occasions to her Olympic program, and is probably going so as to add two or three extra relay swims between the 400 free, 400 medley, and combined medley.
Hunter Armstrong may even swim an expanded Olympic program in comparison with three years in the past. He as soon as once more certified within the 100 backstroke and picked up a 4th-place end within the 100 free, incomes a spot on the 4×100 free relay. He swam the boys’s and combined 400 free relays in Doha, incomes bronze in each. He additionally gained the 100 again and recorded a runner-up end within the 50 again.
Nic Fink medaled in all three breaststroke distances in Doha, incomes bronze within the 50 and 200 and gold within the 100. He solely certified to swim the 100 breast in Paris, lacking out on 200 breast which was his sole entry in Tokyo.
Main Misses
Claire Curzan might be the largest miss of this group. After having a standout meet, together with turning into solely the second lady to brush the 50-100-200 backstrokes at a World Championship meet, she didn’t qualify for a second Olympics. In Doha, Curzan hit lifetime bests in all three backstroke occasions, as properly a season finest within the 100 fly the place she earned silver.
The closest Curzan got here to incomes a Paris berth was a third place end within the 200 again, the place her finest time would have positioned 2nd within the ultimate. Within the 100 fly, an occasion she swam in Tokyo, she completed 4th total. Curzan was slower in all her occasions at Trials in comparison with Doha.
Michael Andrew is one other Tokyo Olympian who didn’t hit his ceiling at Trials. He solely entered the 50s in Doha, incomes a silver medal within the 50 fly. As solely a type of occasions is on the Olympic schedule, he entered the 50 free, 100 breast, and 100 fly at Trials. Whereas Andrew made it to the ultimate of the previous two (which have been additionally part of his Tokyo program, alongside the 200 IM), he completed fifth and eighth respectively.
Andrew is the American Report holder within the 100 breast, however hasn’t been near his finest prior to now two years.
The U.S. didn’t have every other particular person medalists in Doha who haven’t been mentioned already, however there was one other Tokyo Olympian in Zach Harting. Harting completed ninth within the 200 fly three years in the past, his sole entry, and completed eleventh within the occasion in Doha. Harting additionally competed within the 100 fly, ending sixth.
Harting did have a stunning finish to his Trials, popping two finest occasions in prelims and semis of the 100 fly, however completed 4th behind three swimmers who received below the 51-second barrier.
Lastly, whereas Jack Aikins didn’t earn a person medal in Doha, he was favored to problem for a berth within the 200 backstroke. Nonetheless, he couldn’t break by way of the ironclad grip Cal-trained swimmers have on the occasion, as he completed Third behind veteran Ryan Murphy and freshman Keaton Jones.
Younger Risers
Whereas it didn’t flip into Olympic berths, among the Doha roster rode their momentum to robust Trials performances.
Lilla Bognar, Kayla Han, and Kate Hurst have been all late entries to Worlds, and all made finals in a minimum of one occasion on the Olympic Trials. Bognar swam within the ultimate of the 200 IM and 400 IM, ending Third within the longer IM occasion. Hurst additionally made a pair of finals, incomes sixth within the 800 free and 4th within the 1500 free.
Han had a rollercoaster of a gap day in Indianapolis. After ending simply nine-hundredths shy of the highest eight within the 400 free, two scratches forward of her earned her an evening swim. She capitalized on that chance, dropping over a second from her entry time and finally ending 4th after coming in seeded sixteenth.
None of those three swimmers have matriculated to school but, and may very well be ones to be careful for throughout the subsequent quad.
Open Water Footnote
The U.S. additionally despatched six athletes to compete within the open water occasions in Doha: Michael Brinegar, Joshua Brown, Charlie Clark, Mariah Denigan, Katie Grimes, and Ivan Puskovitch.
Grimes had already certified for Paris by means of her 10km bronze medal in Fukuoka, however Denigan and Puskovitch each booked their tickets courtesy of their Doha finishes. Denigan completed sixth within the girls’s 10km whereas Puskovitch completed 14th within the males’s occasion. This might be each swimmer’s first Olympics.
Desk of Pool Swimming Performances
The next desk is sorted by swimmers who made Staff USA, finals, semifinals, and didn’t advance, and alphabetically inside every group.
| Doha Particular person Performances | Trials Particular person Performances | |
| Hunter Armstrong | 50 BK – 2nd 100 BK – 1st |
100 BK – 2nd 100 FR – 4th |
| Shaine Casas | 50 FL – eighth 100 FL – sixteenth 200 IM – fifth |
200 IM – 2nd 100 BK – ninth |
| Kate Douglass | 200 IM – 1st 200 BR – 2nd 50 FR – 2nd 100 FR – 4th |
100 FR – 1st 200 BR – 1st 200 IM – 1st |
| Nic Fink | 50 BR – Third 100 BR – 1st 200 BR – Third |
100 BR – 1st 200 BR – sixth |
| Carson Foster | 200 IM – 2nd 400 IM – 4th |
200 IM – 1st 400 IM – 1st |
| Luke Hobson | 200 FR – Third | 200 FR – 1st |
| David Johnston | 400 FR – twelfth 800 FR – eleventh 400 IM – fifth |
1500 FR – 2nd |
| Jack Aikins | 100 BK – eighth 200 BK – 4th |
100 BK – Third 200 BK – Third |
| Michael Andrew | 50 FR – 4th 50 BK – eighth 50 BR – eleventh 50 FL – 2nd |
100 BR – eighth 50 FR – fifth 100 FL – sixteenth |
| Lilla Bognar | 200 BK – tenth 400 IM – ninth |
200 BK – ninth 200 FL – twenty fourth 200 IM – seventh 400 IM – Third |
| Charlie Clark | 800 FR – twenty second 1500 FR – tenth |
800 FR – sixth 1500 FR – sixth |
| Claire Curzan | 50 BK – 1st 100 BK – 1st 200 BK – 1st 100 FL – 2nd |
100 BK – eighth 200 BK – Third 100 FL – 4th |
| Jake Foster | 100 BR – ninth 200 BR – 4th |
100 BR – sixth 200 BR – seventh |
| Kayla Han | 800 FR – fifteenth 1500 FR – seventeenth 400 IM – thirteenth |
400 FR – 4th 800 FR – twenty eighth 1500 FR – twenty seventh 400 IM – tenth |
| Zach Harting | 100 FL – sixth 200 FL – eleventh |
100 FL – 4th 200 FL – eighth |
| Kate Hurst | 1500 FR – ninth | 400 FR – ninth 800 FR – sixth 1500 FR – 4th |
| Matt King | 50 FR – eleventh 100 FR – seventh |
50 FR – Third 100 FR – sixth |
| Piper Enge | 50 BR – sixth 100 BR – 18th |
100 BR – 14th 200 BR – twenty eighth |
| Rachel Klinker | 200 FL – 4th | 100 FL – twenty first 200 FL – thirteenth |
| Addison Sauickie | 200 FR – twelfth 400 FR – eleventh |
100 FR – thirty fourth 200 FR – twenty fifth 200 FL – forty fourth |
