[ColoradoTree]

An awesome moment for both Manuel and Forde. It's wild to think that if Manuel had swum 0.18 seconds slower, she'd be off the Olympic team, the 50 free qualifiers would have been Weitzeil-Huske, and Forde would've been the 25th (and final) swimmer on the team. And that if Mack had swum 0.21 seconds faster, the 50 free qualifiers would have been Manuel-Mack, and Forde wouldn't have made it. But she got the result she needed--one already-qualified swimmer in the top two, and Forde goes to Tokyo as the 26th women's swimmer on Team USA, right at the roster cap.

And not just going to the Olympics, but a near-certain Olympic medalist because she'll swim in the heats of the 4x200 free relay, a race in which the US women will almost certainly medal. The Australian women have better 200 times this year, so they have to be the favorites for Gold, but you can't look at the current 200 free world rankings and not pick the US next. (Both the US and Australia have at least four swimmers who hit the A standard, but China and Germany have just two, and no other country has more than one.) 

Just looking at 2021 times, six Australian women have swum the 200 faster than the second-fastest American, Madden. The times of Madden, Schmitt, and McLaughlin would have placed them 7th at the Australian trials. Sims and Forde's times would've had them in 8th in those trials. Another way of looking at it: add up the times of the top 4 women from each country in the event, and the Australians are ahead by 5.2 seconds. Bonkers. That's an awful lot to make up in a month, when the Aussies will be getting a bit faster, too. 

A few hundredths of a second is the difference between not going to the Olympics at all and forever being an Olympic medalist. Just wild.

[ColoradoTree]

An awesome moment for both Manuel and Forde. It's wild to think that if Manuel had swum 0.18 seconds slower, she'd be off the Olympic team, the 50 free qualifiers would have been Weitzeil-Huske, and Forde would've been the 25th (and final) swimmer on the team. And that if Mack had swum 0.21 seconds faster, the 50 free qualifiers would have been Manuel-Mack, and Forde wouldn't have made it. But she got the result she needed--one already-qualified swimmer in the top two, and Forde goes to Tokyo as the 26th women's swimmer on Team USA, right at the roster cap.

And not just going to the Olympics, but a near-certain Olympic medalist because she'll swim in the heats of the 4x200 free relay, a race in which the US women will almost certainly medal. The Australian women have better 200 times this year, so they have to be the favorites for Gold, but you can't look at the current 200 free world rankings and not pick the US next. (Both the US and Australia have at least four swimmers who hit the A standard, but China and Germany have just two, and no other country has more than one.) 

Just looking at 2021 times, six Australian women have swum the 200 faster than the second-fastest American, Madden. The times of Madden, Schmitt, and McLaughlin would have placed them 7th at the Australian trials. Sims and Forde's times would've had them in 8th in those trials. Another way of looking at it: add up the times of the top 4 women from each country in the event, and the Australians are ahead by 5.2 seconds. Bonkers. That's an awful lot to make up in a month, when the Aussies will be getting a bit faster, too. 

A few hundredths of a second is the difference between not going to the Olympics at all and forever being an Olympic medalist. Just wild.