2016 US Olympic Swimming: Meet the Women's Team
Welcome to Katie Ledecky's Olympics.
The 19-year-old is the face of women's swimming and is a good bet to win more gold medals in Brazil than the rest of her teammates combined.
The Americans are not missing star power with both Ledecky and Missy Franklin on the team, but Franklin is not swimming at the level she was in 2012 when she won four golds in London. Franklin will swim in three events at the Olympics, but she was shut out from winning any golds at the trials, which wrapped up on Sunday.
The U.S. has plenty of experience, but several of the team's most accomplished swimmers are on the downswing of their careers.
With the trials finished, the roster is set for Rio de Janeiro. Let's meet the team.
The Headliner
1 of 4
Katie Ledecky
Ledecky is swimming's new superstar. She doesn't quite have the versatility of Michael Phelps, but her domination puts her at Phelpsian levels.
She owns the world records in the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyles. She's the heavy favorite to win gold in the 400 and 800 in Brazil along with the 200-meter freestyle (the 1,500 is not an Olympic event for the women).
Ledecky is also likely to swim the 800-meter relay, where she helped win gold in the world championships last year.
The 19-year-old started her run of dominance in the Olympics four years ago, where she cruised to gold in the 800-meter freestyle. She's competed in 15 international races in her career and won gold every single time. Even Phelps cannot claim that kind of consistent excellence.
Medal Contenders
2 of 4
Missy Franklin
Franklin is not the same swimmer she was in 2012 when she won four golds in London. A back injury in the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships slowed her down, and it was evident at trails.
Franklin still managed to qualify for three events at trials by finishing as runner-up in the 200-meter backstroke and 200-meter freestyle, which also earned her a spot on the 800-meter freestyle relay team.
She won bronze in the world championships in the 200 free last year and should have a shot to medal in Brazil. Her specialty in the past has been the backstroke. She won gold in the 100-meter and 200-meter back in London but has slowed in those events. Her time at trials in the 200 back was 3.6 seconds slower than her world record time she set at the 2012 Olympics.
Maya DiRado
The Stanford grad won the 200-meter backstroke and swept the individual medleys at the trials, winning both the 200 and 400 to qualify for her first Olympics. This will be her last go-around in the pool, as she's retiring from swimming after the Olympics to start her business career. At last year's world championships, she won silver in the 400 IM and finished fourth in the 200 IM. She currently ranks fifth in the world in the 400 IM.
Leah Smith
Smith finished as runner-up to Katie Ledecky in both the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle to qualify for her first Olympics. The field is essentially battling for second place in both events with Ledecky as a huge favorite. Smith is in the running to medal if she can duplicate her performance at trials in the 400. She cut nearly three seconds off her best time ever, and her time would have landed her a silver medal at the world championships last year.
With a third-place finish in the 200 free at trials, she also earned herself a spot on the 800-meter relay team. She helped the U.S. win gold in that event at last year's world championships.
Abbey Weitzeil
Weitzeil swept the freestyle sprint titles at the trials to qualify the 19-year-old for her first Olympics. Her 53.28 in the 100-meter free was the fastest ever recorded in the United States. The Americans showed their depth in that event with seven swimmers finishing under 53 seconds. In comparison, only six finished under 54 seconds at last year's world championships. That's a good sign for the U.S. 400-meter free relay team.
Kelsi Worrell
Worrell has emerged as one of the top butterfly swimmers in the world. She has won back-to-back NCAA titles in the 100-yard fly for Louisville and owns the American record. Worrell has a chance to medal in Brazil in the 100-meter fly, although winning gold will be a tall order. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden is the current world record holder in that event, a mark she set at last year's world championships. Worrell's trial time (56.48) would have been good enough for second in that race.
Lilly King
King won both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke at the trails. The Indiana Hoosier is the current NCAA title winner in both events. Her winning time in the 100 at trails (1:05.2) is the top time in the world this year and would have been good enough to win at the world championships last year.
Olivia Smoliga
Smoliga went from finishing fifth at U.S. Nationals in the 100-meter backstroke last year to winning the trails this past week. Her time (59.02) is the fourth-fastest time in the world this year. She's also an accomplished freestyle swimmer, winning both the 50 and 100 freestyle NCAA titles for Georgia this past year.
Cammile Adams
Adams won the 200-meter butterfly at trials, but not without controversy. An official ruled during the preliminary heat that Adams had an illegal turn, which disqualified her from the event. The ruling was later overturned in a video review. She responded by winning the trials for the second time. In 2012, she finished fifth in the event at the Olympics. Last year, she won silver in the 200 fly at the world championships.
Dark Horses
3 of 4
Dana Vollmer
Vollmer, 28, is back in the Olympics to defend her gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly. Four years ago in London, she became the first woman to swim under 56 seconds in the event, and she still holds the American record.
She also won two golds on relay teams in 2012. Vollmer returned to competition a year ago after taking nearly two years off to become a mom. She finished second in the 100 fly at the trials.
Kathleen Baker
Baker will be swimming in her first Olympics after finishing second in the 100-meter backstroke at trials. She cut seven-tenths of a second off her time from last year's world championships, where she finished eighth in the 100 back. Her time at trials would have placed her fifth at that race last year, ahead of California teammate and Olympic gold-medal winner Missy Franklin, who surprisingly finished seventh at trials.
Simone Manuel
Manuel finished second to Abbey Weitzeil in both the freestyle sprints at trials. The 19-year-old has been a phenom the last few years, announcing her presence on the national scene when she became the first junior swimmer to break 25 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle in the 2013 world championships. She finished just five-hundredths of a second behind Weitzeil in the 50 free and stole a spot from favorite Madison Kennedy.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
The Rest of the Team
4 of 4
Elizabeth Beisel
Beisel is swimming in her third straight Olympics. She won silver in the 400-meter medley and a bronze in the 200-meter backstroke four years ago in London. As a 15-year-old at the Beijing Games in 2008, she finished fourth in the 400 IM and fifth in the 200-meter backstroke. She is not swimming as well as she was four years ago. She qualified for the 400 IM by finishing second at trials.
Katie Meili
Meili's climb to one of the top breaststrokers in the world has been impressive. In 2012, she finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke at the NCAA championships while swimming for Columbia University. Fast-forward four years, and she posted the sixth-best time in the world this year in the 100-meter breaststroke at trials, finishing second to Lilly King.
Melanie Margalis
Five-hundredths of a second will always be a symbolic number for Margalis. That's the slim amount of time she touched the wall ahead of 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Caitlin Leverenz to finish second in the 200-meter medley at trials.
Margalis trimmed three-tenths of a second off her time last year at the world championships, where she finished seventh.
Haley Anderson
Anderson has dominated at the national level in open-water swims, but she could have a tough time medaling in Brazil. She finished just ninth in the 10K at last year's world championships. Her speciality is more the 5K, where she won gold at the world championships in 2013 and 2015, but the 5K is not an Olympic event. She did win silver in the 10K at the 2012 Olympics.
Hali Flickinger
Four years ago, Flicklinger finished 25th in the 200-meter butterfly at the Olympic trials. She came into trials as the No. 4 seed and surprised by finishing second to earn her first Olympic bid. She's a long shot to medal in Brazil.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
