INDIANAPOLIS – Simone Manuel was feeling a little blue as she prepared for her final attempt at swimming an individual event at the Paris Olympics.
So she pulled out a video of her greatest hits.
Talk about a confidence boost.
The first Black female swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics, Manuel earned an individual spot on the final night of the U.S. Swimming Trials with a win in the 50-meter freestyle Sunday.
Returning to the overtraining syndrome that hampered her preparations in the run-up to the Tokyo Games, Manuel won the frantic sprint from one end of the pool to the other in 24.13 seconds.
She looked a little surprised when she saw the “1” next to her name on the scoreboard, pumping her fist emphatically. She kept shaking her head as she walked across the deck.
“I didn’t really feel very confident after last night,” said Manuel, who was only the fourth-fastest qualifier in the semi-finals, almost half a second behind Gretchen Walsh. “I spent a lot of time watching races where I won. I wanted to channel that Simone because I know I’m a winner.”
Speaking of winners, Bobby Finke is heading to the Olympics to defend his titles in the two longest freestyle events.
He won the final event of the trials, blowing away the field in the 1,500 freestyle with a time of 14 minutes, 40.28 seconds. He had already qualified in the 800 free, the other event he won in Tokyo.
The real race was for the final spot on the Olympic team between David Johnston and Luke Whitlock. They were neck and neck for almost the entire race, before Johnston started to pull away with six laps to go.
Whitlock almost caught him with a stunning final sprint, but Johnston barely held on to earn his first trip to the Olympics in 14:52.74. Whitlock hit right behind him at 2:53 p.m.
Whitlock will still be in Paris after earning a spot in the 800 freestyle.
“This meet didn’t go the way I planned,” said Johnston, who unfortunately missed his other events with a third-place finish in the 400 free and a fourth-place finish in the 800 free. “It took everything I had to reach that wall. My legs at 300 meters were completely gone. I’m glad I saved my meeting a little.
Manuel had already secured a spot at her third Olympic Games in the 4×100 freestyle relay, but now she has an event all to herself. Walsh claimed second place in Paris at 24.15, beating Abbey Weitzeil (24.26) and Torri Huske (24.33).
Manuel will look to add to an already impressive CV, highlighted by her starring role at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, when she captured two gold medals and two silver medals.
Manuel’s times started to improve ahead of the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Games. After stunningly failing to qualify in the 100 freestyle, she revealed she had been diagnosed with overtraining syndrome.
Manuel recovered to earn a spot in the 50 freestyle, but she did not advance to the finals at the Olympics. Her only medal was a bronze medal in the 4×100 free relay.
After the games, Manuel was ordered by her doctor to stop all physical activities until her body healed. She eventually returned to the pool in early 2023, but made no attempt to qualify for the world championships last summer.
But a move to Arizona, where she trained under Michael Phelps’ old coach, Bob Bowman, began to pay off.
Now she has another Olympic race to show for after falling short in the 100 free with a fourth-place finish.
“It means a lot,” Manuel said. “This meeting was not exactly what I wanted or worked hard for. It’s been a roller coaster. I’m grateful to be back on the team, and that’s how I felt after the 100 free, but also disappointed in the swimming. I really wanted to try to refocus for the 50 and get back on the team in an individual swim.
When she made the team in the 50 free three years ago, it felt like the longest lap of her life.
She had that same feeling again on Sunday, with twisting arms and kicking legs during the most hectic swimming competition.
“I really wanted it. I really wanted to swim an individual event,” said Manuel. “It wasn’t that I was shocked that I could win, because I know how much work I put in and the racer I am. It’s more excitement. I’m glad it happened today, that I was number 1 to touch the wall.”
Johnston felt the same way after his first two events of the trials delivered crushing disappointments.
To motivate himself, he turned to a football analogy, which seemed appropriate now that the trials were being held in the cavernous home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
“I’m just going to go out there, give it everything I’ve got and kind of throw a Hail Mary,” Johnston said to himself. “I went out and said Hail Mary and got to the wall second.”
Finke will go into the Olympics with much higher expectations than in 2021, when he claimed the 800-1,500 double in stunning fashion.
Now he’s the man with the target on his back.
But he’ll worry about that another day. About halfway through his 1,500 wins, he started thinking about everything he wanted after the race.
“I’m looking forward to this junk food I can eat next week,” Finke said with a grin. “I’m really looking forward to having some pizza and burgers, just some sweets.”
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