Road to Rio: Gators Head to Omaha for U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Saturday, June 25, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving, Olympics

Florida looks to continue Gator presence on Team USA

By: Layne Weitzel

GATORS IN PRELIMINARIES (before scratches)
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
Name	Event		Seed (Qualifying Time)
Ryan Lochte	400 IM		4 (4:12.66)
Alex Lebed	400 IM		44 (4:24.74)
Brennan Balogh	400 IM		83 (4:26.75)
Ross Palazzo	400 IM		95 (4:27.20)
Natalie Hinds	100 Fly		30 (59.85)
Conor Dwyer	400 Free		3 (3:46.09)
Arthur Frayler	400 Free		31 (3:54.61)
Ben Lawless	400 Free		53 (3:56.72)
Andrew Brady	400 Free		93 (3:58.15)
Blake Manganiello	400 Free		96 (3:58.32)
Elizabeth Beisel	400 IM		2 (4:31.99)
Hannah Burns	400 IM		62 (4:51.43)
Caeleb Dressel	100 Breast		41 (1:02.26)
Ross Palazzo	100 Breast		85 (1:03.20)
MONDAY, JUNE 27
Elizabeth Beisel		100 Back	50 (1:02.25)
Sydney Sell		100 Back	98 (1:02.95)
Ryan Lochte		200 Free	1 (1:45.36)
Conor Dwyer		200 Free	2 (1:45.41)
Caeleb Dressel		200 Free	15 (1:48.39)
Grady Heath		200 Free	89 (1:51.62)
Caeleb Dressel		100 Back	79 (56.54)
Brennan Balogh		100 Back	120 (56.83)
Harrison Haines		100 Back	130 (56.91)
Elizabeth Beisel		400 Free	7 (4:07.46)
Taylor Katz		400 Free	78 (4:16.90)
Kahra Williams		400 Free	81 (4:16.97)
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
Elizabeth Beisel		200 Free	16 (1:58.66)
Elizabeth Beisel		200 IM	10 (2:12.43)
Hannah Burns		200 IM	81 (2:17.78)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
Caeleb Dressel		100 Free	4 (48.74)
Ryan Lochte		100 Free	8 (48.90)
Conor Dwyer		100 Free	12 (49.06)
Bradley Deborde		100 Free	41 (50.00)
Elizabeth Beisel		200 Fly	15 (2:10.72)
Taylor Katz		200 Fly	30 (2:12.51)
Alyssa Yambor-Maul		200 Fly	80 (2:14.49)
Sierra Kuhn		200 Fly	82 (2:14.53)
Ross Palazzo		200 Breast	40 (2:16.00)
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
Natalie Hinds		100 Free	28 (55.47)
Ryan Lochte		200 Back	4 (1:56.47)
Brennan Balogh		200 Back	30 (2:00.78)
Harrison Haines		200 Back	55 (2:02.22)
Elizabeth Beisel		200 Breast	75 (2:33.35)
Hannah Burns		200 Breast	96 (2:34.18)
Ryan Lochte		200 IM	2 (1:55.81)
Conor Dwyer		200 IM	3 (1:57.41)
Alex Lebed		200 IM	42 (2:03.59)
Ross Palazzo		200 IM	73 (2:04.52)
Caeleb Dressel		200 IM	76 (2:04.60)
Brennan Balogh		200 IM	81 (2:04.68)
FRIDAY, JULY 1
Caeleb Dressel	50 Free		2 (21.53)
Bradley Deborde	50 Free		17 (22.37)
Elizabeth Beisel	800 Free		21 (8:39.76)
Kahra Williams	800 Free		34 (8:42.65)
Autumn Finke	800 Free		79 (8:49.43)
Ryan Lochte	100 Fly		5 (51.55)
Caeleb Dressel	100 Fly		20 (52.96)
Ben Kennedy	100 Fly		95 (54.56)
Elizabeth Beisel	200 Back		3 (2:08.33)
Sydney Sell	200 Back		42 (2:13.23)
Alyssa Yambor-Maul	200 Back		91 (2:15.56)
SATURDAY, JULY 2
Natalie Hinds		50 Free	37 (25.64)
Arthur Frayler		1500 Free	10 (15:14.09)
Ben Lawless		1500 Free	56 (15:40.79)
Blake Manganiello		1500 Free	81 (15:45.91)
Andrew Brady		1500 Free	94 (15:48.11)
SUNDAY, JULY 3
NO PRELIMINARIES

OMAHA, Neb. – As the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil get closer, so do the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – the premier swimming event to determine who will reach Rio and compete as a member of Team USA in August.

"For us as swimmers, the Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport," said Gator great Elizabeth Beisel at a pre-trials press conference. "We're going to do everything we can to get there."

Twenty-three current and former Gators will make the trip to Omaha, Nebraska this week to realize Olympic dreams or repeat as Olympians. The trials run from Sunday, June 26 to July 3 at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.

Current Florida swimmers Brennan Balogh, Andrew Brady, Hannah Burns, Caeleb Dressel, Autumn Finke, Harrison Haines, Grady Heath, Taylor Katz, Ben Kennedy, Ben Lawless, Alex Lebed, Blake Manganiello, Ross Palazzo, Sydney Sell, Kahra Williams and Alyssa Yambor-Maul are all scheduled to compete in various events at the trials. Alumni competing in Omaha include Elizabeth Beisel, Bradley Deborde, Conor Dwyer, Arthur Frayler, Natalie Hinds, Sierra Kuhn and Ryan Lochte.

Eleven-time Olympic medalist Lochte is looking to make his fourth Olympic Games, and two-time medalist Beisel is hoping for her third. One-time medalist Dwyer is gunning for his second.

Seven Florida signees (Maxime Rooney, Chandler Bray, Kelly Fertel, Niki Urquidi, Savanna Faulconer, Makayla Sargent and Drew Clark), who will join the Gators for the 2016-17 season, will also swim at the trials.

In events 200 meters or shorter, the fastest 16 swimmers from the preliminaries' heats will advance to the semifinals, and the top eight from those semifinals will make the finals. In events longer than 200 meters, the fastest eight swimmers from preliminaries automatically advance straight to finals. The first- and second-place finishers in all events' finals will qualify for Team USA and move on to Rio.

Each day will begin with preliminary heats at 11 a.m. ET and conclude with event finals and semifinals at 7:45 p.m. ET. Estimated start times for each preliminary event can be found here, and the event schedule for the entire meet can be found on the USA Swimming website.

Prelims will be broadcast live daily on the NBC Sports app and on tape-delay on the NBC Sports Network and online. Event semifinals and finals will air live on NBC and online. The full TV schedule is available here.

FloridaGators.com will recap the Gators' performance after each day of trials. Follow along on Twitter at @GatorsSwimDv, @GatorsOlympics and @USASwimming and check out the hashtags GatorsAlways and SwimTrials16 for more immediate coverage.