How to watch the U.S. Olympic swimming trials — and who to watch for
The U.S. Olympic swimming trials will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and Philly-area athletes are well-represented in the pool as they swim for the chance to make it to Paris.
Haddonfield freshman Audrey Derivaux is just 14 years old, but she qualified for the 2024 Olympic trials in six events. She’s one of the youngest at this weekend’s event and is one of just six competitors aged 14 or younger.
Derivaux, one of the sport’s rising stars, broke the national age-group record in the 200-yard butterfly in February. A 14-year-old hasn’t made the US Olympic team since 1996, so Derivaux, who’s seeded as high as 18th in her events, could be the youngest woman swimmer since Amanda Beard won gold in Atlanta. She’ll be competing alongside her older sister, Lilly Derivaux, a sophomore at Yale who will compete in the 200-meter fly.
She’s just one of the many exciting storylines to come from the U.S. Olympic swimming trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where a number of Philly-area athletes will be competing ahead of the Paris Olympics in July. Here’s everything you need to know:
When are the U.S. Olympic trials?
The US. Olympic swimming trials run from Saturday to June 23. Preliminary heats for each event will take place during the morning sessions at 11 a.m. Philadelphia time. The top competitors advance to the semifinal and final heats that will decide the team. The finals will be a part of the evening sessions, which start at 8 p.m. Philadelphia time.
Here’s the schedule of finals:
Saturday: Men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 400 freestyle
Sunday: Men’s 400 individual medley, women’s 100 butterfly, men’s 100 breaststroke
Monday: Women’s 400 individual medley, men’s 200 freestyle, men’s 100 backstroke, women’s 100 breaststroke, women’s 200 freestyle
Tuesday: Women’s 100 backstroke, men’s 800 freestyle
Wednesday: Women’s 100 freestyle, men’s 200 butterfly, women’s 1500 freestyle, men’s 200 breaststroke, men’s 100 freestyle
Thursday: Women’s 200 butterfly, men’s 200 backstroke, women’s 200 breaststroke
Friday: Men’s 50 freestyle, women’s 200 backstroke, men’s 200 individual medley
June 22: Men’s 100 butterfly, women’s 200 individual medley, women’s 800 freestyle
June 23: Women’s 50 freestyle, men’s 1500 freestyle
For a full schedule of events, check out the U.S. Olympic swimming trials schedule here.
What TV channel are the U.S. Olympic trials on?
The U.S. Olympic swimming trials will air on Peacock, at NBCOlympics.com, and on the NBC Sports app. The evening sessions also will air live every night on NBC10.
What’s at stake?
A maximum of 52 swimmers can qualify for the U.S. Olympic team — 26 men and 26 women, and 1,007 qualified for the trials. There are 35 total swimming events, 17 men’s events and 17 women’s events, plus one mixed event. Some of those events are relays, in which multiple swimmers will compete, and some swimmers will compete in multiple events.
Top Philly-area swimmers to watch
Between Philly-area natives and athletes who go to Philly-area colleges, the Delaware Valley is well-represented in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
Penn junior and Warren, N.J., native Matthew Fallon is the highest-seeded Philadelphia-area athlete, with the best qualifying time in the 200-meter breaststroke and the ninth-best time in the 100-meter breaststroke. Fallon won the bronze medal in the 200 at the 2023 World Championships, and his time is over a half-second better than the next-best American challenger.
Linwood’s Destin Lasco is the next highest-seeded contender. He qualified in four events: second in the 200-meter backstroke, fourth in the 100-meter backstroke, fifth in the 200-meter freestyle, and seventh in the 200-meter individual medley. Lasco won three NCAA championships at Cal in the 200-yard backstroke and one in the 200-yard individual medley in 2024.
Haddonfield’s Henry McFadden is another top regional contender. The Stanford freshman qualified in three events: 11th in the 200-meter freestyle, 19th in the 100-meter freestyle, and 27th in the 400-meter freestyle. At Worlds in 2023, McFadden participated in the 4x200 freestyle relay qualifying heats for the eventual silver medal-winning race team.
Germantown Academy’s Landon D’Ariano qualified in both individual medley events, with the 12th-best time in the 400 and the 69th-best time in the 200. D’Ariano is committed to swim at Texas starting next year.
Other Philly athletes who qualified:
Rachel Bernhardt, Drexel: No. 7 in 100 breaststroke, No. 15 in 200 breaststroke
Matthew Jensen, Upper Dublin: No. 16 in 100 butterfly, No. 20 in 100 breaststroke, No. 23 in 50 freestyle, No. 27 in 100 freestyle
Maddie Waggoner, Moorestown: No. 16 in 1500 freestyle, No. 21 in 400 individual medley, No. 30 in 800 freestyle
Audrey Derivaux, Haddonfield: No. 18 in 200 backstroke, No. 18 in 200 butterfly, No. 28 in 200 individual medley, No. 35 in 400 individual medley, No. 41 in 100 butterfly, No. 51 in 100 backstroke
Elle Braun, Upper Dublin: No. 18 in 800 freestyle, No. 25 in 400 freestyle, No. 30 in 1500 freestyle, No. 48 in 200 freestyle
Krista Marlin, West Chester Henderson: No. 19 in 200 backstroke, No. 32 in 200 individual medley, No. 58 in 100 backstroke
Aly Breslin, Upper Dublin: No. 21 in 800 freestyle, No. 22 in 1500 freestyle
Emily Hamill, Germantown Academy: No. 22 in 200 backstroke, No. 64 in 100 backstroke
Annie Jia, Hatboro-Horsham: No. 22 in 100 butterfly
Mia Abruzzo, Notre Dame Academy: No. 26 in 400 individual medley
Anya Mostek, The Baldwin School: No. 26 in 100 backstroke
Sebastian Smith, Drexel: No. 28 in 100 butterfly, No. 64 in 50 freestyle
Kennedi Dobson, Neshaminy: No. 29 in 200 freestyle, No. 29 in 400 freestyle, No. 32 in 200 backstroke, No. 46 in 800 freestyle, No. 48 in 200 individual medley
Ivan Puskovitch, Episcopal Academy: No. 30 in 1500 freestyle, No. 39 in 400 individual medley, No. 46 in 800 freestyle, No. 57 in 400 freestyle
Alexa Conner, Lower Merion: No. 31 in 200 backstroke
Anna Kalandadze, Penn: No. 34 in 1500 freestyle, No. 39 in 800 freestyle
Sam Wesley, Episcopal Academy: No. 37 in 200 individual medley
Jacob Johnson, Springfield: No. 37 in 100 butterfly, No. 44 in 200 butterfly
Sean Faikish, North Penn: No. 39 in 200 individual medley, No. 68 in 400 individual medley, No. 78 in 200 breaststroke
Lilly Derivaux, Haddonfield: No. 42 in 200 butterfly
Alyce Lehman, Bishop Eustace: No. 48 in 200 butterfly
Daniel Gallagher, Penn: No. 56 in 200 backstroke
Jake Wang, Conestoga: No. 58 in 100 breaststroke
Caroline Famous, Conestoga: No. 64 in 50 freestyle
Kevin Keil, Penn: No. 72 in 400 individual medley
Alex Karahalis, Oxford, Penn State: No. 82 in 200 individual medley
Alexa Fulton, Downingtown East: No. 83 in 50 freestyle
Others to watch
Swimming legend Katie Ledecky is the top qualifier in four events — the 1500 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 400 freestyle, and 200 freestyle, and needs one gold medal to tie Jenny Thompson’s record as the winningest female swimmer ever at the Olympics
A number of Olympic gold medalists have qualified, including Lilly King, Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke, Simone Manuel, and Ryan Murphy.
Kate Douglass, one of the best college swimmers in the country at Virginia, is also the top qualifier in a number of events, including the 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley, and 50 freestyle and could be one of the breakout stars of the Olympics.