Day 1 of the 2021 Olympic Trials Wave I saw a lot of swimmers take advantage of their second swims. 10 swimmers achieved Wave II cuts tonight, up from just 2 in prelims. We go through and give you some of my highlight swims from the first finals session, many of which were from 18-unders. Stay tuned every morning for a recap of the night before and new swimmers to watch for at Wave II.

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SwimSwam sat down with International Swimming League (ISL) CEO Konstantin Koudriaev and ISL Technical Director Apostolos Tsagkarakis to unpack and demystify the upcoming ISL draft. This is a historic moment in our sport, the first professional draft in swimming history. Looking ahead keep these dates on your calendar; June 22nd, 29th, and 30th.

June 22nd is Round I of the draft when ISL team coaches and general managers select the first 5 athletes from their 2020 teams.

June 29th is Round II of the draft. ISL team reps will select 10 more “protected” athletes from the ISL Veterans during a live broadcast PLUS at the end of the broadcast, each team will also select one ISL Rookie.

June 30th is Round III.  ISL will announce the results of the online fan vote from the day before (June-29)  with the addition of one swimmer per ISL team. General Managers will then select ten athletes from among ISL Veterans and Rookies from the ISL DRAFT POOL.

Follow the action on Instagram @iswimleague and on the official ISL platform isl.global.

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Music: Otis McDonald

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Music: Otis McDonald

The University of Iowa has announced the hiring of Nathan Mundt as the program’s new head women’s swimming & diving coach. He takes over the program after the departure of 17-year head coach Marc Long, who declined the opportunity to continue as just the women’s head coach next season when the men’s program was cut.

The 2021-2022 season will be Mundt’s first as Hawkeye head coach and it will be the school’s first in more than a century without a men’s swimming & diving program. The school originally announced last August that they would be eliminating the men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams, along with men’s gymnastics and men’s tennis. After a Title IX lawsuit was filed by members of the women’s team, the school announced in February that it would reinstate the women’s team, though the men’s team is still eliminated.

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Michael Andrew turned a lot of heads at the Indy Pro Swim, dropping:

• 58.6 - 100m breast

I was surprised. Frankly, I didn't see Michael as the favorite in two events heading into U.S. Olympic Trials.  I think, like a lot of swimming fans, I was lulled into a bit of a sleep after after his 2020 ISL season.  I expected a little more from him last fall and winter. Now, in hindsight, that feels like a harsh judgment considering everyone reacted differently to the pandemic last year.

I am glad I was wrong. I've been a Michael Andrew fan since his age group days--back when everyone lost their minds over his turning pro at the tender age of 14.

2021 Michael Andrew U.S. Olympic Trials Predictions

As mentioned above, I wasn't bullish on Michael Andrew making the Olympic Team. I thought he’d be on the bubble. I'm confident now. I think he's making his first Olympic Team. I see him winning the 100m breast in 58.3, breaking the American record.

Will he make it in the 200 IM, 100 fly, or 50 free?

• 1:55 point 9 - 200 IM - for 2nd or 3rd

But who cares what I think. What do you think? Give me your best expert swimming analysis.

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We sat down to talk with Matt Bowe, the once elite Loughborough swimmer who is now the associate head coach at Ohio State. We go through the transition from athlete to coach and moving to the USA smack dab in the middle of it. Bowe also gets into what makes the USA different from the rest of the world in terms of having a sporting culture that starts at a very young age. Bowe compares the USA to Britain and discusses differences in every stage of upbringing that ultimately lead to performance on a global stage.

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Music: Otis McDonald

On April 6th, Andre Brasil and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) announced that the Cologne Regional Court has ruled in favor of the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to reclassify Brasil as ineligible. This effectively ends Brasil’s 14-year-long Paralympic career.

“We call this change in ranking one of the saddest episodes in the history of global paralympics,” the CPB wrote in their official statement.

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Olympic hopeful Carson Foster turned heads in Austin, Texas dropping a 4:11 best time in the 400 meters IM three weeks out from the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Carson has made big gains since NCAA championships, and he shared that his training has gone better than expected. He was a kid back in 2016, but he did get vital U.S. Olympic Trials experience. That matters. Olympic Trials in Omaha is a pressure-cooker, especially for swimmers competing in the 400 IM, which is the first event on the first day of finals.

SEE 14 YEAR OLD CARSON'S RACE VIDEO, MAKING HIS 2016 OLYMPIC TRIALS CUT.

U.S. Olympic Trials - Carson Foster Predictions:

Making the U.S. Olympic Team so young is a tall order. Carson is an outlier, a rare talent who can do it.

400 IM in the U.S. is a little soft, but someone's going to go 4:08 or 4:09 low in Omaha to make Team USA in this event. I think that person is Carson. I see a 4:08.9.

I also think Carson can make the men's 4x200 freestyle relay. I see him him advancing to the 200 free final in Omaha. Youth and enthusiasm powers him past no less than two swimmers in that race final, putting him on the Team USA relay. 

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We sat down with Dan Flack, the head coach of Baylor Swim Club and Baylor high school. We talk for over an hour, meaning we cover a lot of ground. Among our topics covered is Flack leading Baylor girls and boys to state titles (TN) during a pandemic and talking through what a virtual state championship looked like. Flack also discusses being on staff at multiple colleges while also coaching for the associated club team and the knowledge he was able to gain from being around so many high-level and wise coaches.

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Music: Otis McDonald

Garrett McCaffrey sat down with Herbie Behm, the assistant coach at Arizona State. Behm talks about how the year went for Arizona State after head coach Bob Bowman made the decision to red-shirt the entire team. Behm said for the most part it went quite smoothly, getting a long block to focus on both long course and putting good work in during training heading into Olympic Trials.

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Music: Otis McDonald