Starting tomorrow is the beginning of the US Olympic Trials for swimming and the entire event will be filled with storylines. Given that this is a Pitt message board, I'll keep this post to Pitt related subjects but would love to discuss and other swimming topics related to the events as well as the games themselves.
A number of future, current, and former Panthers (as well as a former Panther coach) will be participating this weekend in Wave 1 of the US Olympic Trials in hopes to qualify for the Wave 2 portion of the meet which will be held June 13-20. The trials were done a little differently this season as they were split up into 2 different waves as to allow for less people in the arena at a time. There were qualifying times for Wave 1 and even faster time for Wave 2. Those in Wave 2 are expected to compete for spots in the semifinals which advances swimmers to the finals where the top 2 swimmers in each event are selected to represent the USA in the Tokyo games later on this summer. While Wave 2 is for the swimmers who already have fast enough seed times, Wave 1 is meant for swimmers who qualified for the meet but may not have been fast enough in the qualifying period to have a legitimate shot at making the Olympic team. However, the top 2 swimmers in each event of Wave 1 will move on to Wave 2, giving them a chance to qualify for the games.
Now that that is out of the way, lets get to our panthers. Up first is former Panther (class of 2020) Luke Smutny. Smutny is entered to swim the 200 butterfly and is seeded 11th in the event. His seed time is 2:00.54 which is less than a second off of the top Wave 1 seed in the event which could give him a chance to sneak into the top 2 and move onto Wave 2. After the pandemic hit Smutny initially announced he was retiring from the sport but later chose to continue training for the trials. He hasn't recorded a time in over a year which could mean his poised for a big jump after intense training, or he took too much time off and didn't prepare enough heading into this meet to really make a difference. Either way it is always exciting seeing former Panthers continue their career at the US's biggest stage.
Next is current Panther Jerry Chen. Chen is entered in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.28 as he barely squeezed under the qualifying mark of 1:03.29. Chen is a local product out of North Allegheny and has since exploded as one of the top swimmers on Pitt's roster. He is currently seeded 80th and is very unlikely to make the top 2 to advance to Wave 2, however seeing someone go from an underrecruited local kid, to a legitimate conference scorer is always someone to root for. Chen has seen huge improvements his first two years at Pitt and clearly his work is paying off so hats off to Jerry Chen,
Moving on to our future panthers. Mia Sunseri (yes that Sunseri) is entered to swim the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:32.38. She is seeded 15th in the event and is just under 2 seconds slower than the top seed. That time comes from the US Open in November so it seems as though she has been training hard for 7 months and tapering for this event at trials as she has only swam one meet since the US Open and she was mostly swimming off strokes. This could bode well for Sunseri and could see her move up from her 15th place seeding. After trials, Sunseri will be training to be a part of Pitt's team next year as an incoming freshman looking to be the leader of the class and hopefully lead the Panthers out of the depths of the ACC.
The final future Panther competing at Wave 1 Olympic Trials this weekend is Jill Berger. Berger will be swimming the 200 butterfly and is seeded 19th with a time of 2:13.81. Berger is a recruit that has gone a bit under the radar but has had a huge spring that culminated in some times that would sit atop the Pitt roster next season, as well as an Olympic Trials qualifying time. She is just over a second behind the top qualifier in her event and can hopefully continue riding her taper which got her her Trials cut in mid-May and have another explosive swim this weekend. Berger will be coming in next fall alongside a large class that will need to fill a lot of holes the Panthers have due to athletes transferring out as well as prior roster holes. Hopefully Berger and Sunseri can bring a much needed talent level to really elevate the Panthers place in the conference.
Finally on our list we have Pine Richland / Auburn Alum Kristen Murslack. Why am I including Murslack you ask? Well, the past two seasons Murslack has served as an assistant coach for the Panthers, while also continuing to pursue her Olympic dream in the side. As a collegiate swimmer Murslack missed qualifying for Olympic trials in 2016 leading into her senior year at Auburn. While she thought that would be the last chance to participate in arguably the fastest meet in the world. her road took her down a path that eventually led back home to Pittsburgh. She was named the Panther's assistant coach in 2019 and served that role while also training on the side. As is turns out the training paid off. On May 14th, at a meet in West Virginia, Murslack swam to an Olympic qualifying time of 1:10.97 in the 100 meter breaststroke, two one-hundredths under the qualifying time. Just three days later Murslack left the Panthers coaching staff to take a similar position at national powerhouse Florida, but at Olympic Trials this weekend, she will be donning her Pitt suit and cap for one last hooray as a member of the Pitt Panthers.
The link below: will have the psych sheet, live results, and link to watch the racing:
swimswam.com
A number of future, current, and former Panthers (as well as a former Panther coach) will be participating this weekend in Wave 1 of the US Olympic Trials in hopes to qualify for the Wave 2 portion of the meet which will be held June 13-20. The trials were done a little differently this season as they were split up into 2 different waves as to allow for less people in the arena at a time. There were qualifying times for Wave 1 and even faster time for Wave 2. Those in Wave 2 are expected to compete for spots in the semifinals which advances swimmers to the finals where the top 2 swimmers in each event are selected to represent the USA in the Tokyo games later on this summer. While Wave 2 is for the swimmers who already have fast enough seed times, Wave 1 is meant for swimmers who qualified for the meet but may not have been fast enough in the qualifying period to have a legitimate shot at making the Olympic team. However, the top 2 swimmers in each event of Wave 1 will move on to Wave 2, giving them a chance to qualify for the games.
Now that that is out of the way, lets get to our panthers. Up first is former Panther (class of 2020) Luke Smutny. Smutny is entered to swim the 200 butterfly and is seeded 11th in the event. His seed time is 2:00.54 which is less than a second off of the top Wave 1 seed in the event which could give him a chance to sneak into the top 2 and move onto Wave 2. After the pandemic hit Smutny initially announced he was retiring from the sport but later chose to continue training for the trials. He hasn't recorded a time in over a year which could mean his poised for a big jump after intense training, or he took too much time off and didn't prepare enough heading into this meet to really make a difference. Either way it is always exciting seeing former Panthers continue their career at the US's biggest stage.
Next is current Panther Jerry Chen. Chen is entered in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.28 as he barely squeezed under the qualifying mark of 1:03.29. Chen is a local product out of North Allegheny and has since exploded as one of the top swimmers on Pitt's roster. He is currently seeded 80th and is very unlikely to make the top 2 to advance to Wave 2, however seeing someone go from an underrecruited local kid, to a legitimate conference scorer is always someone to root for. Chen has seen huge improvements his first two years at Pitt and clearly his work is paying off so hats off to Jerry Chen,
Moving on to our future panthers. Mia Sunseri (yes that Sunseri) is entered to swim the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:32.38. She is seeded 15th in the event and is just under 2 seconds slower than the top seed. That time comes from the US Open in November so it seems as though she has been training hard for 7 months and tapering for this event at trials as she has only swam one meet since the US Open and she was mostly swimming off strokes. This could bode well for Sunseri and could see her move up from her 15th place seeding. After trials, Sunseri will be training to be a part of Pitt's team next year as an incoming freshman looking to be the leader of the class and hopefully lead the Panthers out of the depths of the ACC.
The final future Panther competing at Wave 1 Olympic Trials this weekend is Jill Berger. Berger will be swimming the 200 butterfly and is seeded 19th with a time of 2:13.81. Berger is a recruit that has gone a bit under the radar but has had a huge spring that culminated in some times that would sit atop the Pitt roster next season, as well as an Olympic Trials qualifying time. She is just over a second behind the top qualifier in her event and can hopefully continue riding her taper which got her her Trials cut in mid-May and have another explosive swim this weekend. Berger will be coming in next fall alongside a large class that will need to fill a lot of holes the Panthers have due to athletes transferring out as well as prior roster holes. Hopefully Berger and Sunseri can bring a much needed talent level to really elevate the Panthers place in the conference.
Finally on our list we have Pine Richland / Auburn Alum Kristen Murslack. Why am I including Murslack you ask? Well, the past two seasons Murslack has served as an assistant coach for the Panthers, while also continuing to pursue her Olympic dream in the side. As a collegiate swimmer Murslack missed qualifying for Olympic trials in 2016 leading into her senior year at Auburn. While she thought that would be the last chance to participate in arguably the fastest meet in the world. her road took her down a path that eventually led back home to Pittsburgh. She was named the Panther's assistant coach in 2019 and served that role while also training on the side. As is turns out the training paid off. On May 14th, at a meet in West Virginia, Murslack swam to an Olympic qualifying time of 1:10.97 in the 100 meter breaststroke, two one-hundredths under the qualifying time. Just three days later Murslack left the Panthers coaching staff to take a similar position at national powerhouse Florida, but at Olympic Trials this weekend, she will be donning her Pitt suit and cap for one last hooray as a member of the Pitt Panthers.
The link below: will have the psych sheet, live results, and link to watch the racing:
How To Watch, All The Links You Need For Wave I Of The 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials
Everything you need to follow along with Wave I of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, which kicks off on Friday morning from Omaha.
swimswam.com
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