Having written for USA Swimming and followed swimming since the early 2000s, I’ve seen many athletes excel and often explode on the U.S. and world stages.

Every four years (three this time, thanks to Covid), it’s exciting to see new and newer names come up through the ranks and challenge for spots of the U.S. Olympic team – historically the best and deepest team on the planet.

U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming presented by Lilly start this weekend in Indianapolis. After 13 years and four Trials in Omaha, this year's competition will be in an exciting new venue – Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Indianapolis Colts play and annual Big Ten Championships (football) are contested – that will be fan and athlete-friendly on levels not seen before. 

That, of course, means there’s going to be some exciting, amazing swimming performances by young and old(er) in the temporary pools (competition and warmup) filled with millions of gallons of water resting comfortably on the football field.

Here are five events (in order) that I’m most excited to watch over the course of nine days (one more than past Trials to reflect the schedule in Paris) starting this Saturday as I know they are going to produce fireworks in the pool.

Hold on! Here we go!

Women’s 200 Individual Medley

There are many showcase events at upcoming Trials, but, in my view, few are bigger or more exciting than watching another showdown between Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh in the 200 individual medley. 

Sure, there are other strong candidates in the event, but these two past Olympians and World Champions are heads-and-tails above the field. 

Douglass has quickly become one of the most versatile and dependable swimmers in the world, and Walsh is right there with her. At the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, they went silver (Walsh) and bronze (Douglass) in their first Olympics. 

Since then, they’ve been lights out against U.S. and world competition. 

At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Walsh won gold but Douglass didn’t compete, as American Leah Hayes finished third.

Last summer at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, they went 1-2 led by Douglass’ time of 2:07.1 – almost two seconds faster than in Tokyo. Walsh didn’t compete earlier this winter at World Aquatics Championships in Doha and Douglass won the event in easy fashion. 

Expect another battle between Douglass and Walsh next week in Indianapolis – but don’t sleep on third-seed Torri Huske (2:08.487) or fourth seed Hayes (2:10.03), 

Men’s 50 Freestyle

Just as is the case with all of his events, the major question with upcoming Trials is how fast will Caeleb Dressel swim? 

After taking an extended break following 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Dressel returned to competition in mid-2023 motivated and inspired. Over the past year, he has been coming closer and closer to times he put up when he was swimming in his prime. 

He enters the meet as the fifth seed in the event, and standing in his way of a top-2 finish and a spot on the Olympic team are relative newcomer Jack Alexy (silver in the 50 and 100 free events at last years’ World Aquatics Championships), veteran Olympians Ryan Held and Michael Andrew (4th at the last Olympics) and Matt King. 

Among the top-6 swimmers (including Brooks Curry), .34 separates the top seed (Held, 21.50) from the sixth seed (Dressel and Curry both at 21.84) so expect some fast, competitive swimming. 

Because the 50 is near the end of the meet, Dressel, the reigning Olympic champion in the event, we’ll already have seen how fast he’s swimming in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle. He’s the defending Trials and Olympic champion in both events as well. 

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

Three years ago at Trials, Lydia Jacoby surprised everyone by finishing a close second to 2016 Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Lilly King as a 17-year-old. 

Several weeks later in Tokyo, Jacoby shaved almost a second from her Trials time to shock everyone with the gold medal. 

Last summer, the once-unbeatable King finished fourth behind Jacoby’s bronze at Worlds – and both of them finished behind Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania) and Tatjana Smith (South Africa). 

Fast-forward three years and the now 20-year-old is back to swimming fast times – seeded second (1:05.16) behind King (1:04.75) heading into Indianapolis. Along with Kaitlyn Dobler (1:05.48), this event is going to be another battle.

Anyone who knows Lilly King is well aware of her tremendous competitive spirit, and losing gold to her teammate in 2021 should provide motivation and inspiration next week and the rest of the summer. 

Men’s 100 Backstroke

Since the mid-2010s, Ryan Murphy has owned the sprint backstroke event, winning the gold medal in Rio at the 2016 Olympics and bronze behind two Russian swimmers at the most recent games in Tokyo. 

Murphy came back strong last summer at World Championships with a gold-medal time of 52.22, while compatriot Hunter Armstrong earned the bronze medal. The previous year at Worlds, he won silver in the 100 and gold in the 200 back. 

Heading into next week’s Trials, Murphy, now approaching 29 years old, is the top seed at 22.02, one of the fastest times he’s recorded since posting a 51.97 at 2022 Worlds. He is the former world record holder in the event (51.85 lead-off swim in the 400 medley relay at 2016 Olympics). 

Along with Armstrong, the second seed at 52.33, is Justin Ress, who has gone back and forth over the past two World Aquatics Championships with Armstrong for gold in the 50 backstroke (not an Olympic event). Armstrong took gold at 2023 World Championships with Ress close behind with the silver, but the year before in Budapest, Ress won gold ahead of his teammate. 

Women’s 100 Butterfly 

One of the biggest questions that could be answered at 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials is just how fast Torri Huske can swim. 

Over the past few years since 2021 Olympic Trials, Huske has consistently dropped time – coming very close to topping Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom’s world record. In Tokyo, Huske missed being on the podium by .01, finishing fourth. 

Two years ago, Huske dropped a 55.64 to come within .16 of the world mark. She’s been close to that time since and comes to Indy as the top seed at 55.68.  

Hot on her heels (literally) are Gretchen Walsh, Regan Smith and Claire Curzan, seeded 2-4, respectively. While none of them come into the meet with a seeded time faster than 56.14 (Walsh), they are all very close to one another. 

The wild card here could be Smith, who, while a multiple-time world record holder in the 100 and 200 backstroke events and a stronger 200 flyer, has been swimming some very fast sprint fly times the past two years. 

The exciting thing about this event is, because it’s such a fast sprint over 50 yards, anything can happen – and anyone can win. Watch for Huske to gain more ground on Sjostrom’s 7-year-old world record, possibly setting a new mark.

For more information on the event, visit www.usaswimming.org/Trials. To witness the action in person, head to www.usaswimming.org/TrialsTickets.