With many of the U.S.’ top swimmers taking a break after the world championships, and thus missing the national championships, the best way to survey the early favorites for June’s Olympic trials is to look at rankings by swimmers’ fastest times for 2019.
Last week’s world junior championships marked the last top international meet of the summer, making it a good time to take stock of the field in all of the individual Olympic events.
Caeleb Dressel, fresh off a six-gold, eight-medal world championships, is comfortably ahead in his three primary individual events (50m and 100m freestyles and 100m butterfly) by .58, .43 and 1.18 seconds.
He is in line to try for at least six Olympic events when including the men’s 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays and a mixed-gender 4x100m medley relay. Two of his events at worlds aren’t on the Olympic program.
Dressel could get up to the Phelpsian eight events next year if he adds the 200m free and men’s 4x200m free relay, but he ranks 11th in the U.S. in the 200m free this year (granted didn’t swim it when peaked at worlds). The top six at trials should make the relay pool, and the top two will make the individual event. Keep an eye on if he swims the 200m free in Tyr Pro Series meets next spring leading up to trials.
MORE: U.S. women’s swim rankings
Aside from triple Rio gold medalist Ryan Murphy topping both backstrokes, the rest of the U.S. men’s rankings have seen major changes in this Olympic cycle.
Zane Grothe and Bobby Finke succeeded the retired Connor Jaeger as the top distance freestylers. Andrew Wilson, who was fourth and fifth in the two breaststrokes at 2016 trials, is now the top man in that stroke.
Then there’s Ryan Lochte, who is trying to come back from two suspensions to become the oldest U.S. Olympic male swimmer in an individual event since 1904. Lochte, who turns 36 during the Tokyo Games, moved to fourth in the U.S. this year in the 200m individual medley by winning the national title.
Another veteran Olympic champion, Nathan Adrian, would just miss a hypothetical Olympic team if it was based on best times of 2019. Adrian, who is coming back from testicular cancer, is one spot shy in the 50m free and two spots shy of a 4x100m free relay spot. But that he’s even contending after announcing his diagnosis on Jan. 24 and undergoing two surgeries is impressive. Look for faster times in 2020.
Teen watch: Luca Urlando, 17, followed up breaking Phelps’ national age group record in the 200m butterfly by winning the world junior title last week with a time more than a second slower than his personal best. He ranks third in the world and first in the U.S. this year but wasn’t at July’s worlds because he didn’t qualify last summer.
Another 17-year-old, Carson Foster, won the world junior title in the 200m IM. He slots right behind Lochte in the U.S. rankings. Foster was 2 years old when Lochte made his Olympic debut in 2004. And yet another 17-year-old, Jake Mitchell, is second to Grothe in the 400m free.
Either Urlando or Foster would be the youngest U.S. Olympic male swimmer since Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Ian Crocker and Klete Keller in 2000.
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Follow @nbcolympictalk2019 U.S. Swimming Rankings — Men
50m Freestyle
1. Caeleb Dressel — 21.04
2. Michael Andrew — 21.62
3. Nathan Adrian — 21.87
3. Ryan Held — 21.87
5. Michael Chadwick — 21.95
5. David Curtiss — 21.95
100m Freestyle
1. Caeleb Dressel — 46.96
2. Ryan Held — 47.39
3. Maxime Rooney — 47.61
4. Zach Apple — 47.79
5. Blake Pieroni — 47.87
6. Tate Jackson — 47.88
200m Freestyle
1. Andrew Seliskar — 1:45.71
2. Kieran Smith — 1:46.21
3. Townley Haas — 1:46.37
4. Dean Farris — 1:46.45
5. Luca Urlando — 1:46.51
6. Blake Pieroni — 1:46.62
400m Freestyle
1. Zane Grothe — 3:45.78
2. Jake Mitchell — 3:47.95
3. Bobby Finke — 3:48.17
4. Eric Knowles — 3:48.34
5. Mitch D’Arrigo — 3:48.39
800m Freestyle
1. Bobby Finke — 7:47.58
2. Zane Grothe — 7:50.14
3. Jordan Wilimovsky — 7:53.11
4. Michael Brinegar — 7:54.56
5. Andrew Abruzzo — 7:54.70
5. Jake Mitchell — 7:54.70
1500m Freestyle
1. Bobby Finke — 14:51.15
2. Zane Grothe — 14:56.10
3. Jordan Wilimovsky — 14:59.94
4. Michael Brinegar — 15:00.82
5. Arik Katz — 15:05.93
100m Backstroke
1. Ryan Murphy — 52.44
2. Shaine Casas — 52.72
3. Matt Grevers — 52.75
4. Justin Ress — 53.31
5. Michael Andrew — 53.40
5. Jacob Pebley — 53.40
200m Backstroke
1. Ryan Murphy — 1:54.12
2. Austin Katz — 1:55.57
3. Shaine Casas — 1:55.79
4. Jacob Pebley — 1:56.35
5. Clark Beach — 1:57.14
100m Breaststroke
1. Andrew Wilson — 58.93
2. Cody Miller — 59.24
3. Ian Finnerty — 59.49
4. Michael Andrew — 59.52
5. Devon Nowicki — 59.69
200m Breaststroke
1. Will Licon — 2:07.62
2. Andrew Wilson — 2:07.77
3. Nic Fink — 2:08.16
4. Josh Prenot — 2:08.77
5. Cody Miller — 2:08.98
100m Butterfly
1. Caeleb Dressel — 49.50
2. Maxime Rooney — 50.68
3. Jack Conger — 51.21
4. Andrew Seliskar — 51.34
5. Jack Saunderson — 51.36
200m Butterfly
1. Luca Urlando — 1:53.84
2. Zach Harting — 1:55.26
3. Miles Smachlo — 1:55.94
4. Nicolas Albiero — 1:56.05
5. Trenton Julian — 1:56.09
200m Individual Medley
1. Chase Kalisz — 1:56.78
2. Michael Andrew — 1:57.49
3. Abrahm Devine — 1:57.66
4. Ryan Lochte — 1:57.76
5. Carson Foster — 1:58.46
400m Individual Medley
1. Jay Litherland — 4:09.22
2. Charlie Swanson — 4:11.46
3. Bobby Finke — 4:13.15
4. Carson Foster — 4:13.39
5. Chase Kalisz — 4:13.45
