# 2012 United States Olympic trials (swimming)

The 2012 United States Olympic trials for swimming events were held from June 25 to July 2 at the CenturyLink Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. It was the qualifying meet for American swimmers who hoped to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

## Qualification criteria

A total of 47 swimmers (not including open water swimmers) were chosen for the 2012 Summer Olympics. To make the Olympic team, a swimmer must place in the top two in one of the thirteen individual events. To be considered for the U.S. 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay teams, a swimmer must place in the top six in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle, respectively. Swimmers must have achieved a time standard to be eligible to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials:
| Event | Men | Women |
| 50 m freestyle | 23.49 | 26.39 |
| 100 m freestyle | 51.49 | 57.19 |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:52.89 | 2:03.19 |
| 400 m freestyle | 3:59.99 | 4:19.39 |
| 800 m freestyle | — | 8:50.49 |
| 1500 m freestyle | 15:53.59 | — |
| 100 m backstroke | 57.59 | 1:03.99 |
| 200 m backstroke | 2:04.99 | 2:17.99 |
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:04.69 | 1:12.19 |
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:20.79 | 2:35.99 |
| 100 m butterfly | 55.29 | 1:01.99 |
| 200 m butterfly | 2:03.99 | 2:16.49 |
| 200 m individual medley | 2:06.59 | 2:19.49 |
| 400 m individual medley | 4:30.49 | 4:55.89 |
* Information retrieved from USA Swimming.

## Events

The meet featured twenty-six individual events all swum in a long course (50-meter) pool: thirteen events for men and thirteen events for women. Events 200 meters and shorter were held with preliminaries, semifinals and finals, while events 400 meters and longer were held with preliminaries and finals. The semifinals featured sixteen swimmers in two heats; the finals included eight swimmers in a single heat. Preliminaries were seeded with ten lanes. Event order, which mimicked that of the 2012 Olympics, with the exception of the Olympic relay events, was:
| Date | Monday June 25, 2012 | Tuesday June 26, 2012 | Wednesday June 27, 2012 | Thursday June 28, 2012 |
| M o r n i n g | Men's 400 IM (heats) Women's 100 butterfly (heats) Men's 400 freestyle (heats) Women's 400 IM (heats) Men's 100 breaststroke (heats) Women's 100 butterfly (swim-off) | Women's 100 backstroke (heats) Men's 200 freestyle (heats) Women's 100 breaststroke (heats) Men's 100 backstroke (heats) Women's 400 freestyle (heats) | Women's 200 freestyle (heats) Men's 200 butterfly (heats) Women's 200 IM (heats) | Men's 100 freestyle (heats) Women's 200 butterfly (heats) Men's 200 breaststroke (heats) |
| E v e n i n g | Men's 400 IM (final) Women's 100 butterfly (semi-finals) Men's 400 freestyle (final) Women's 400 IM (final) Men's 100 breaststroke (semi-finals) | Women's 100 butterfly (final) Men's 200 freestyle (semi-finals) Women's 100 breaststroke (semi-finals) Men's 100 breaststroke (final) Women's 400 freestyle (final) Men's 100 backstroke (semi-finals) Women's 100 backstroke (semi-finals) | Women's 200 freestyle (semi-finals) Men's 200 freestyle (final) Women's 100 backstroke (final) Men's 100 backstroke (final) Women's 100 breaststroke (final) Men's 200 butterfly (semi-finals) Women's 200 IM (semi-finals) | Men's 100 freestyle (semi-finals) Women's 200 freestyle (final) Men's 200 butterfly (final) Women's 200 butterfly (semi-finals) Men's 200 breaststroke (semi-finals) Women's 200 IM (final) |
| Date | Friday June 29, 2012 | Saturday June 30, 2012 | Sunday July 1, 2012 | Monday July 2, 2012 |
| M o r n i n g | Women's 100 freestyle (heats) Men's 200 backstroke (heats) Women's 200 breaststroke (heats) Men's 200 IM (heats) Women's 200 breaststroke (swim-off) | Men's 50 freestyle (heats) Women's 800 freestyle (heats) Men's 100 butterfly (heats) Women's 200 backstroke (heats) | Women's 50 freestyle (heats) Men's 1500 freestyle (heats) | No morning session. |
| E v e n i n g | Men's 200 breaststroke (final) Women's 100 freestyle (semi-finals) Men's 200 backstroke (semi-finals) Women's 200 butterfly (final) Men's 100 freestyle (final) Women's 200 breaststroke (semi-finals) Men's 200 IM (semi-finals) | Men's 50 freestyle (semi-finals) Women's 200 breaststroke (final) Men's 200 backstroke (final) Women's 200 backstroke (semi-finals) Men's 200 IM (final) Women's 100 freestyle (final) Men's 100 butterfly (semi-finals) | Women's 200 backstroke (final) Men's 100 butterfly (final) Women's 800 freestyle (final) Men's 50 freestyle (final) Women's 50 freestyle (semi-finals) | Women's 50 freestyle (final) Men's 1500 freestyle (final) |
Note: prelims/semifinals/finals were swum in events 200 meters and shorter; prelims/finals in events 400 meters or longer. For prelims/semifinals/finals events, prelims and semis were on the same day, with finals the next evening. For the 400-meter events, prelims and finals were the same day. For the 800 and 1500 meter races, prelims are in the morning of one day, with finals in the evening of the next day.

## U.S. Olympic Team

The following swimmers qualified to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics (for pool events):

### Men

Nathan Adrian, Clark Burckle, Tyler Clary, Conor Dwyer, Anthony Ervin, Jimmy Feigen, Andrew Gemmell, Matt Grevers, Brendan Hansen, Charlie Houchin, Connor Jaeger, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Ryan Lochte, Tyler McGill, Matt McLean, Michael Phelps, Eric Shanteau, Davis Tarwater, Nick Thoman, Peter Vanderkaay, and Scott Weltz.

### Women

Cammile Adams, Alyssa Anderson, Elizabeth Beisel, Rachel Bootsma, Natalie Coughlin, Claire Donahue, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Kathleen Hersey, Kara Lynn Joyce, Ariana Kukors, Breeja Larson, Micah Lawrence, Katie Ledecky, Caitlin Leverenz, Lia Neal, Lauren Perdue, Allison Schmitt, Rebecca Soni, Chloe Sutton, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland, Amanda Weir, and Kate Ziegler.

## Results

Key:  Highlighted swimmers achieved the qualification conditions to be included in the Olympic team in that respective event.

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle | Cullen Jones | 21.59 | Anthony Ervin | 21.60 | Nathan Adrian | 21.68 |
| 100 m freestyle | Nathan Adrian | 48.10 | Cullen Jones | 48.46 | Matt Grevers | 48.55 |
| 200 m freestyle | Michael Phelps | 1:45.70 | Ryan Lochte | 1:45.75 | Ricky Berens | 1:46.56 |
| 400 m freestyle | Peter Vanderkaay | 3:47.67 | Conor Dwyer | 3:47.83 | Michael Klueh | 3:48.17 |
| 1500 m freestyle | Andrew Gemmell | 14:52.19 | Connor Jaeger | 14:52.51 | Chad La Tourette | 14:57.53 |
| 100 m backstroke | Matt Grevers | 52.08 | Nick Thoman | 52.86 | David Plummer | 52.98 |
| 200 m backstroke | Ryan Lochte | 1:54.54 | Tyler Clary | 1:54.88 | Nick Thoman | 1:57.06 |
| 100 m breaststroke | Brendan Hansen | 59.68 | Eric Shanteau | 1:00.15 | Kevin Cordes | 1:00.58 |
| 200 m breaststroke | Scott Weltz | 2:09.01 | Clark Burckle | 2:09.97 | Eric Shanteau | 2:10.05 |
| 100 m butterfly | Michael Phelps | 51.14 | Tyler McGill | 51.32 | Ryan Lochte | 51.65 |
| 200 m butterfly | Michael Phelps | 1:53.65 | Tyler Clary | 1:55.12 | Bobby Bollier | 1:55.79 |
| 200 m IM | Michael Phelps | 1:54.84 | Ryan Lochte | 1:54.93 | Conor Dwyer | 1:58.92 |
| 400 m IM | Ryan Lochte | 4:07.06 | Michael Phelps | 4:07.89 | Tyler Clary | 4:09.92 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle | Jessica Hardy | 24.50 | Kara Lynn Joyce | 24.73 | Christine Magnuson | 24.78 |
| 100 m freestyle | Jessica Hardy | 53.96 | Missy Franklin | 54.15 | Allison Schmitt | 54.30 |
| 200 m freestyle | Allison Schmitt | 1:54.40 AM | Missy Franklin | 1:56.79 | Dana Vollmer | 1:57.47 |
| 400 m freestyle | Allison Schmitt | 4:02.84 | Chloe Sutton | 4:04.18 | Katie Ledecky | 4:05.00 |
| 800 m freestyle | Katie Ledecky | 8:19.78 | Kate Ziegler | 8:21.87 | Haley Anderson | 8:26.60 |
| 100 m backstroke | Missy Franklin | 58.85 AM | Rachel Bootsma | 59.49 | Natalie Coughlin | 1:00.06 |
| 200 m backstroke | Missy Franklin | 2:06.12 | Elizabeth Beisel | 2:07.58 | Elizabeth Pelton | 2:08.06 |
| 100 m breaststroke | Breeja Larson | 1:05.92 | Rebecca Soni | 1:05.99 | Jessica Hardy | 1:06.53 |
| 200 m breaststroke | Rebecca Soni | 2:21.13 | Micah Lawrence | 2:23.03 | Andrea Kropp | 2:24.82 |
| 100 m butterfly | Dana Vollmer | 56.50 | Claire Donahue | 57.57 | Kathleen Hersey | 58.16 |
| 200 m butterfly | Cammile Adams | 2:06.52 | Kathleen Hersey | 2:07.72 | Kim Vandenberg | 2:08.99 |
| 200 m IM | Caitlin Leverenz | 2:10.22 | Ariana Kukors | 2:11.30 | Elizabeth Pelton | 2:11.55 |
| 400 m IM | Elizabeth Beisel | 4:31.74 | Caitlin Leverenz | 4:34.48 | Cammile Adams | 4:38.62 |