 Tarwater entered the June 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials with a new perspective: "I want to swim as fast as I can, be the best man I can be, and let the chips fall where they may", he said. "If I make the team ... that would be unbelievable. If I don ’ t make this team, I plan to still be a champion." He entered the competition ranked fourth in the 100-meter butterfly, fifth in the 200-meter butterfly, and also qualified in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle. He chose to scratch the 100-meter freestyle to concentrate on the 200-meter butterfly and freestyle. Tarwater made the 200-meter freestyle finals; the top six finishers qualified for the Olympic 4 × 200 relay team, but Tarwater finished seventh. He missed making the Olympic team by fourteen one-hundredths (0.14) of a second.
