Wednesday, April 14, 2021
#TokyoOlympics: 100 Days Out
100 days. Buckle up.
The thrills, the tears, the medals and the American-flag gear are on their way. With excitement brewing over the past five years, sports fans worldwide are now just 100 days out from witnessing all the greatness of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. After the letdown and frustrations of countless meets and practices over the past year, the attention of the swim community is starting to drift back on Tokyo. And it will be here before we know it.
Here’s what we can all look forward to:
The Honor
USA Swimming typically has around 370,000 athletes in its membership, meaning the 1,300+ athletes who have qualified for Trials over the past few years represent less than half of a single percent of USA Swimming athletes. After focusing the scope of Trials competitors to the 52 maximum spots allowed on the U.S. Olympic Team, this year’s Olympians will represent the top 0.01% of swimmers in the United States.
“It was a life-changing moment,” said two-time Olympian, Matt Grevers, when reflecting on making the team in the 100-meter backstroke in 2008. “I went from being just a swimmer to being able to say I was an Olympian. That moment gave me confidence for the rest of my swimming career. That was a sheer moment of joy.”
Since swimming first made its Olympic debut in 1896, around 900 swimmers have had the honor to represent the red, white and blue in an Olympic pool. Those 900 swimmers have combined for 553 swimming medals across individual, relay and open water events. Yes, the medals are as good as it gets for tangible rewards, but it is moments like Simone Manuel tearfully talking about her role models after becoming the first Black swimmer in U.S. history to medal in an individual event, or Jason Lezak chasing down a deficit in a relay-anchor swim for the ages, that will stick with the swimming community forever.
The Venue
The U.S. has experienced incredible success in Japan over the years. Between the Olympic Games, FINA World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships and World University Games competitions, the U.S. has competed on Japanese soil 11 times and has combined for 454 medals on Japanese soil— good for an average of 41 medals per meet.
The Olympic Games last took place in Tokyo in 1964 and featured American gold in 13 of the 18 events. American swimmers set the pool ablaze, combining for nine new world records. American swimmers cumulated 29 medals at that meet, more than every other nation combined in the pool.
More recently, the U.S. sent a team to the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. The Americans once again put on a display, totaling 20 gold medals, once again more than every other country combined. The 2018 event featured open water 10k gold medals by both Haley Anderson and Jordan Wilimovsky, who have both already punched their tickets to Tokyo this summer.
The Legacy
Many of America’s favorite swimmers officially wrapped their careers after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Michael Phelps, Elizabeth Beiseil, Maya DiRado and Missy Franklin have all retired. The reality of watching an Olympic competition without these names feels odd, but it also leads to the question, who is next?
Katie Ledecky is once again expected to add to her legacy as one of the greatest swimmers in the history of the sport. Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel put on historic performances at the 2019 FINA World Championships and have potential to again rack up multi-medal performances this time around. Who else?
The postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 surely made many swimmers across the nation reevaluate their training schedules, but an extra year could certainly open the door for emerging young swimmers who may not have been likely candidates to make the team had the Olympics taken place in 2020. To date, there are currently 20 teenagers on the U.S. National Team, 16 of whom hold top-10 times in the United States since 2020.
There is no doubt that Tokyo will feature both current legacies adding new chapters and newer legacies being debuted.
The Spectacle
Tokyo 2020 will undoubtedly have a different look than past Olympic Games. After Japanese organizing committees ruled out foreign spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will certainly be different feel inside all Olympic venues this summer.
But, for the athletes competing, they will still be looking at a black line at the bottom of the pool, knowing they will have an opportunity to look at their country’s flag rise from the podium after the race. For families huddled around their TVs, they will still be hearing the ever-excited voice of Rowdy Gaines echoing over their speakers as leaderboards come down to hundredths of a second. For sports fans and the nation as a whole, they will still have swimmers in American flag caps to cheer for and rally around after a difficult 2020.
The Olympics is a show like no other. The implications and results are life altering and the competition and surrounding visual effects are mind blowing. Attending U.S. athletes may not have a full venue cheering them on, but they certainly will still have the support of an entire nation.
Like many things during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was put on hold. The good news is that it is finally (almost) here. When it arrives this July, it will be one for the ages.
The thrills, the tears, the medals and the American-flag gear are on their way. With excitement brewing over the past five years, sports fans worldwide are now just 100 days out from witnessing all the greatness of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. After the letdown and frustrations of countless meets and practices over the past year, the attention of the swim community is starting to drift back on Tokyo. And it will be here before we know it.
Here’s what we can all look forward to:
The Honor
USA Swimming typically has around 370,000 athletes in its membership, meaning the 1,300+ athletes who have qualified for Trials over the past few years represent less than half of a single percent of USA Swimming athletes. After focusing the scope of Trials competitors to the 52 maximum spots allowed on the U.S. Olympic Team, this year’s Olympians will represent the top 0.01% of swimmers in the United States.
“It was a life-changing moment,” said two-time Olympian, Matt Grevers, when reflecting on making the team in the 100-meter backstroke in 2008. “I went from being just a swimmer to being able to say I was an Olympian. That moment gave me confidence for the rest of my swimming career. That was a sheer moment of joy.”
Since swimming first made its Olympic debut in 1896, around 900 swimmers have had the honor to represent the red, white and blue in an Olympic pool. Those 900 swimmers have combined for 553 swimming medals across individual, relay and open water events. Yes, the medals are as good as it gets for tangible rewards, but it is moments like Simone Manuel tearfully talking about her role models after becoming the first Black swimmer in U.S. history to medal in an individual event, or Jason Lezak chasing down a deficit in a relay-anchor swim for the ages, that will stick with the swimming community forever.
The Venue
The U.S. has experienced incredible success in Japan over the years. Between the Olympic Games, FINA World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships and World University Games competitions, the U.S. has competed on Japanese soil 11 times and has combined for 454 medals on Japanese soil— good for an average of 41 medals per meet.
The Olympic Games last took place in Tokyo in 1964 and featured American gold in 13 of the 18 events. American swimmers set the pool ablaze, combining for nine new world records. American swimmers cumulated 29 medals at that meet, more than every other nation combined in the pool.
More recently, the U.S. sent a team to the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. The Americans once again put on a display, totaling 20 gold medals, once again more than every other country combined. The 2018 event featured open water 10k gold medals by both Haley Anderson and Jordan Wilimovsky, who have both already punched their tickets to Tokyo this summer.
The Legacy
Many of America’s favorite swimmers officially wrapped their careers after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Michael Phelps, Elizabeth Beiseil, Maya DiRado and Missy Franklin have all retired. The reality of watching an Olympic competition without these names feels odd, but it also leads to the question, who is next?
Katie Ledecky is once again expected to add to her legacy as one of the greatest swimmers in the history of the sport. Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel put on historic performances at the 2019 FINA World Championships and have potential to again rack up multi-medal performances this time around. Who else?
The postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 surely made many swimmers across the nation reevaluate their training schedules, but an extra year could certainly open the door for emerging young swimmers who may not have been likely candidates to make the team had the Olympics taken place in 2020. To date, there are currently 20 teenagers on the U.S. National Team, 16 of whom hold top-10 times in the United States since 2020.
There is no doubt that Tokyo will feature both current legacies adding new chapters and newer legacies being debuted.
The Spectacle
Tokyo 2020 will undoubtedly have a different look than past Olympic Games. After Japanese organizing committees ruled out foreign spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will certainly be different feel inside all Olympic venues this summer.
But, for the athletes competing, they will still be looking at a black line at the bottom of the pool, knowing they will have an opportunity to look at their country’s flag rise from the podium after the race. For families huddled around their TVs, they will still be hearing the ever-excited voice of Rowdy Gaines echoing over their speakers as leaderboards come down to hundredths of a second. For sports fans and the nation as a whole, they will still have swimmers in American flag caps to cheer for and rally around after a difficult 2020.
The Olympics is a show like no other. The implications and results are life altering and the competition and surrounding visual effects are mind blowing. Attending U.S. athletes may not have a full venue cheering them on, but they certainly will still have the support of an entire nation.
Like many things during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was put on hold. The good news is that it is finally (almost) here. When it arrives this July, it will be one for the ages.