Thursday, August 5, 2021
Reflection: A Look Back at the Wave I and Wave II Experience at Trials
A whirlwind of emotions flooded through the minds of the 1,543 determined swimmers that qualified for either Wave I or Wave II of the Olympic Trials, anxious for their chance to make the Olympic Team. Feelings of excitement, awe, anxiety, empowerment, and anticipation filled the air at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, as the inception of the 2021 Olympic Trials was underway.
However, one thing was different this year than all the rest. Not only was the Olympic Trials pushed back a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the trials were separated into two waves instead of only one. This change was a bit confusing for some athletes, but gave many swimmers a chance to compete that might not have originally made the cut.
USA Swimming spoke with one swimmer who had the unique experience of racing in both Wave I and Wave II, which only the top-2 finishers in each Wave I event had the experience of.
NC State and Suburban Seahawks Club swimmer Heather Maccausland originally qualified for the Olympic Trials in December of 2020 for the 100 breast, but was disappointed she initially did not make the Wave II cut. Maccausland initially was not happy about Olympic Trials being split into two parts.
“I think I thought that it wouldn’t be as cool of an experience, and that it wouldn’t be the ‘true’ Olympic Trials experience because it kind of split up our team,” she said. “So I was kind of bummed that we weren’t able to go as a full team to the meet and prepare all together.”
Maccausland’s mindset changed, though, after her team members landed in Omaha for Wave I.
“Our team called Wave I 'Wave Fun.' We were there to swim fast and do our best, but there was very little pressure. We came to enjoy our time there, relax, and that taught me to not take it too seriously. I swam much faster in the morning because I was relaxed," Maccausland said.
Later that evening, Maccausland swam an incredible 1:08.27 in the finals of the 100 breaststroke, finishing first and qualifying her for Wave II. Roughly a week later, she went on to qualify for semifinals in Wave II with a 1:08.92.
“Wave I finals was really cool and exciting to watch even though we were missing out on watching people making the team. I felt like there was not that much of a difference between the two (waves). I think it really gave me the experience that I needed [with long course swims] going into Wave II to compete in the mornings and then making semifinals.”
Maccausland continued, “I definitely knew I had a chance to be top 2. I don’t think anyone including myself was expecting me to do a 1:08.2 so that was really surprising. I was looking forward to swimming and competing.”
She added, “Going into the meet, I was seeded 17th. So my goal was to just make the semifinals. I wanted to just enjoy the moment and soak it all in. I was just really happy to have achieved that goal. I’m glad I got to experience both waves. It was a lot of fun.
“I was joking with my coach, and he asked me, ‘So when people ask you how many times you’ve been to trials, are you going to say once or twice?’ I told him, ‘I think I will say twice.’”
The uniqueness of the two-wave format also caught the attention of some of USA Swimming’s Olympic stars.
“The (swimmers at Wave I), it was their first Olympic trials,” said three-time medalist at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Ryan Murphy, during a pre-Wave-II press conference. “They saw their names on the Jumbotron, and they were, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, look.’ They were just like little kids at candy shop. To me, that's awesome. That's everything. And that made me start realizing, you know, that's what I have to go into, that's what we have to go into this Olympic trials, is like we're little kids again because this is a new experience. Even though this is my fifth Olympic trials, this is going to be a new one. And it was just, it brought me back a couple notches of being like, yes, like this is what it is all about.”
“I think my initial fear, I had a problem with the whole Wave situation because I related to being that young kid in 2012 where I got to swim in the same pool as Ryan (Lochte), I got to swim in the same warmup lane as Michael (Phelps), I got to watch them compete at finals,” Caeleb Dressel added. “And I felt like that was taken away from Wave I, or so I thought, until after talking to Brendan (Hansen) and seeing the photos of the kids having their moment in the same pool at the same venue but instead of seeing my stupid name on the scoreboard, they got to see their name up there. So it completely flipped on me of a worry that I thought was something that was being taken away from them, was actually given to them, where it wasn't shadowed by some of the big names here at the Wave II.
“Nothing was taken away from them. I'm really glad it worked out like that. And it was just genuine excitement where they were in the same pool. They were at the same venue. While we might not have been there at the same time, to them it was real and it makes you really happy to see that. So they can carry that moving forward four years from now to where there will be someone from Wave I who is going to be on the team four years from now. So it makes me happy that they have that experience now and that wisdom moving forward.”
However, one thing was different this year than all the rest. Not only was the Olympic Trials pushed back a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the trials were separated into two waves instead of only one. This change was a bit confusing for some athletes, but gave many swimmers a chance to compete that might not have originally made the cut.
USA Swimming spoke with one swimmer who had the unique experience of racing in both Wave I and Wave II, which only the top-2 finishers in each Wave I event had the experience of.
NC State and Suburban Seahawks Club swimmer Heather Maccausland originally qualified for the Olympic Trials in December of 2020 for the 100 breast, but was disappointed she initially did not make the Wave II cut. Maccausland initially was not happy about Olympic Trials being split into two parts.
“I think I thought that it wouldn’t be as cool of an experience, and that it wouldn’t be the ‘true’ Olympic Trials experience because it kind of split up our team,” she said. “So I was kind of bummed that we weren’t able to go as a full team to the meet and prepare all together.”
Maccausland’s mindset changed, though, after her team members landed in Omaha for Wave I.
“Our team called Wave I 'Wave Fun.' We were there to swim fast and do our best, but there was very little pressure. We came to enjoy our time there, relax, and that taught me to not take it too seriously. I swam much faster in the morning because I was relaxed," Maccausland said.
Later that evening, Maccausland swam an incredible 1:08.27 in the finals of the 100 breaststroke, finishing first and qualifying her for Wave II. Roughly a week later, she went on to qualify for semifinals in Wave II with a 1:08.92.
“Wave I finals was really cool and exciting to watch even though we were missing out on watching people making the team. I felt like there was not that much of a difference between the two (waves). I think it really gave me the experience that I needed [with long course swims] going into Wave II to compete in the mornings and then making semifinals.”
Maccausland continued, “I definitely knew I had a chance to be top 2. I don’t think anyone including myself was expecting me to do a 1:08.2 so that was really surprising. I was looking forward to swimming and competing.”
She added, “Going into the meet, I was seeded 17th. So my goal was to just make the semifinals. I wanted to just enjoy the moment and soak it all in. I was just really happy to have achieved that goal. I’m glad I got to experience both waves. It was a lot of fun.
“I was joking with my coach, and he asked me, ‘So when people ask you how many times you’ve been to trials, are you going to say once or twice?’ I told him, ‘I think I will say twice.’”
The uniqueness of the two-wave format also caught the attention of some of USA Swimming’s Olympic stars.
“The (swimmers at Wave I), it was their first Olympic trials,” said three-time medalist at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Ryan Murphy, during a pre-Wave-II press conference. “They saw their names on the Jumbotron, and they were, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, look.’ They were just like little kids at candy shop. To me, that's awesome. That's everything. And that made me start realizing, you know, that's what I have to go into, that's what we have to go into this Olympic trials, is like we're little kids again because this is a new experience. Even though this is my fifth Olympic trials, this is going to be a new one. And it was just, it brought me back a couple notches of being like, yes, like this is what it is all about.”
“I think my initial fear, I had a problem with the whole Wave situation because I related to being that young kid in 2012 where I got to swim in the same pool as Ryan (Lochte), I got to swim in the same warmup lane as Michael (Phelps), I got to watch them compete at finals,” Caeleb Dressel added. “And I felt like that was taken away from Wave I, or so I thought, until after talking to Brendan (Hansen) and seeing the photos of the kids having their moment in the same pool at the same venue but instead of seeing my stupid name on the scoreboard, they got to see their name up there. So it completely flipped on me of a worry that I thought was something that was being taken away from them, was actually given to them, where it wasn't shadowed by some of the big names here at the Wave II.
“Nothing was taken away from them. I'm really glad it worked out like that. And it was just genuine excitement where they were in the same pool. They were at the same venue. While we might not have been there at the same time, to them it was real and it makes you really happy to see that. So they can carry that moving forward four years from now to where there will be someone from Wave I who is going to be on the team four years from now. So it makes me happy that they have that experience now and that wisdom moving forward.”