Here's the next set of finals on the docket for Trials, the Womens' 100 butterfly and the Mens' 100 breaststroke. As before, I'll seperate the events into three groups to highlight more of the talented competitors.
Womens' 100 Fly
The Favorites: Dana Vollmer is the American record-holder in this event as well as the defending world champion. Her fastest time during this Olympic cycle is the top seed by almost a second over Christine Magnuson, the United States' other representative in Shanghai. These two ladies are the only ones to break 58 for the Americans thus far, but expect Claire Donohue and Kathleen Hersey to challenge them. Natalie Coughlin comes in with the third fastest time, and would have a great shot to make the team in the event if she decides to swim it.
The College Girls: Stanford's Felicia Lee is the top seeded female college swimmer at 6th. She's a better long course than short course swimmer, and her best time is actually from two years ago. She's follow closely by Ivy League standout Alex Forrester in 7th, she came in sixth at this past March's NCAA champs. The top three Americans from that meet, Auburn's Olivia Scott and Tennessee Volunteer duo Jennifer Connolly and Kelsey Floyd are a little further down in the rankings, but could be ready for breakout swims after big improvement this past season.
The Teenagers: Kelly Naze comes in as the top seeded high schooler in the race at 10th place and the only one under 59 seconds, plus she did that time two years ago. Next up is youngster Kendyl Stewart, while lurking further down is the fastest short course high school 100 flyer in history, Jasmine Tosky.
The Call: Vollmer could challenge the world record this year if she peaks well, I'm taking her in the first spot. For the second, I'll take Donohue because of her front half speed. She could very well be in the lead at the turn, and if she can hold on for the back half she could actually challenge Vollmer.
Mens' 100 Breast
The Favorites: The US has had 6 men under 1:01 this Olympic cycle, lead by two time Olympian Brendan Hansen‘s 1:00.08 at last year's national championships after a hiatus from the pool. During his absence, Mike Alexandrov, Mark Gangloff and Eric Shanteau took turns filling his spot as the best American breaststroker. Shanteau seems to be peaking at the right time, the 200 specialist got very close to his textile bests at this past weekend's UltraSwim, presumably untapered, while Gangloff and Alexandrov have blistering opening speed. Joining them under the 1:01 mark are veterans Kevin Swander and Marcus Titus, the latter of whom would be a great story after winning a dispute over signals for hard-of-hearing and deaf swimmers.
The College Boys: Texas's Eric Friedland is the top college swimmer – he's a previous college champion in the 200 - while hot on his heels (by 0.03 seconds) is Arizona freshman, NCAA champion and American short course record holder Kevin Cordes. Stanford's Curtis Lovelace rounds out the top three university swimmers in terms of entry times.
The Teenagers: This really seems to be a veteran-heavy event this cycle, as the top high school breaststroker is Georgia commit Zach Gunn at 1:03.1. Following him is Dan Le at 1:03.5.
The Call: Going with a little bit of deviance for this one, I think Shanteau is on his way to big things this year. You can always count on him to make a run in the back half of this race and I think the competition won't be far enough ahead to stop him from blowing by. For second I'm going with a rising star, the young Wildcat Cordes. He put up some blistering times this winter and has proved in the past he's not just a short course swimmer.