UVA senior Paige Madden swam her way to a second-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle on Day 2 of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials on Monday night.
With the finish, Madden has tentatively qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. The top finishers in each event earn automatic qualifying, and the full Olympic team will be announced by USA Swimming at the end of the trials.
Only 26 men and 26 women are allowed to represent Team USA in the pool in Tokyo, based on the prior schedule of 13 individual events, making for two roster spots per event. The addition of the men’s 800 free and women’s 1500 free to the 2020 schedule – increasing the individual event schedule to 14 races – did not change the number of positions available on the roster.
Madden swam a personal best time of 4:04.86 to finish second and likely secure her spot on the Olympic team. Katie Ledecky took first in 4:01.27, and former Virginia swimmer Leah Smith clocked in third with a time of 4:06.27.
Kate Douglass finished third in the 100-meter butterfly to start the second night of the Olympic Trials. Douglass clocked in with a time of 56.56.
Anna Keating and Ella Nelson competed in the 100-meter breaststroke prelims. Keating finished 21st and Nelson was 29th. Alex Walsh scratched from the 100-meter backstroke after qualifying for the semifinals.
Day 3 will feature finals in the men’s 200 free, women’s 100 back, men’s 100 back and women’s 100 breast.
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Chris Graham
