Seeing the trend for the 2016 Olympic team being made up of newcomers, many college-aged, I want to take some time to write about them. Many of them are not as well-known like Missy Franklin and Michael Phelps, but I believe that it is important to know who they are. They are the face of the next generation and so in this series I want to take some time to talk about their backgrounds and how they will help the team in Rio. The first athlete I want to talk about is Kelsi Worrell.
Kelsi Worrell is a new face to the Olympic team, but not to international competition. She already has some experience racing in international level meets like the 2015 Pan American Games and also the Duel in the Pool held back in December. She already has a taste of competing at high level meets and definitely has the experience to hold her own in Rio. Worrell just finished up her collegiate career with University of Louisville where she is a two-time national champion in the 100 and 200 butterfly. She is also the current American record holder in the 100 butterfly as the first woman to break the 50 second barrier. The previous record was held by Natalie Coughlin who is a 12-time medalist at the Olympic Games, but unfortunately has not qualified for the team this Olympic cycle. Upon graduation, Worrell has since turned pro by signing with the swim brand TYR.
Worrell is best known for her under waters in the short course pool where she uses them to get ahead of her competition. She has even been noted to be disqualified in races due to not breaking the surface before the 15 meter mark. In the long course pool, she has been able to translate her short course strength to the longer length and make sure to make the most of it with the deficit of two turns. At the Olympic trials, it was evident that Worrell was utilizing her under waters as she had done in short course to charge ahead of the field. This helped her to make it through the prelims, semi-finals, and finals to grab an Olympic berth. Worrell also competed in the 200 fly, 100 free, and competed in the 50 free where she qualified for the finals. All of Worrell’s success does not come as a surprise from her steady time drops over the years and her consistent training.
Her 100 butterfly partner for Rio is Dana Vollmer who is the previous world record holder who came out of retirement after having a child last year. These two will be strong competitors for the current world record holder, Sarah Sjöström, at the Olympic Games. Be sure to be on the lookout for Worrell as she takes on her first Olympics. Most likely this will not be her final time in international competition. The real question is, how fast will Worrell go? She already has the NCAA, US Open, and American records in the short course distance. Let’s see if she can get the long course records.
