The HARDEST Swim Meet... USA Olympic Trials 

The fact Cody pinned this 😂

😂😂😂😂😂

Lucas Byrd?

Hahaha 😂

I wouldn't look at it that way, the swimmers that get top 8 at us trials have been training through much better conditions than swimmers from other countries, and are part of a much more developed sport when it comes to swimming, attending different training camps through their swim career. The even playing field for athletes from other countries being the NCAA where they get to experience that type of conditions and train with those type of coaches for the first time. Coming from a different country myself that is less developed, the US are light years ahead when it comes to swimming, and their facilities with combination of great coaching staff create champions for a reason.

To be the best you have to beat the best.

@@luksacvetko2307 Exactly this. US has this as an entire industry with major corporate backing (e.g. Nike sponsorships, Speedo sponsorships, etc.), and they have a well crafted pipeline of cultivating talent from their teens to peak years supported by colleges. Even athletes from many smaller countries are the ones who actually live in or go to programs in the US, and for most intents and purposes only have a passport relationship to the country they represent. Coupled with the US's behind-the-scenes power in eliminating competition (Russian women's figure skating was leagues beyond the rest of the world so one negative test and their entire program gets banned, while the majority of winners whose Olympic medals are stripped away due to doping come from the US but we keep the pointing the figure at others), meanwhile US athletes are able to take "legal" performance enhancing drugs only accessible to them while those that are accessible to people in other countries are deemed "banned substances" (see Maria Sharapova testing positive for a drug in a cough medicine that had been legal but suddenly changed due to US prodding around the time Serena Williams staged a comeback -- and how Serena was always conveniently medically cleared to take drugs that boosted blood oxygen levels), and the way they dictate play (most events get scheduled based on US prime time viewing regardless of where in the world, the Olympics are, so the US athletes are also able to better adjust). The playing field isn't fair, but it's not to US athletes who don't make the cut off.

You can consider changing countries like Caspar Corbeau did. He is going to Paris, but wearing orange.

@@lordjacebut he has always representing the netherlands, but he was studying at texas

Definitely

So excited for the Olympics

Other countries would 'dream' to have the swimmers who came 3rd-8th in the USA Olympic Trials finals? Well, really? Other countries have some pretty stunning swimmers of their own. Look at David Popovici. His 200fr at the European Champs was 1.41.13, while the winning time at US trials was 1.44.89; his 100 was 46.88, against 47.3 at US trials. Other countries have smaller populations, and swimming is a minority sport, but they produce athletes of outstanding calibre, and don't really require USA's also-rans, amazing as they are. As far as world records at trials go, if you can swim fast, you should swim fast. OK, you only need a top-two place to get to Paris, but it's also a test of what speed you can produce, and what statement you want to make. The WRs at the USA and Aussie trials sent out a message about how competitive the field is, and how high the standard is. That can only be a good thing.

Natalie is a great American swimmer who is an Olympic champion.