OMAHA, Neb. - Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin won't be the only swimmers to watch in this week's Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Monticello native Marissa Berg also will compete in the trials.
Berg will be one of 190 swimmers to compete in the 50-meter freestyle Olympic Trials on Saturday at the CenturyLink Center. The top two swimmers in the field of about 200 will qualify for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Even though Berg is a long shot to qualify for the Olympics, she's using the opportunity as a learning experience.
"It's super exciting," Berg said, who will be a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. "For me a lot of the pressure was just qualifying. I will learn a lot. I will be competing with the best swimmers in the world."
Berg will compete in a 10-lane, 50-meter-long rectangular pool that's about 9 feet deep. The competition and warmup pools are made of pre-fabricated steel, different than the concrete blocks used in the past. According to USA Swimming, construction of the pools took three weeks and the Omaha Fire Department used 1.7 million gallons of water or the equivalent of 10.8 million 20-ounce soda cans to fill the pools.
About 1,800 competitors are expected to swim in the trials and 14,000 fans are expected to pile into the CenturyLink Center. The top two finishers in 26 events will clinch spots on the Olympic team for Rio. The top six in the 100 freestyle will qualify to swim on one of the relays.
The top time for Berg in the 50 freestyle is 26.19 seconds. One of the top seeds in the 50 freestyle is Simone Manuel, 19, of Stanford, with a time of 24.47 seconds. Ivy Martin, who graduated from UW two years ago and swam for the Badgers, is seeded third in the 50 freestyle.
Manuel finished eighth in the Worlds last year and Martin was 26th. The other top contenders in the 50 freestyle are Madison Kennedy (24.45), Natalie Coughlin (24.66) and Dana Vollmer (24.69).
Manuel also has the top seed time in the 100 freestyle (53.25) ahead of Franklin (53.43).
"I just want to swim my best time," Berg said.
Berg, who is competing on the Wisconsin Aquatics club swim team in the summer, has been training with Martin.
Berg will swim trials in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke at the Olympic Trials in an effort to get a USA National qualifying time for the meet Aug. 2-6 in Minnesota.
Berg was on the bubble of qualifying to swim two more events in the Olympic Trials. She missed the cut in the 100 freestyle by 0.22 seconds and missed the cut in the 100 breaststroke by 0.6 seconds.
"This is the biggest meet in the country," she said. "It will be a learning experience and a training experience. It will be a super fast and fun meet."
Berg still has two more years to swim for the Badgers. She is looking forward to a possible run at another Olympic Trials in 2020.
Berg said qualifying for the Olympics is a legitimate goal over the next several years.
"It totally depends on how the next two years go," she said. "Anything can happen or change. I think it's important to focus and work on what is here and now. I have to work hard now to have an opportunity to be on the Olympic team."
Berg will be one of 190 swimmers to compete in the 50-meter freestyle Olympic Trials on Saturday at the CenturyLink Center. The top two swimmers in the field of about 200 will qualify for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Even though Berg is a long shot to qualify for the Olympics, she's using the opportunity as a learning experience.
"It's super exciting," Berg said, who will be a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. "For me a lot of the pressure was just qualifying. I will learn a lot. I will be competing with the best swimmers in the world."
Berg will compete in a 10-lane, 50-meter-long rectangular pool that's about 9 feet deep. The competition and warmup pools are made of pre-fabricated steel, different than the concrete blocks used in the past. According to USA Swimming, construction of the pools took three weeks and the Omaha Fire Department used 1.7 million gallons of water or the equivalent of 10.8 million 20-ounce soda cans to fill the pools.
About 1,800 competitors are expected to swim in the trials and 14,000 fans are expected to pile into the CenturyLink Center. The top two finishers in 26 events will clinch spots on the Olympic team for Rio. The top six in the 100 freestyle will qualify to swim on one of the relays.
The top time for Berg in the 50 freestyle is 26.19 seconds. One of the top seeds in the 50 freestyle is Simone Manuel, 19, of Stanford, with a time of 24.47 seconds. Ivy Martin, who graduated from UW two years ago and swam for the Badgers, is seeded third in the 50 freestyle.
Manuel finished eighth in the Worlds last year and Martin was 26th. The other top contenders in the 50 freestyle are Madison Kennedy (24.45), Natalie Coughlin (24.66) and Dana Vollmer (24.69).
Manuel also has the top seed time in the 100 freestyle (53.25) ahead of Franklin (53.43).
"I just want to swim my best time," Berg said.
Berg, who is competing on the Wisconsin Aquatics club swim team in the summer, has been training with Martin.
Berg will swim trials in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke at the Olympic Trials in an effort to get a USA National qualifying time for the meet Aug. 2-6 in Minnesota.
Berg was on the bubble of qualifying to swim two more events in the Olympic Trials. She missed the cut in the 100 freestyle by 0.22 seconds and missed the cut in the 100 breaststroke by 0.6 seconds.
"This is the biggest meet in the country," she said. "It will be a learning experience and a training experience. It will be a super fast and fun meet."
Berg still has two more years to swim for the Badgers. She is looking forward to a possible run at another Olympic Trials in 2020.
Berg said qualifying for the Olympics is a legitimate goal over the next several years.
"It totally depends on how the next two years go," she said. "Anything can happen or change. I think it's important to focus and work on what is here and now. I have to work hard now to have an opportunity to be on the Olympic team."
