Michael Brinegar was ready for the 2020 Olympic Trials before the COVID-19 pandemic forced its postponement.
The trials were delayed until 2021, and with Wave II of those trials on the horizon this week, the Columbus resident and Indiana University redshirt sophomore is even more prepared to take his shot at making the U.S. Olympic swim team for this year’s summer games in Tokyo.
“I think I’m in a much better place than I was last year,” Brinegar said. “I’m more confident going into the meet than I would have been last year.”
By virtue of his No. 4 seeds in both the 800-meter freestyle and 1,500 freestyle, Brinegar was able to bypass Wave I of the trials. Wave II begins today in Omaha, Nebraska.
Brinegar will swim in the preliminaries of the 800 freestyle during the 11 a.m. Wednesday session. The final is at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The 1,500 prelims are during the 11 a.m. Saturday session. The final will be at the end of the 8 p.m. session on June 20.
“I feel really confident going into the meet,” Brinegar said. “Everything feels really good. The past couple of months, I’ve been training the best I’ve ever trained. I feel really good physically, and I feel the best I possibly could going into the meet.”
Since the end of the college season, Brinegar has been training with the Mission Viejo (California) Nadadores club that he has been training with since his sophomore year in high school.
“Things have been going really well,” Brinegar said. “Training went a lot better than I thought it would after the NCAA. I’ve been really lucky that I’ve been able to come out here and train with COVID and everything going on.”
The shot at making the 2021 Olympic team will be the second for Brinegar. He narrowly missed having a chance to qualify when he finished third in the U.S. Open Water Championships in the 10K.
Since then, Brinegar has been focused on the 1,500 and 800. The top two in each event make the Olympic team.
“As soon as I got third (in the 10K) and missed a chance at getting a spot on the team, I just started focusing on the (1,500) and 800 because those are the two events I’d have a chance at making the team,” Brinegar said. “In the mile, I feel like I’m closer. I still have work to do to drop time and beat the other guys in front of me, but I still feel like I have a good shot in both events.”
This past college season, Brinegar finished 10th in the 1,650 (roughly a mile) in the NCAA meet in 14 minutes, 45.50 seconds. However, he has gone as fast as 14:27.50 in that event.
“It wasn’t as good as I wanted,” Brinegar said. “It was a little disappointing. I’m still actually not sure what went wrong with it, but I’ve been able to get back and train hard, so I’m happy with that. The training I’ve done really recently put me in a spot to make the team. I think I’m set up well.”
The trials will take place in Omaha’s CenturyLink Center, a basketball arena transformed into a natatorium. Brinegar competed there in the 2016 Olympic Trials in the 400 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle. The 800 was not yet an Olympic event for men at that time.
“I think it will help out a lot, having the experience of racing in a meet like that,” Brinegar said. “There aren’t many other meets like that because it’s in a basketball arena. It was nice that I had a chance to compete in it five years ago, and I think it’s going to help me out this time.”
Brinegar started his taper for the Trials about a week ago. He is aiming to become the second person in his family to make an Olympic team and join his mother Jennifer, who swam in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
“It would mean a lot,” Michael said. “This is something I’ve been training for for a long time. It’s been a lifelong dream, and it would be something great if I could accomplish that.”
