Before Michael Brinegar took to the water in Sunday night’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials 1,500-meter freestyle final, his place in Tokyo already was secure.
Then, the Columbus resident and Indiana University redshirt sophomore went out and qualified in a second event.
Brinegar swam 15 minutes, 0.87 seconds in the 1,500 freestyle final to finish second and earn another spot on the team that will represent USA Swimming in this year’s Toyko Olympics.
On Thursday, Brinegar had put himself in excellent position to qualify when he finished second in the 800 freestyle. Because the total number of Olympic swimmers a country can send is a little less than two per event, Brinegar had to wait to see if he still would be selected.
By Saturday night, enough Americans had qualified in more than one event that all second-place finishers were guaranteed a spot in the Olympics. NBC commentators said at the end of Sunday’s broadcast that the team was set.
Having secured a spot seemed to take a little of the pressure off Brinegar on Sunday. He swam faster in the finals than his 15:07.93 clocking in Saturday’s preliminaries in Omaha, Nebraska.
Brinegar was in third place for most of the first half of the race. He moved into second at around the 900-meter mark and stayed there until the finish.
Florida’s Bobby Finke, who also had won the 800 freestyle, took the 1,500 freestyle in 14:46.06. Jordan Wilimovsky, who will represent the U.S. in the Open Water event, finished third in the 1,500 in 15:05.29.
The 1,500 freestyle was the final event of the 2021 Trials, which were conducted in two waves to limit the number of swimmers and fans at one time because of COVID concerns. Brinegar, who was seeded fourth in both the 800 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle, was able to bypass Wave 1 and compete just in Wave II.
Looking ahead to the Olympic swimming schedule in Tokyo, Brinegar will swim in the heats of the 800 freestyle between 5 and 9:30 p.m. Tokyo time on July 27 (4-8:30 a.m. EST), and if he makes it, the finals between 10:30 a.m. and 1:10 p.m. Tokyo time on July 29 (9:30 p.m.-12:10 a.m. EST July 28).
The 1,500 freestyle heats are between 5 and 9:30 p.m. Tokyo time on July 30 (4-8:30 a.m. EST). The 1,500 final will be between 10:30 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. Tokyo time on Aug. 1 (9:30 p.m.-11:25 p.m. EST).
