Four events, the women’s 1500 freestyle, men’s 800 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle, will be contested on the final day of competition at the 2025 U.S. Nationals. The five day meet has welcomed “all great racers” to the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Click here to view the full heat sheet.
The major revelation from the heat sheet is the pair of stars scratching the 200 IM. Kate Douglass is the Olympic silver medalist and two-time defending world champion in the event, but she has scratched to concentrate on the 50 free. Douglass has already qualified for Worlds in the 100 and 200 breaststroke plus the 50 butterfly. Also out is Torri Huske, with the 50 free her event on the final day.
With those two swimmers out, Alex Walsh holds a commanding edge over the rest of the field. Walsh has swam this event at the past two World Championships and will look to make it a perfect three-for-three in reaching the podium. Isabel Ivey will be Walsh’s closest competitor based off of the psych sheet but more youngsters will look to throw their names into the mix. Leah Hayes will lead this charge followed by Audrey Derivaux who has established herself as a force to be reckoned with over the first four days of competition.
In the women’s 1500 freestyle, two-time defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky will look to add to her Singapore lineup in an effort to win her sixth world title in the event. With Ledecky coming into the events as the top-seed by over 35 seconds, the race will be for who can get their hand on the wall second; Jillian Cox leads the pack in this mission, but a number of young swimmers will also be in the mix.
On the men’s side, Bobby Finke will look to make his fifth consecutive major international team in the 800 freestyle. Finke, who has had an outstanding Nationals performance thus far, has created a large gap between himself and the next closest competitor based upon seed times. In the race for second, Rex Maurer will look to continue his stellar week in Indianapolis, while Olympian David Johnston will attempt to swim this event internationally at a major competition for the first time after finishing third at Trials last summer.
It’s a Texas affair in the men’s 200 IM as teammates Carson Foster and Shaine Casas will battle it out over the four lengths of the pool; both individuals made the Olympic team in the event last summer. Names that have become mainstays in championship finals this week, such as Nate Germonprez and Will Modglin, will also look to add some more Texas flavor to the event.
Gretchen Walsh will be the slight favorite to win the 50 freestyle based on the week she has put together, but the likes of Huske, Douglass and Simone Manuel are not far behind. Another up-and-comer in the conversation is Rylee Erisman, who will swim next to Huske in the preliminary round.
It will be a battle of the big dogs in the men’s event. Chris Guiliano comes in the top seed but his Olympic teammates from a year ago, Jack Alexy and Matt King, will keep the splash and dash interesting. Michael Andrew will also look to pick up his first win of the week, he’ll take the water in the circle seeded heat.
