List of Us Swimmers Who Will Not Be Travelling for the Tokyo Olympics 2020

After a long 5-year absence, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 has arrived. The games will start on July 23rd as athletes from different parts of the world showcase their talents.

Moreover, every sport is having trials to select the best athletes to represent their nations. In fact, the swimming trials for the US Olympic swimming team concluded and all the regular household names qualified to go to Japan.

However, many swimmers failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics and got their hopes crushed. Some of these swimmers were medal winners as well with regards to previous Olympic Games.

Notably, Simone Manuel was on the verge of disappointment as she failed to qualify for her trademark 100-meter freestyle event. Instead, she takes part in the 50-meter freestyle event after qualifying with a time of 24.29.

Ryan Lochte did not make the cut for Tokyo Olympics 2020

Ryan Lochte

After Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte enters the history books as the second most decorated Olympian with 12 medals. The current world record holder for the 200-meter individual medley failed to make his mark in the race.

Instead, he passed his torch to Michael Andrew, the 22-year-old swimmer from Minnesota. Lochte finished with a time of 1:59.67 in the finals of the medley qualifiers.

Even though the Olympic champion failed to qualify, he is keen to get back and prove people wrong by not retiring from the sport.

Nathan Adrian

Ever since Nathan Adrian got diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2019, his career was not on the right lane. However, the inspiring swimmer returned from all the setbacks to take part in the US swimming trials.

But, he could not qualify to get to Japan. The 5-time gold medallist won the 100-m freestyle in London 2012 and finished third in Rio Olympics 2016.

Despite that, the veteran swimmer could not make it to Japan after he finished third with a time of 21.73. But his mentality to come back from all the travesties is inspiring for future generations.

Anthony Ervin

Although he could not qualify for Tokyo, Anthony Ervin’s legacy remains intact. After winning the gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle event in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Anthony Ervin produced one of the most memorable comebacks ever.

The 35-year-old back then became the oldest swimmer to win a gold medal in an individual event. Quite an astonishing feat. However, Ervin failed to qualify for Tokyo in his signature 50-meter freestyle event.

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Leah Smith missed out on qualification for Tokyo Olympics 2020

Leah Smith

Being the second-best freestyle swimmer after Katie Ledecky, Leah Smith failed to qualify for Tokyo Olympics this time around. In fact, the swimmer won the bronze medal for 400-meter freestyle in Rio but failed to make the team this year.

Ledecky and Paige Madden took home first and the second position respectively, crushing Smith’s hopes of qualifying for Tokyo. With much disappointment, Paris 2024 will be her next target.

Kathleen Baker

Along with Smith, Kathleen Baker, from the Rio-fame, failed to qualify like her compatriot. Baker took home the gold medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay and won the silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

She has been battling with a right foot injury which hampered her hopes of making the games. Baker finished fifth in the semifinals of the 200-meter individual medley relay with a time of 2:12.95.

Josh Prenot

After winning the silver medal in Rio Olympics in the 200-m breaststroke event, Josh Prenot came up short to join the US swimming team.

The swimmer seeded fourth, failed to qualify for the event after finishing 17th with a time of 2:13.42. Prenot expressed his disappointment on not heading to Tokyo but stated that he was not at his best form in recent times.

Despite these previous winners missing their flights to Tokyo, new swimmers have taken their place in team USA. The extent of their talent is still unknown to many fans all over the world.

However, the US is the pioneer of swimming competitions in the Olympics, and if one swimmer goes down, another one comes straight back up.

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