Avon’s Kennedy set to swim at Olympic Trials this week in 50, 100 freestyle

Avon’s Madison Kennedy will be swimming at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska beginning Thursday. (Photo courtesy SwimMAC Carolina)

Later this week, Avon’s Madison Kennedy will be swimming at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, in search of a spot in the U.S. Olympic swimming team.

It’s tough competition. These are international-level swimmers. Some have raced in the Olympics before. Others have raced at the world championships. Only the top two swimmers in each event qualify to represent the United States. The top six in the 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle get named to the U.S. team to swim on the relays.

Kennedy, a 2005 graduate from Avon High, is the top seed in the 50-meter women’s freestyle and is ranked among the top 15 in the 100-meter freestyle.

Avon’s Madison Kennedy in her SwimMAC Carolina gear.

The trials began on Sunday at CenturyLink Center here in Omaha. But Kennedy won’t swim until Thursday in the preliminaries of the 100 meter freestyle. The top 16 in qualifying move onto the semifinals. The top eight move onto the final on Friday night.

Qualifying for the 50 free begins on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the semifinals on Saturday evening – the final race of the evening session. The top eight from the semifinals swim on Sunday night at 7:45 p.m.

This is Kennedy’s third trip to the U.S. Olympics Trials. She swam in 2008 as a student at the University of California and was ninth in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 freestyle.

Four years ago, she was in Omaha and posted her career-best times in the 50 free and 100 free. She ended up fifth in the 50 free, just 0.27 behind Kara Lynn Joyce, who finished second. In the 100 free, she was eighth, just 0.39 of a second away from sixth place and a spot on the team.

Nothing is a given but Kennedy is in position to claim a berth on the U.S. Olympic team. Her best opportunity should come in the 50 freestyle.

She is the top seed among the 186 swimmers in the event with a career-best time of 24.45 seconds at the Arena Pro Series in Mesa, Arizona in April. It’s the third fastest time in U.S. history and seventh fastest time in the world this season.

Kennedy, 28, followed up that by swimming a 24.53 at the Arena Pro Series in Charlotte, where she lives and trains with Swim Mac Carolina. She is physically and mentally stronger than she was four years ago.

“I’m ready to rock it,” Kennedy said. “Just because I am one of the co-favorites doesn’t make it any easier. Who can be the most resilient on that day?”

Qualifying in the 50 free begins Saturday. There is little margin for error. Simone Manuel, a 19-year-old from Stanford is the No. 2 seed with a time of 24.47 seconds with Ivy Martin, a 22-year-old from the University of Wisconsin at No. 3 with a time of 24.62. Natalie Coughlin, a long-time friend of Madison’s, is the No. 4 seed at 24.66 with Dana Vollmer fifth at 24.69.

Coughlin, 33, has been to three previous Olympic Games and has won 12 medals. Vollmer, 28, won three gold medals at the 2012 London Games and is a new mother.

Kennedy is trying to remain calm about it all. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Pan American Games in the 400 freestyle relay. At the short course (25 meters) world championships in December 2014, she won three medals. A year ago, she won her first national title in the 50 free.

“It’s just another swim meet,” she said. OK, it is a bit different with all of the television cameras from NBC scattered around the pool and the fact that swimmers hope to have to swim three times – preliminaries, semifinals and final. Only the trials, world championships and Olympics require that of the swimmers.

“It’s a challenge, mentally and physically,” she said. “An extra 50 isn’t so bad for me but how about those swimmers that have to do the 400 IM (individual medley) or the 200 butterly. That’s a lot of extra meters.”

In the 100 meters, Kennedy is in contention but she isn’t a favorite. She is ranked No. 13 among the American swimmers with her seed time of 54.60 seconds at the Arena Pro Series in Charlotte just a few weeks ago. The No. 6 seed is 53.85 seconds by Coughlin.

“I’ve always done the 100 and the 50,” she said. “It’s something I am going for as well (a spot in the 100).”

The coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s team is David Marsh, the leaders of the SwimMac Carolina program where Kennedy has been training since Dec. 2011.

“The exciting thing for swimming is that this (Olympic Trials) has become a mecca event,” Marsh said. “It has become an event where everyone wants to be in swimming.”

TV broadcasts

NBC and NBCSN will broadcasting all week from the U.S. Olympic swimming trials. Here are the times that Kennedy could be racing in the 100 meter freestyle and 50 meter freestyle.

Thursday, June 30
Qualifying: 100 meter freestyle and other events, 11 a.m., U.S. Swimming.com; Qualifying (taped), 6:30 p.m., NBCSN; Semifinals: 100 free, 8 p.m., NBC

Friday, July 1
Final: 100 meter freestyle and other events, 8 p.m., NBC

Saturday, July 2
Qualifying, 50 meter freestyle and other events, 11 a.m., U.S. Swimming.com; Qualifying (taped), 5 p.m., NBCSN; Semifinals: 50 meter, 8 p.m., NBC

Sunday, July 3
Final: 50 meter freestyle, 7 p.m., NBC