Olympic Swimming Trials, NCAA Track And Field

So are these the 2020 Olympic Games or the 2021 Olympic Games? 

They're obviously being held in 2021. Then again, the Jets and Giants have obviously played in New Jersey for decades and still are known as the New York teams.

TigerBlog saw the logo for the upcoming Games, and it still says "Tokyo 2020." Will this change? These games, of course, were supposed to be held last summer, until the COVID pandemic pushed them back a year. 

Whatever they're called, TB is hoping they go off smoothly.

By the way, speaking of the Olympic Games, can you tell TB what they only five countries are who have participated in every Olympic Games in the modern era? He'll give you the answer at the end.

Yesterday, TB mentioned that Princeton will be well-represented in rowing in Tokyo. He also said that you have to go back to 1972 to find a year where there were no Princetonians involved in Olympic rowing. 

He also can't help but wonder how much different, if at all, Olympic rosters would have looked a year ago than now. There have to be athletes who were primed for 2020 who would have earned spots but lost them to younger athletes who had an extra year to prepare.

Even beyond that, there are some Olympic spots that are determined by Trials. There's no way they would have turned out exactly exactly the same a year ago as they are now.

The Olympic trials for swimming were a bit confusing this time around. They come in waves, and not the kind you see in open water racing. 

Wave I was an opportunity to qualify for Wave II, which is where the Olympic spots will be decided. That event is next week. The top qualifying times advanced directly to Wave II, and some of the Wave I swimmers were able to move on as well. The idea was originally to reduce the number of athletes who were gathered together due to COVID concerns.

The first wave was recently completed, and there were several Princeton men and women who competed. To be exact, it seems like there were six women and six men at the Wave I event, with three other men who are also in contention. 

Nicole Venema won the 100 butterfly at the Wave I event to advance to Wave II. As a freshman in 2019-20, Venema won three individual titles and was on one winning relay at the Ivy League championships, which Princeton won easily. She already holds five school records - one individual and four relays. 

You can read all about the women's Wave I trials HERE. 

On the men's side, HERE are the results for Princeton's swimmers. Raunak Khosla, who was the high point scorer at the 2020 men's Ivy championships, qualified directly for Wave II in four different events. This is also from the story:

Should Dylan Porges not qualify for the Mexican national team, he will compete in Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Trials. George Callanan is currently competing at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, where he aims to qualify on the 3-meter board.

Lastly, there is still one Princeton athlete who is competing this weekend in intercollegiate competition. Obiageri Amaechi has qualified for the NCAA championships in the discus this weekend in Eugene, Ore.

Amaechi throws tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 Eastern time. There are 24 competitors in the competition, and the top nine after three throws will advance to get three more. 

You can read more about Amaechi HERE. This is her third time in the NCAA championships, and she was a 2018 first-team All-American as a freshman. She's also the Ivy League record-holder in the discus, which she set while winning Heps in 2019, and that obviously makes her Princeton's record-holder as well. 

She is also a two-time track and field coaches association All-Academic pick. That makes for a great all-around resume.

And that's it for today. Have a great weekend ...

Oh wait. That wasn't the last thing for today. Here's the answer to the trivia question: Great Britain, Greece, Switzerland, Australia and France.

And now you can have a great weekend.