The surprise of the morning came when American Simone Manuel did not qualify for the 50-meter freestyle semifinals at the Olympics, the only individual event she qualified for in Paris.
Manuel, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the event, finished sixth in her heat and 18th overall, just missing out on a top-16 spot. Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem easily topped the field in a time of 23.85 seconds, nearly a half-second better than the second-place finisher, Poland’s Katarzyna Wasick. American Gretchen Walsh finished third.
After winning two golds and two silvers in Rio, Manuel entered the Tokyo cycle as a major name to watch in U.S. swimming. But she qualified individually for only the 50 free in that Olympics and then did not make the final in that event. She said she had been battling with overtraining, and in 2022, she found a new coach and routine to refocus for Paris.
Manuel won two silver medals earlier in the meet as part of the women’s 4×100- and 4×200-meter freestyle teams, giving her seven career Olympic medals.
