Hunter Armstrong had his work cut out for him in the 100m backstroke event at the Olympic Swim Trials. He swam all the way back, though, to qualify for the final in the event tomorrow.
Armstrong found himself in last coming off the wall at the start of the heat. Still, by the end of it, he finished in second to earn his spot in advancing to the final round.
“I typically don’t think while I’m in the water,” Armstrong said afterward about his thought process in the moment. “I think the minute you become conscious when you’re swimming is when you slow down. But the very first thing to go through my mind when I immediately just back-flopped into the water was how can I recover from this because I need another shot tomorrow.”
Armstrong finished second in his head and in fourth overall in the event at 53.57. He raced back to finish behind only Jack Aikins at 53.23.
This comeback was also a surprise considering where Armstrong started the day. He was the top seed in the prelims to start the day, which only further astonishes with there being a need for a comeback by him.
In college, Armstrong attended Ohio State after transferring in from West Virginia.
Armstrong had to work more than he may have originally planned with the slow start. He still qualified all the same with a spot in the 2024 Olympics in Paris still there for him.
Carson Foster reacts to qualifying for 2024 Olympics after winning 400 IM
Carson Foster is officially an Olympian following his victory in the 400 IM on Sunday.
Foster, who missed out on qualifying for the 2020 Olympics, qualified for this summer’s games with a time of 4:07.64. However, while an incredible achievement for his career in the water, his initial thoughts afterward went right to his loved ones who watched him accomplish it from the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“Man, the first thing I thought of when I did – I have so many, probably 25, family and friends sitting in the stands,” said Foster. “I wish I could just jump that fence and go hug them and be with them.”
“It’s probably why I’m going to warm down quickly and go do,” Foster said.
Paris will now be the first Olympic appearance for Foster. This comes after he just barely missed out on an appearance back in 2021 for Tokyo. He finished in third in these same trials after leading and running up at times throughout the race.
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