A Voice For the Sport: Countdown to Home Olympic Games in Full Effect
There’s a selection meet this week, with some of the top names in American swimming descending on the FMC Natatorium in Suburban Chicago for the United States World Short Course Championships Trials. Invitations to December’s World Champs in Beijing will be determined, that competition the final major event on the 2026 calendar.
Another Trials meet will be held in Indianapolis in June, the United States identifying the team that will compete at the 2027 World Championships in Budapest. That edition of Worlds, the third to be held in the Hungarian capital, will offer athletes the chance to solidify their preparation ahead of qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Then comes the big one – the 2028 United States Olympic Trials, returning to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis four years after a move to an NFL stadium changed the dynamic of Trials forever. More than 20,000 daily spectators will take in nine days of competition, the finest swimmers in the U.S. chasing berths to the Los Angeles Games, where swimming will be held in another NFL venue – SoFi Stadium.
How did we already arrive at a point where the next Olympiad is closer than the previous Games? Didn’t Paris just conclude? Didn’t French superstar Leon Marchand just complete that ridiculous golden double in the 200-meter butterfly and 200 breaststroke to the delight of the home crowd at La Defense Arena? Didn’t Summer McIntosh just claim four solo medals, three of the golden variety?
On the United States side, it doesn’t feel like Bobby Finke’s 1500 freestyle repeat was more than two years ago. Katie Ledecky’s four-peat in the 800 freestyle and defense of her 1500 freestyle crown still feel fresh, not 800-plus days in the past. As the adage goes, “Time does not stand still,” and so we move on, looking at what is next. For American athletes, a special opportunity awaits.
A miniscule percentage of athletes ever get the chance to compete in an Olympic Games. These individuals are the best of the best, and to represent their countries on a quadrennial stage doesn’t just require elite performance, but also perfect timing. A miscue at Trials can wipe out a dream, .01 occasionally the difference between joy and despair.
To receive the opportunity to compete at an Olympics on home soil is an even greater rarity. The United States has served as the Olympic Summer Games host on only four previous occasions – St. Louis (1904), Los Angeles (1932/1984) and Atlanta (1996). Now, with L.A. set for its third hosting duty, the stakes are even higher to realize a once-in-a-lifetime aspiration.
At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Rowdy Gaines reached the pinnacle of his Hall of Fame career when he won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle. It was one of three victories for Gaines, who also propelled a pair of American relays to titles. For Gaines, the home Olympiad was even more special, as he was one of the victims of the United States boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow. Given his story arc, Gaines has a unique perspective on what it means to race in a backyard Olympics.
“Competing at a home Olympics was magical,” Gaines said. “It was like winning a Super Bowl in your hometown. Hearing our National Anthem in our own country made me prouder to be an American than I’d ever felt. The will to win is so much more powerful when the whole country is behind you.”
To wear the Stars & Stripes in international competition typically equates to a podium opportunity, such is the depth of the United States. There are events, such as women’s backstroke, where a non-qualifier for the Olympic Games is talented enough to contend for a medal. There will be no margin for error come Trials, the finals a qualify-or-go-home gauntlet to navigate. This time around, a special kind of Olympics is the payoff.
The U.S. athletes seeking a spot in Los Angeles will do everything in their power to make a home Games a reality. Each day of training is vital. They have sacrificed time with family and friends. They’ve pushed themselves to the max – physically and mentally.
With the countdown to LA28 inside of two years, appreciate their journey.
