Julian, Shields Advance To 200 Fly Semis

OMAHA, Neb. – California's Trenton Julian and Tom Shields advanced to the 200-meter butterfly semifinals with impressive swims during the morning qualifying session of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at CHI Health Center Omaha on Tuesday.
 
Julian, the 2021 NCAA runner-up in the 200-yard fly this past March, led heat five wire-to-wire and touched in 1:56.42, ranking third in the field. He was joined by Shields (1:57.92), who will be the 13th seed in Tuesday night's semifinals. Shields, a Cal post-grad, was the second-place finisher in the 200m fly at the 2016 U.S. Trials, and made the Olympic roster.
 
Four other Golden Bears swam in the 200 fly prelims, most notably Jason Louser (1:58.76) who won heat two with the 18th-fastest time in the field and is listed as a reserve heading into the semifinals. Louser could sneak into the semifinals if two of the top-16 qualifiers were to scratch.
 
Full results from Tuesday's prelims can be viewed here.
 
200 Fly (Prelims)
3. Trenton Julian (1:56.42) – qualified
13. Tom Shields (1:57.92) – qualified
18. Jason Louser (1:58.76) – reserve
28. Colby Mefford (2:00.12)
30. Dare Rose (2:00.23)
44. Gabriel Jett (2:02.61)
 
UP NEXT
An important night of swimming lies ahead for five Bears across three events. Defending Olympic champion and world-record holder Ryan Murphy and Bryce Mefford are the first and fifth seeds in the 100m backstroke final while Andrew Seliskar is the seventh seed in the 200m freestyle final. Julian and Shields will also swim in the 200m fly semifinals with a finals berth on the line.
 
Semifinals/finals action starts at 4:45 p.m. PT on NBC/NBCSN.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal men's swimming and diving, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMenSwim), Instagram (@CalMenSwim) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalMensSwimmingandDiving).