The stakes might not be as high as two years ago or two years from now when it is for spots on the USA Swimming Olympics team. Nonetheless, this year’s Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships, July 25th-29th from Irvine, California, will serve as qualification for the Pan Pacific Championships from Tokyo in late August as well as for the 2019 FINA World Championships from Gwangju, South Korea. Additionally, qualifications for the World University Games for the younger swimmers are also in play.
Slightly lesser competitive than the US Olympic Trials where only the top 2 in most events makes the teams (top 6 for 100 Free and 200 Free since those are also the qualifiers for the relays), top 3 finishers in most events this week typically make the Team USA.