The news of the numbers of athletes that would compete dropped early in the morning, and within minutes, every major outlet in the country—and outside it—went into complete meltdown. The United States Olympic Committee officially released the updated results for the re-done swimming trials. And what the world saw was something nobody expected.
While every other nation recorded losses—fewer athletes, fewer qualifiers, reduced times due to pressure and instability—the United States Swimming Team did the impossible.
They didn't just recover.
They exceeded their previous numbers.
The country that was hit worst by the scandal… now had more qualified swimmers than before the scandal even happened.
More than they had in the last Olympics.
More than anyone thought possible.
It became the biggest sporting shock of the year.
Within ten minutes, headlines exploded everywhere.
NEWS OUTLETSESPN BREAKING
"U.S. SWIMMING TEAM SHATTERS EXPECTATIONS — RECORD NUMBER OF QUALIFIERS ANNOUNCED."
