Dana Vollmer is heading back to the Olympics, this time as a mother.
Less than 16 months after giving birth to her first child, Vollmer finished second behind Kelsi Worrell in the 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. swimming trials on Monday night, giving her a chance to defend her Olympic title in Rio.
Vollmer led at the turn, but the late-blooming Worrell rallied on the return lap to post the second-fastest time in the world this year at 56.48 seconds. Vollmer touched next in 57.21, giving her the second spot on the Olympic team.
The 28-year-old Vollmer, a four-time gold medalist, was cheered on by her husband and their son, Arlen.
"I had no idea how it would go when I started," Vollmer said. "It's really been an amazing life's journey for me. To come in with no expectations and kind of improve all the time. I was a little disappointed when I touched with the time, but then you realize time doesn't matter. I still got second place and I'm going to Rio."
Worrell didn't even make the American squad for last year's world championships, but now she's headed to her first Olympics.
"I'm just so excited to be here," Worrell said. "It is my first time, and I didn't know what to expect."
One night after stunningly missing out on an Olympic berth in the 400 individual medley, an ailing Ryan Lochte swam two more grueling races to qualify for the final of the 200 freestyle.
Shaking off the pain of a groin injury, Lochte got through the morning preliminaries and posted the fifth-fastest time in the evening semifinals.
But Lochte has his work cut out for him to earn an Olympic berth in Tuesday's final, and he's admittedly having trouble with his kicks and turns. He posted a time of 1 minute, 47.58 seconds, getting passed by both Conor Dwyer and Clark Smith on the final lap of their semifinal heat.
"All I wanted to do was get a lane for tomorrow and that's what I did," Lochte said. "Tomorrow is definitely going to be rough, and it's going to be fast."
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Dwyer, who already earned a spot on the Olympic team in the 400 free, was the top qualifier at 1:46.96.
Kevin Cordes and Cody Miller finishes 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke, each earning their first trip to the Olympics. Deaf swimmer Marcus Titus finished sixth.
The second night of the trials was headlined by Katie Ledecky, who was competing in the 400-meter freestyle.
