INDIANAPOLIS — Regan Smith of Lakeville followed her record-breaking performance in the 100-meter backstroke final on Tuesday night with a strong effort in the prelims of the 200 butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Wednesday.

Smith, 22, posted the fastest qualifying time in the 200 fly in 2 minutes, 4.91 seconds. Her qualifying time was 1.19 seconds faster than the next best time by Alex Shackell.

Smith set a world record in her specialty, the 100 backstroke, on Tuesday night, with her time of 57.13 seconds easily beating the mark of 57.33 set a year ago by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown.

It all sets up a busy Thursday for Smith. She’ll swim in the 200 backstroke prelims in the morning, and the 200 butterfly is the first final of the night Session.

The 200 backstroke final is Friday night.

Smith could finish the trials with a flourish after an impressive but ultimately disappointing start. On Monday, she registered the fifth-fastest all-time performance in the 100 butterfly in 55.62 seconds but finished third behind Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske to miss an Olympic berth in the event.

Coming back from lengthy layoffs, American swimming stars Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel were eager to claim their first individual events of the Paris Olympics.

Instead, they had to settle for supporting roles.

Dressel finished third in the men’s 100-meter freestyle on Wednesday night, while Manuel touched fourth in the women’s 100 free.

Only the top two will get to swim the events individually in Paris, but Dressel and Manuel will both be part of the 4×100 freestyle relays.

“I think Paris is going to be a blast,” said Manuel, who has endured a long road back after being diagnosed with overtraining syndrome ahead of the Tokyo Games. “It’s a different spot than I’m used to right now with only being a relay swimmer. But it’s my third Olympic team and that’s something that’s really hard to accomplish.”

Potential breakout star Kate Douglass claimed the victory and Huske took the runner-up position, with Walsh also finishing ahead of Manuel.

Dressel, the winner of five gold medals in Tokyo, won’t get a chance to defend his 100 freestyle title after reaching the wall behind Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy.

“I’m trying to have fun; I am having fun,” Dressel told the crowd of 22,209 on the deck of the temporary pool inside Lucas Oil Stadium. “You don’t know how much it means to me, the love I’m getting from you. It’s been tough.”

Dressel walked away from swimming in the midst of the 2022 world championships, later revealing that he needed an extended break to rediscover his love of the sport.

Dressel failed to even qualify for the 2023 worlds, but his times have improved significantly since last fall. He still has a shot to qualify individually in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly — two more events he won at the last Summer Games.

Manuel also has the 50-meter freestyle left on her plate.

In perhaps the surest bet of the meet, Katie Ledecky claimed her third victory with another dominating performance in the 1,500 freestyle, though the time was a bit of a disappointment.

Seventeen-year-old Thomas Heilman won the men’s 200 butterfly, while Matt Fallon touched first in the 200 breaststroke. Both will be first-time Olympians.

Dressel was all smiles as he hugged the guys ahead of him, saying he was pleased to be on the relay that will set its sights on taking down the world record at the Olympics.

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