USA, Italy and Brazil set lineups for Raia Rapida sprint showdown

Three of the four nations competing in Raia Rapida, Brazil’s televised summer sprint format meet, have set their official rosters.

The United States, Italy and South Africa will join host Brazil at the meet, and only South Africa has yet to set its lineup.

Raia Rapida, which means “fast lane” in Portuguese, is a sprint meet tailor made for TV, an exciting event Brazil hosts each year for live and television audiences.

Each nation enters four swimmers, one in each stroke. The only events swum are the 50 fly, 50 back, 50 breast and 50 free, plus a 200 medley relay at the meet’s conclusion.

Each event is swum in a three-round, knockout format. All four nations enter a swimmer in the first round, and the fourth-place finisher is eliminated. After a short break, the three remaining swimmers compete again, with the last finisher booted. Finally, the two remaining athletes go head-to-head for the event title.

Here are the announced rosters for each nation, per Globo.com:

USA:

• David Plummer
• Mike Alexandrov
• Giles Smith
• Anthony Ervin

Italy:

• Mirco di Tora
• Fabio Scozzoli
• Luca Dotto
• Michele Santucci

Brazil:

• Daniel Orzechowski
• Felipe Franca
• Nicolas Santos
• Matheus Santana

For the U.S., Plummer, Alexandrov and Ervin competed in the event last year. Italy is entirely new to the event, replacing Australia, who competed last year. Brazil returns Santos, Franca and Santana from their team, which won the event last year and set a continental record in the 200 medley relay.

The meet will take place Sunday, September 13th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The meet website is here.