2016 U.S. Paralympic Trials Preview

2016 USA Paralympic Trials

• Thursday June 30th-Saturday July 3rd, 2016
• Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center – Charlotte, North Carolina
• Thursday-Saturday – Prelims – 9:00 am EDT   Finals – 6 pm EDT
• Event Details
• Psych Sheet

Thursday will mark the beginning of the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Trials. The event is taking place at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in Charlotte, North Carolina from Thursday-Saturday. Prelims begin at 9 AM EDT, and finals start at 6 PM EDT each day.

This year’s trials are set to be the largest in U.S. Paralympic history, with more than 400 athletes competing for a chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. This year’s games are expected to be the largest Paralympic Games to-date– approximately 4,500 athletes from more than 450 countries will compete from September 7-18. In order to be selected for the U.S. team athletes must meet general qualifying times in addition to fulfilling U.S. selection standards (detailed here). The U.S. was granted 7 spots for their team, which will include 4 women and 3 men.

There is great controversy as we enter the Trials due to a number of swimmers recently changing classes. This past January the IPC began a three-year review into its physical and visual impairment classification system. The review comes in light of a period of contentious debate in the para-swimming community over the classification standards and process. This article may help you understand more about the classification system used in the world of Paralympic sports.

Below are just a few of the races we are looking forward to watching; you won’t want to miss them!

Men’s 100 M Freestyle

The men’s 100 M Freestyle is ripe with competition. 36 swimmers from multiple classes are entered in the event. American record holder, Tucker Durpee, is the number one seed with an entry time of 55.80. Ian Silverman and Bradley follow closely behind, with entry times of 56.23 and 56.78 respectively.

Women’s 400 M Freestyle

American record holders Jessica Long and Rebecca Meyers are the top seeds going into the 400 M Freestyle, both very close to breaking their own records. 29 swimmers are entered in this event, consisting of athletes from the S6-S13 classes.

 Women’s 100 M Freestyle

40 swimmers are entered in the women’s 100 M Freestyle, with a wide range of competition. Top seed Rebecca Meyers will be a race to watch, she has a shot at breaking the American record for the S13 class. Her entry time is 1:00.43 and the record is 59.53.

Men’s 100 M Breastroke

American record holder Tharon Drake and Dalton Herendeen will be battling it out for first place. Drake is entered at time of 1:14.69, with Herendeen following closely behind with a time of 1:14.70.