While selection procedures for athletes hoping to compete at the 2019 Pan American Games in pool and open water swimming have not yet been released by USA Swimming, the selection procedures for staff members have been announced. That includes both the volunteer roles (coaches, medical personnel, and team managers), and the paid ones (team leader and technical race analysis personnel) for both the open water and pool events.
Noting that all appointments and available positions must first be cleared by the USOC, which has a cross-sport cap on available credentials that they can allocate, below is a summary of the key points of these positions:
- Pool Swimming – Head Coaches – must be a U.S. citizen actively coaching at the National Level, and must have been a coach on a 2016, 2017, or 2018 USA Swiming International/National Team trip; OR be a primary coach or coach of record of an athlete member of the 2019 Pan American Games Team, 2019 World University Games team, or the 2019 World Championship team.
- Pool Swimming – Assistant Coaches – must be a U.S. citizen actively coaching at the National Level, and must have been the primary coach of an athlete member of the 2018 Pan Pacific Championship team, 2019 World Championship team, 2017 or 2019 World University Games Team, or the 2016 Olympic Game team
- Pool Swimming – Team Managers – Possess appropriate experience and/or certifications relative to the position/area of expertise for which they may be nominated.
- Open Water – Head Coach – must be a U.S. citizen actively coaching at the National Level and have been a coach on a 2016-2018 USA Swimming International/National Team Trip, or be a primary coach or coach of record of an athlete member of the 2019 Pan American Games Team, 2019 World University Games Team, or the 2019 World Championships Team.
- Open Water – Team Managers – Possess appropriate experience and/or certifications relative to the position/area of expertise for which they may be nominated.
- Pool Swimming – Team Leader – applications will not be solicited for this position; rather the role will be filled by current USA Swimming employees and/or contractors. This person will “serve as the primary point of contact and liaison between the USOC and USA Swimming before, during and after the Games.”
- Open Water – Team Leader – applications will not be solicited for this position; rather the role will be filled by current USA Swimming employees and/or contractors. This person will “serve as the primary point of contact and liaison between the USOC and USA Swimming before, during and after the Games.”
- Pool Swimming – Technical Personnel – “will be selected based on the candidate(s) who meet the criteria…and who will best meet the needs of the team.”
All positions will be nominated by committees that will filter up through USA Swimming for approval, ending with CEO Tim Hinchey.
Pool committee makeup:
Open water committee makeup:
Jason Turcotte of the Dynamo Swim Club and Matt Kredich from Tennessee led the 2015 team.
Full 2019 Pan American Games selection procedures are below:
