2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, June 3 – Saturday, June 7, 2025
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Indiana University Natatorium
- LCM (50 meters)
- World Championship Selection Criteria
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets (Updated 6/02)
- Live Results
- How To Watch (USA Swimming Network)
We’re over halfway through the U.S. National Championships, and after the third day of racing, we’re starting to get a little more clarity on the World Championship roster situations, although plenty of questions remain.
We’ll start with the men tonight. Bobby Finke earned his second win of the week by upsetting Carson Foster in the 400 IM. Finke’s win created the men’s first true roster double, while Foster’s second place effort means that he’s in line to swim three events — the 200 fly, 400 IM, and 4×200 free relay — although he still isn’t quite guaranteed a roster spot due to the 26 swimmer cap. Shaine Casas, meanwhile, won the 100 fly, then added a 2nd place finish in the 50 back, adding another double. Heading into today, Casas had a potential roster spot with his 6th place finish in the 100 free, but he’s now locked in for the Worlds team.
Incoming college freshman Campbell McKean won the 50 breast, and NC State star Quintin McCarty won the 50 back, giving each man their first spot on a major US international team. Michael Andrew finished 2nd to McKean in the 50 breast to go along with his 2nd place finish in the 50 fly yesterday, while teenage phenom Thomas Heilman touched 2nd behind Casas in the 100 fly to put him in line for a World rosters spot, pending roster cap calculations.
After tonight, 16 men have guaranteed roster spots thanks to event wins or top-four finishes in the 100/200 freestyles, while another eight men have potential roster spots due to 2nd place efforts, or 5th/6th place finishes in the 100/200 freestyles.
The roster is capped at 26 swimmers, 24 men have guaranteed or potential roster spots, and there are still six events to go, meaning up to another 12 potential roster spots. If more than two of those 12 remaining roster spots go to swimmers not already in line for the roster, that means some eligible swimmers may get left home. Kieran Smith, 6th place finisher in the 200 free, would be the first man out, followed by Jonny Kulow (5th in the 100 free). If we get more than four new names over the next two days, then Priority 2 swimmers will get ranked by percentage of their final time agains the respective FINA ‘A’ cut to determine who make the team.
The women’s team has had quite a few more doubles so far, meaning that they don’t seem to be in danger of hitting the roster cap. Tonight, Paris Olympians Emma Weyant (400 IM), Lilly King (50 breast), and Katharine Berkoff (50 back) all punched their tickets to Singapore with event events.
Gretchen Walsh qualified in her 3rd event with a win in the 100 fly, while runner-up Torri Huske also qualified for her third event.
Like Foster, Regan Smith is a bonafide star who hasn’t quite officially qualified for the team, but she’s in line to have a full schedule in Singapore. Tonight she took 2nd behind Berkoff in the 50 back after finishing 2nd in the 200 fly and the 200 back earlier this week.
The roster math is still a little messy, especially after McKenzie Siroky and Emma Weber tied for 2nd in the 50 breast. But with 12 women qualified under Priority #1, another seven women in line for roster spots, and plenty of likely doubles in the remaining six events, it looks likely that all eligible women should safely qualify for Singapore.
Furthermore, it looks like Smith and Alex Walsh are already guaranteed roster spots as the Priority #2 with the highest tiebreaker rankings currently.
See below for our projected US rosters for the World Championships, World Junior Championships and the World University Games. We’ve done our best to ensure they’re accurate, but it’s not always clear who is eligible for WUGs, and there’s always a chance that we’ve made a mistake somewhere along the line. Additionally, swimmers routinely turn down WUGs and Junior Worlds roster spots for a variety of reasons. All that to say, please don’t book plane tickets just because we’ve projected your favorite swimmer to make one of the teams below.
2025 U.S. World Championship Team After Day 3
Selection Criteria at a Glance
- Selection priority is based on overall finish in finals. I.e., an eligible swimmer who makes the ‘A’ final takes priority over a swimmer in any other final, regardless of the time they swam in finals.
- Priorities
- Top four in 100/200 free, and best-finishing available swimmer in the other individual events.
- Next-best-finishing available swimmer in the individual events other than the 100 and 200 freestyles.
- Fifth-best-finishing available swimmers from the 100 and 200 freestyles.
- Sixth-best-finishing available swimmers from the 100 and 200 freestyles.
Swimmers who qualified today are highlighted in bold.
Women – Guaranteed
- Caroline Bricker – 200 fly
- Torri Huske – 100 free, 4×200 free, 100 fly
- Gretchen Walsh – 100 free, 50 fly, 100 fly
- Simone Manuel – 4×100 free relay
- Kate Douglass – 4×100 free relay, 200 breast, 50 fly
- Katie Ledecky – 800 free, 200 free
- Claire Weinstein – 200 free, 800 free
- Erin Gemmell or Anna Peplowski – 4×200 free
- Claire Curzan – 200 back
- Emma Weyant – 400 IM
- Lilly King – 50 breast
- Katharine Berkoff – 50 back
Note: Erin Gemmell and Anna Peplowski tied for 4th in the 200 free. As the top four swimmers in that event are included in priority #1, it appears as if a swim-off will be necessary later this to determine who gets the guaranteed spot, and who gets bumped to priority #3. Of course, we’re also not sure if/when Katie Ledecky will decline her individual event, and what effect that might have on a potential swim-off.
Women – Potential
Priority #2
- Regan Smith – 200 fly, 200 back, 50 back
- Alex Walsh – 200 breast
- Katie Grimes – 400 IM
- McKenzie Siroky/Emma Weber – 50 breast*
*Siroky and Weber tied for 2nd place, so presumably they’ll have a swim-off for the spot sometime this week.
If our math is correct, then the order within this priority would be: Smith (200 back), Walsh, Grimes, Siroky/Weber.
Priority #3
- Erin Gemmell – 4×100 free (possibly 4×200 free)
- (possibly) Anna Peplowski – 4×200 free
Priority #4
- Anna Moesch – 4×100 free
- Bella Sims – 4×200 free
Men – Guaranteed
- Luca Urlando – 200 fly
- Jack Alexy – 100 free
- Patrick Sammon – 100 free
- Chris Guiliano – 4×100 free relay
- Destin Lasco – 4×100 free relay
- Bobby Finke – 1500 free, 400 IM
- Luke Hobson – 200 free
- Gabriel Jett – 200 free
- Rex Maurer – 4×200 free
- Henry McFadden – 4×200 free
- Josh Matheny – 200 breast
- Jack Aikins – 200 back
- Dare Rose – 50 fly
- Shaine Casas – 4×100, 100 fly, 50 back
- Campbell McKean – 50 breast
- Quintin McCarty – 50 back
Men – Potential
Priority #2
- Carson Foster – 200 fly, 4×200 free, 400 IM
- David Johnston – 1500 free
- AJ Pouch – 200 breast
- Keaton Jones – 200 back
- Michael Andrew – 50 fly, 50 breast
- Thomas Heilman – 100 fly
If our math is correct, then the order within this priority would be: Foster (400 IM), Jones, Heilman, Andrew (50 breast), Pouch, Johnston.
Priority #3
- Jonny Kulow – 4×100 free relay
Priority #4
- Kieran Smith – 4×200 free
DOUBLES
Here’s an overly-simplified version of the U.S. World Championship selection process: the team can have a maximum of 26 men and 26 women. Swimmers are added to the roster in these priorities until the roster cap is hit:
- Top 4 in 100/200 frees, Winner of all other events
- 2nd-place finisher in all other events (besides 100/200 free)
- 5th-place finisher in 100/200 free
- 6th-place finisher in 100/200 free
For a full breakdown of selection procedures, follow this link.
We track ‘doubles’ as a way of knowing when the next priority of swimmers can be officially added to the team. A ‘double’ is effectively a swimmer qualifying in more than one event. One swimmer qualifying in three events counts as two ‘doubles’ for our purposes.
The Magic Numbers:
- 12 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side means all Priority 2 athletes (2nd-place finishers) can be added for that gender
- 14 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side means all Priority 4 athletes (5th-place in 100/200 free) can be added for that gender
- 16 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side means all priority 5 athletes (6th-place in 100/200 free) can be added for that gender
Doubles After Day 3
Women
- Torri Huske – 100 free, 4×200 free, 100 fly
- Gretchen Walsh – 100 free, 50 fly, 100 fly
- Claire Weinstein – 200 free, 800 free
- Katie Ledecky – 800 free, 200 free
- Kate Douglass – 4×100 free relay, 200 breast, 50 fly
Men
- Bobby Finke – 1500 free, 400 IM
- Shaine Casas – 100 fly, 4×200 free, 50 back
2025 U.S. World Junior Championship Team After Day 3
Swimmers who stand to be selected to the World Championships under Priorities 2-4 are denoted in italics. If these swimmers make the World Championships teams, we’ll update the projected roster below.
Selection Criteria at a Glance
- Must be 18 or younger on December 31, 2025
- Swimmers who are selected for this summer’s senior World Championships, even as a relay-only swimmer, are ineligible for the World Junior Champs team.
- Selection priority is based on overall finish in finals. I.e., an eligible swimmer who makes the ‘A’ final takes priority over a swimmer in any other final, regardless of the time they swam in finals.
- Priorities
- Top four in 100/200 free, and best-finishing available swimmer in the other individual events (excluding stroke 50s).
- Next-best-finishing available swimmer in the other individual events (excluding stroke 50s).
- Best-finishing available swimmers in the stroke 50s
- Fifth-best-finishing available swimmers from the 100 and 200 freestyles
Women – Guaranteed
- Audrey Derivaux – 200 fly, 200 back, 400 IM, 100 fly
- Rylee Erisman – 100 free, 200 free, 50 back
- Madi Minteko – 100 free, 200 free
- Lily King – 4×100 free
- Liberty Clark – 4×100 free, 4×200 free
- Kayla Han – 4×200 free, 400 IM
- Kayda Geyer – 200 breast
- Charlotte Crush – 200 back, 100 fly
- Kennedi Dobson – 800 free, 4×200 free
Women – Potential
Priority #2
- Kelsey Zhang – 200 fly
- Kaidy Stout – 200 breast
Priority #3
- Mena Boardman – 50 fly
- Rachel McAlpin – 50 breast
Priority #4
- Julie Mishler – 4×100 free
Men – Guaranteed
- Thomas Heilman – 200 fly, 50 fly, 100 fly
- Aiden Hammer – 1500 free
- Mike Rice – 100 free
- Austin Carpenter – 100 free
- Rowan Cox – 4×100 free, 100 fly
- Kenneth Barnicle – 4×100 free, 50 back
- Luka Mijatovic – 200 free, 400 IM
- Norvin Clontz – 200 free
- Tim Wu – 4×200 free
- Gabriel Manteufel – 4×200 free
- Gabe Nunziata – 200 breast
- Gavin Keogh – 200 back
Men – Potential
Priority #2
- Will Mulgrew – 1500 free
- Noah Cakir – 200 fly
- Andrew Eubanks – 200 breast
- David Melnykchuk – 200 back
- Yi Zheng – 400 IM
Priority #3
- Ian Call – 50 breast
Priority #4
- Luke Vatev – 4×100 free
- William Allen – 4×200 free
2025 U.S. World University Games Team After Day 3
Swimmers who stand to be selected to the World Championships under Priorities 2-4 are denoted in italics. If these swimmers make the World Championships teams, we’ll update the projected roster below.
Selection Criteria at a Glance
- Must be between 18-25 on December 31, 2025
- Must be currently enrolled in college/university, or have graduated in 2024 (note: this sometimes requires some guesswork on our part)
- Selection priority is based on overall finish in finals. I.e., an eligible swimmer who makes the ‘A’ final takes priority over a swimmer in any other final, regardless of the time they swam in finals.
- Priorities
- Top two in 100/200 free, and best-finishing available swimmer in the other individual events (excluding stroke 50s).
- Next-best-finishing available swimmer in the events other than the 100/200 free (excluding stroke 50s).
- Third-best-finishing available swimmers from the 100 free.
Women – Guaranteed
- Tess Howley – 200 fly
- Erin Gemmell – 100 free, 200 free
- Anna Moesch – 100 free
- Anna Peplowski – 200 free
- Jilian Cox – 800 free
- Bella Sims – 200 free
- Katie Christopherson – 200 breast
- Leah Shackley – 200 back, 100 fly
- Katie Grimes – 400 IM
*either Gemmell or Peplowski will make the senior Worlds team in the 4×200 free and will thus be ineligible for WUGs. That means that Bella Sims is guaranteed a spot on the WUGs team, unless she does make the Worlds team as a Priority #5 selection.
Women – Potential
Priority #2
- Alex Shackell – 200 fly, 100 fly
- Kate Hurst – 800 free
- Abigail Herscu – 200 breast
- Phoebe Bacon – 200 back
- Leah Hayes – 400 IM
Priority #3
- Maxine Parker – 4×100 free
Men – Guaranteed
- Mason Laur – 200 fly, 400 IM
- Jonny Kulow – 100 free
- Matt King – 100 free
- Carson Hick – 1500 free
- Aaron Shackell – 200 free
- Baylor Nelson / Jake Mitchell – 200 free*
- Keaton Jones – 200 back
- Ben Delmar – 200 breast
- Baylor Nelson – 4oo IM
- Kamal Muhammad – 100 fly
*It appears that Nelson and Mitchell are tied for the second spot in the 200 free. That could mean another swim-off later this week.
Men – Potential
Priority #2
- Mitchell Schott – 200 fly
- Camden Taylor – 100 free
- Lance Norris – 1500 free
- Josh Bey – 200 breast
- Daniel Diehl – 200 back
- Matthew Klinge – 100 fly
Priority #3
- Camden Taylor – 4×100 free
does priority 2 always make it for world juniors
I can’t think of a time where they’ve left a Priority #2 swimmer home due to roster caps. It’s certainly looking like all of them will make the team this year.
sweet
I’m guessing most of the folks who qualify for World Juniors will take the opportunity.
I’m curious how this plays out for WUGs. Does everyone who qualifies typically accept the spot, or do folks who were very close to making the Worlds team (and maybe very disappointed that they missed it) sometimes forgo the opportunity?
It feels a little bit like when top stars / former Olympians have an off day and scratch the B final.
I think someone like Heilman who has competed at the senior level the last two years would probably opt to not do WJs, but I think everyone else would accept
Do we know for sure that Bobby is not Swimming the 400 IM at worlds?
Tomorrow you should be able to start clearing most if not all of the priority 2 women.
Actually there are 6 events left and 8 doubles. Doesn’t that mean that the top 2 Priority 2 swimmers are already in, at the very least? Assuming the worst case, there are 12 different swimmers who could be added to the team ahead of the top 2 current priority 2 swimmers. That leaves us at 24 team members in the worst case. So in my estimation, the top 2 on the priority 2 list have made it. If that is the case and Regan is the top of the current list due to her 200 back time, then she is already in. I think that also means that Alex Walsh is in, even in the worst case scenario. Also means… Read more »
I’m pretty sure you are correct on all points. I arrived at the same conclusions last night, but wanted to take another look in the morning before definitively stating anything.
yeah, priority 2 should be good by mid session tonight, 3 very likely by the end of the session unless things get crazy. The women may only need 1 more double for Saturday to get everyone on the team (and there is potential for 1-2 double in every Saturday race).
(thank you to robert the goat roster organizer)
Congrats Campbell 😍
Pat Forde said both swim-offs are scheduled for Saturday night
The US will put 2 swimmers in each 50 for the juniors even though only 1 swimmer technically qualifies. So will that be based on the second fastest junior at this meet? If that person isn’t there does it drop to the 3rd place? One example is girls 50 fly where Crush was the 2nd junior finisher.
Looks like the second spot will go the swimmer who finished highest in the corresponding 100.
“Opportunity #2 – The second opportunity will be given to the Available Swimmer who has Selected for the Team under Priority #1 in the corresponding Individual Olympic Events below. Additionally, if no Available Swimmer has been Selected to the Team based on Priority #3, two Available Swimmers who have qualified for the Team under Priority #1 and Priority #2 in the corresponding Individual Olympic Events below will be given the opportunity to swim the Individual 50 of Stroke Event.”
Ledecky scratching doesn’t effect the possible swim off for a priority 1 vs 3 slot. But they aren’t going to need to worry about it