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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
- Live Results
The start of the finals session on Day 5 of the U.S. National Championships will see Jake Mitchell and Baylor Nelson swim-off for the second individual spot in the 200 freestyle at the World University Games this summer. Nelson is on the roster already for the 400 IM, but for Mitchell this will have repercussions for his involvement with Team USA this summer.
The swim-off will kick off the session at 6:55, and will be the first of three tonight. Anna Peplowski and Erin Gemmell will also swim a 200 freestyle to break a tie for fourth, and will be followed by McKenzie Siroky and Emma Weber swimming off for the second individual spot in the 50 breaststroke for Worlds.
The pair clocked matching times of 1:47.38 in the ‘B’ final on Wednesday, both of them off their respective PBs of 1:45.82 for Mitchell and 1:46.51 for Nelson. That was also slower for both than they were in the heat, where Mitchell was 1:46.87 and Nelson snuck in as the 16th finisher after going 1:47.01, albeit 0.78 seconds faster than 17th-place Shaine Casas.
The two were international teammates in 2023, finishing third (Mitchell) and sixth (Nelson) to make the 4×200 free relay team. They won silver in Fukuoka, with Mitchell splitting 1:45.06 in the final and Nelson featuring only on the prelims relay, where he was 1:47.13 on the second leg.
The time of finals swim-offs such as this one is decided jointly by the athletes involved, their coaches, the Meet Managing Director, and the National Team. Mitchell finished his schedule for the week in the 400 free yesterday, whilst Nelson will be in tonight’s 200 IM final after qualifying 8th this morning.
This must be similar to Gemmell/Peplowski in that their swimming for an individual vs. a relay spot (assuming Katie and Torri both withdraw)? I feel like Baylor Nelson made the team in the 400 IM already.
I’m pretty sure Mitchell is swimming for a spot on the team.
The top two finishers in the 200 free fall under Priority #1, and that’s it. No “relay-only” swimmers for the 200 free. The WUGs roster is difficult to project, but it looks like Aaron Shackell has the top spot, and Nelson and Mitchell are swimming for the 2nd spot.
https://websitedevsa.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/national-teamdocuments/selections/2025-world-university-games-selection-procedures.pdf
Will peacock include these as part of their coverage or only USA swimming app?
It’s on USA Swimming app now.
I don’t understand? Didn’t Mitchell graduate after 6 years in college? How can he possibly be eligible for WUG? What student ID does he have if he just graduated? I thought Cal was the only school with 27-yr old “student”-athletes. And if he didn’t graduate, maybe they should pick the athlete who’s actually still supposed to be in college.
The WUGs criteria is pretty loose…Must be between 18-25 on December 31, 2025 and must be currently enrolled in college/university, or have graduated in the last year.
I’m confused, didn’t Baylor Nelson get the last spot in the 200 IM championship final tonight?
He did, I was just looking at the heat sheets and realised I’d missed that
Baylor’s swimming pretty well for someone who just made a coaching switch. 1:59.3 in the IM today with a chance to surpass his PB he set the summer after high school.