USA Swimming has made two late additions to their 2011 Duel in the Pool roster with the additions of men’s sprinters Nick Brunelli and women’s IM’er Caitlin Leverenz. No swimmers appear to have been dropped from the squad to make room for these three.
The addition of Brunelli, a veteran who trains with SwimMAC Carolina, highlight the real fun in the Duel in the Pool, namely the fact that they are entirely focused on the dual meet setup. With this perspective, the addition of a men’s sprinter (where the American roster was otherwise weak without Nathan Adrian in attendance) was significant. Jimmy Feigen and Garrett Weber-Gale will probably join him in the 50-100 double, with Ricky Berens, Tyler McGill, Davis Tarwater, Ryan Lochte, and Matt Grevers also fighting for free relay spots.
Leverenz, a junior at Cal, is also a key to the women’s roster that is without Ariana Kukors. She will joing Julia Smit in the IM events, with a possibility that Franklin, Hersey, Hoff, Knutson, and Sutton could fill in the rest of the lanes. Leverenz will also add depth to the breaststroke group of Rebecca Soni, Jessica Hardy, and Amanda Beard (remember that swimmers typically reach a bit outside of their core event schedules at this meet to help fill out scoring opportunities).
The meet will take place December 16th and 17th in Atlanta, Georgia.
Below is the new roster, with these two additions.
| Women | |||
| Name | Hometown | Club | Coach |
| Beard, Amanda | Irvine, Calif. | Tucson Ford Dealers | Eric Hansen |
| Beisel, Elizabeth | Saunderstown, R.I. | Bluefish Swim Club/Florida | Chuck Batchelor/Gregg Troy |
| Breeden, Elaine | Lexington, Ky. | Stanford Swimming | Lea Maurer |
| Coughlin, Natalie | Vallejo, Calif. | Cal Aquatics | Teri McKeever |
| Donahue, Claire | Bowling Green, Ky. | Western Kentucky University | Bruce Marchionda |
| Franklin, Missy | Centennial, Colo. | Colorado Stars | Todd Schmitz |
| Freeman, Katy | Concord, Calif. | Santa Barbara Aquatics Club | Gregg Wilson |
| Hardy, Jessica | Long Beach, Calif. | Trojan Swim Club | David Salo |
| Hersey, Kathleen | Atlanta, Ga. | Longhorn Aquatics | Eddie Reese |
| Hoff, Katie | Towson, Md. | FAST Swim Team | Jon Urbanchek |
| Knutson, Dagny | Minot, N.D. | Gator Swim Club | Gregg Troy |
| Leverenz, Caitlin | Tucson, Ariz. | California Aquatics | Teri McKeever |
| Pelton, Elizabeth | Baltimore, Md. | Unattached/T2 Aquatics | Paul Yetter |
| Smit, Julia | Mt. Sinai, N.Y. | Stanford Swimming | Lea Maurer |
| Soni, Rebecca | Plainsboro, N.J. | Trojan Swim Club | David Salo |
| Steenvoorden, Ashley | Dayton Ohio | Minnesota Aquatics | Kelly Kremer |
| Sutton, Chloe | Mission Viejo, Calif. | Mission Viejo Nadadores | Bill Rose |
| Vollmer, Dana | Granbury, Texas | California Aquatics | Teri McKeever |
| Weir, Amanda | Lawrenceville, Ga. | Swim Atlanta | Chris Davis |
| Ziegler, Kate | Great Falls, Va. | FAST Swim Team | Jon Urbanchek |
| Head Coach: Jack Bauerle | |||
| Assistant Coaches: Kim Brackin, Chris Davis, Lea Maurer | |||
| Men | |||
| Name | Hometown | Club | Coach |
| Alexandrov, Mike | Champaign, Ill. | Trojan Swim Club | David Salo |
| Berens, Ricky | Charlotte, N.C. | Trojan Swim Club | David Salo |
| Brunelli, Nick | Mansfield, Mass. | SwimMAC Carolina | David Marsh |
| Clary, Tyler | Riverside, Calif. | FAST Swim Team | Jon Urbanchek |
| Dwyer, Conor | Winnetka, Ill. | Lake Forest/Gator Swim Club | Maureen Sheehan/Gregg Troy |
| Feigen, Jimmy | San Antonio, Tx. | Longhorn Aquatics | Eddie Reese |
| Gangloff, Mark | Akron, Ohio | New York Athletic Club | Brett Hawke |
| Grevers, Matt | Lake Forest, Ill. | Tuscon Ford Dealers | Rick DeMont |
| Hansen, Brendan | Havertown, Pa. | Longhorn Aquatics | Eddie Reese |
| Klueh, Michael | Evansville, Ind. | FAST Swim Team | Jon Urbanchek |
| Lochte, Ryan | Daytona Beach, Fla. | Daytona Beach/Gator Swim Club | Steve Lochte/Gregg Troy |
| McGill, Tyler | Champaign, Ill. | Auburn Aquatics | Brett Hawke |
| McLean, Matt | Sterling, Va. | FAST Swim Team | Jon Urbanchek |
| Tarwater, Davis | Knoxville, Tenn. | SwimMAC Carolina | David Marsh |
| Thoman, Nick | Cincinnati, Ohio | SwimMAC Carolina | David Marsh |
| Shanteau, Eric | Lilburn, Ga. | Trojan Swim Club | David Salo |
| Vanderkaay, Peter | Rochester, Mich. | Gator Swim Club | Gregg Troy |
| Weber-Gale, Garrett | Milwaukee, Wis. | Longhorn Aquatics | Eddie Reese |
I can see the women’s 400 MR WR going down. This is the existing record:
57.47 Margaret HOELZER
1:03.58 Jessica HARDY
54.37 Dana VOLLMER
52.55 Amanda WEIR
3:47.97
Coughlin has already been 56.4 and Franklin 52.0. The problem will be Vollmer’s ridiculous 54.37.
I think Natalie Coughlin will be very fast at this meet. She doesn’t do a traditional taper; she is bypassing Nationals; she has been fast so far this season (and in scm); so, I think this is her “focus meet” of the fall/winter.
joeb,
Who isn’t coming that you think is receiving money? The only required appearances are from people on the Athlete Partnership agreement, which Phelps isn’t part of, and Schmidt is ineligible for. Remember the Partnership is over and above the minimum stipend from the USOC. USA Swimming doesn’t require anything from those who choose not to be part of the program.
I agree it would be nice if everyone was at Nationals, but Olympic success is far more important in my eyes.
I mentioned 100 IM but I’m not sure this event is at this meet. If anyone knows the answer it would be good.
To joeb, I thought many girls could beat the 200 IM world record. For me this short course world record isn’t very high compared to long course world record. But now I learn that many stars will not be full rested. Braden Keith, you broke my dreams.
bobo, you have every girl breaking 2im record….crazy!
my question is where are some of the usa post grads (ones getting big bucks from usoc/usa swimming) that aren’t in Nationals or Duel in the pool? Don’t you think they should be supporting one or the other of these meets?
Braden Keith, you’re breaking my dreams. If the swimmers are not rested, where is the interest? American swimmers are not swimming very often in the 25m pool and some world records could have been beaten.
I think some world records can fall : Missy Franklin in the 200 free, 200 back and 200 IM, Elizabeth Beisel in the 200 and 400 IM, Elizabeth Pelton in the 200 back and 200 IM, Julia Smit in the 200 and 400 IM, Katie Hoff in the 200 IM, Dana Vollmer in the 100 fly, women’s 4X100 medley relay, Ryan Lochte in the 100, 200 and 400 IM, 200 back.
Missy could certainly break her own mark in the 200 back, that might be the best chance at a WR.
Don’t count on Beisel. She’s got her college season to think about as well. If history holds true, Lochte won’t even be close to a WR.
Given that this meet is coming off of Nationals, if swimmers were to taper for one or the other, I think it’d be nationals (though, most of the post-grads will probably only “rest” rather than full-on taper). Because of the tricky meet schedule, with swimmers entering a lot of events they might not normally swim, I’d be shocked if anyone made this their winter focus meet. But who knows, we didn’t see Missy’s WR… Read more »