USA Swimming has made several updates to their men’s roster for the 2013 World University Games in Kazaan Russia, in the past few weeks. This roster could still change drastically depending on who qualifies for the World Championships, but there is still plenty of shuffling going on after the end of the NCAA season.
Specifically, Indiana’s James Barbiere and Auburn’s Kyle Owens have both been dropped from the roster and replaced by former Minnesota Golden Gopher, currently listed as a member of the Santa Clara Swim Club, Alex Wold as well as former Stanford swimmer Eugene Godsoe.
Barbiere was entered in the meet as a member of the 800 free relay, a spot that Wold will fill for now. Barbiere’s best time is a 1:50.39 from last summer’s Olympic Trials. Wold was as fast as a 1:49.25 in 2009, though at Trials he was a 1:50.60. Along with current Gophers Kyler van Swol and Derek Toomey, he’s one of three with Gopher ties on the roster.
Owens was entered in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke, and was set to be a member of the 400 free relay as well. Arizona’s Giles Smith has been called upon to take that spot in the 400 free relay, while Eugene Godsoe has been added to the roster to swim the individual 100 backstroke. Godsoe is a former NCAA Champion for Stanford, and since the Olympic Trials has returned to train at Stanford after some time spent with SwimMAC.
Owens’ individual 100 free swim has been redistributed to Michigan’s Michael Wynalda, who was already on the roster.
Both Owens and Barbiere were seniors this year who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility.
The most up to date roster, as of May 3rd, is below, with the changes highlighted in green.
| Women | ||
| Rachael Acker | 400 Free Relay | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics/Cal |
| Catherine Breed | 100/400 Free, 800 free relay | Pleasanton Seahawks/Cal |
| Chelsea Chenault | 200 Free | Terrapins Swim Team |
| Kelsey Floyd | 100/200 fly | Tennessee |
| Meghan Hawthorne | 400 IM | Rattler Swim Club/USC |
| Sarah Henry | 200/400 IM, 800 Free Relay | Aggie Swim Club/Texas A&M |
| Liv Jensen | 50 Free, 400 Free Relay | California Aquatics/Cal |
| Andrea Kropp | 200 Breast | Rattler Swim Club/USC |
| Melanie Margalis | 200 IM | Saint Petersburg Aquatics/Georgia |
| Emily McClellan | 100 Breast | J-Hawk Aquatic Club/UW-Milwaukee |
| Stephanie Peacock | 400/800 Free | Swim Florida/North Carolina |
| Megan Romano | 50/100/200 free, 100 back | Athens Bulldog Swim Club/Georgia |
| Laura Sogar | 100/200 Breast | Bluefish Swimming/Texas |
| Ashley Steenvoorden | 800 Free | Minnesota |
| Kendyl Stewart | 200 Back | North Coast Aquatic Club/USC |
| Jasmine Tosky | 100/200 Fly | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics/USC |
| Cindy Tran | 100 Back | Golden West Swim Club/Cal |
| Ellen Williamson | 200 Back | University of Virginia |
| Men | ||
| Michael Alexandrov | 100 Breast | Trojan Swim Club/Northwestern |
| Matt Barber | 200 Free | Arizona |
| Jack Conger | 100 Fly | Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club |
| Kevin Cordes | 100/200 Breast | Arizona |
| Michael Flach | 200 Fly | South Carolina |
| Eugene Godsoe | 100 Back | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics |
| Adam Hinshaw | 200/400 IM, 800 Free Relay | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics/Cal |
| Bernard Johnson | 200 Breast | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics/Stanford |
| Tom Luchsinger | 200 Fly | Three Village Swim Club/North Carolina |
| Michael McBroom | 400/1500 Free | The Woodlands Swim Team/Texas |
| Jacob Pebley | 100/200 Back | Corvallis Aquatics/Cal |
| Tyler Reed | 100 Free | Southern Kentucky Swim Club/Kentucky |
| Jacob Ritter | 400 Free Relay | Texas |
| Sean Ryan | 1500 Free | Michigan |
| Adam Small | 50 Free | Arizona |
| Austin Surhoff | 800 Free Relay | NBAC/Texas |
| Derek Toomey | 50 Free, 400 Free Relay | Minnesota |
| Kyler Van Swol | 100 Fly | Minnesota |
| Michael Weiss | 400 IM | Wisconsin |
| Kyle Whitaker | 200 IM | Michigan |
| Alex Wold | 800 Free Relay | Santa Clara Swim Club (Minnesota) |
| Michael Wynalda | 100 Free, 200 Free, 400 Free Relay | Michigan |
bill wadley of osu is the American rep for fisu games . he would be the one to best answer any questions regarding wugs.
incoming frosh should be eligible as long as they have registered for classes when the games have started.
i think alexandro teaches at a university – that must make you eligible …either that or he is on the 12 year plan for undergraduate – not bad life if you can do it
Graduate students are eligible as well. So, say, if Alexandrov was pursuing a PHD and part of his duties was to teach a class, he’d be eligible.
In this list I think Chelsea Chenault (4X200 free relay), Megan Romano (100 free, 4X100 free, 4X200 free), Laura Sogar (200 breast), why not Jasmine Tosky (4X200 free), Mike Alexandrov (100 breast), and of course Kevin Cordes (100 breast, 200 breast) have a good chance to go to Barcelona.
Catherine Breed tore an ACL this season and had surgery a month ago. Would not be surprised if she’s a scratch for the WUG.
Wonder if they’re waiting to see how quickly she recovers, but have the next call-up on “high alert”. Don’t know details on how badly she tore her ACL, but she was able to swim through the season with it, so it may not have been a full rip? Sarah Henry was back in the water racing pretty quickly after her second ACL injury.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Chelsea Chenault and Jack Conger are still high school swimmers. So how can they swim at the WUG’S? And Mike Alexandrov? He’s 28! No age limit?
Rules are very loose and spread the years.
The rules don’t actually seem to allow US High Schoolers to go – whichever way you read them. The ages are 17-28.
I’ve read through the official rules, and they’re sort of confusing and hard to understand (they sound as though they were written in another language and translated to English by a non-native speaker, perhaps, or left intentionally vague to apply equitably to the different educational systems around the world.)
At any rate, I’ve reached out to my contact at FISU (the governing body for the WUG’s) to ask for some clarification. I’ll post either a comment or a new article when I get the answer on why the high school swimmers are eligible.
Sounds like as long as they’re going to begin the same year, then they’re eligible. So, a high school junior for example couldn’t swim. Ledecky isn’t eligible, or Becca Mann, etc.
So a person like Kevin Cordes will not be in the mix for World Championships?
People on this roster can still qualify for Worlds. This meet was chosen based on the U.S. Open last year, but anyone who qualifies for Worlds will still go to Worlds instead. Not 100% positive, but I believe USA Swimming wants them to choose one or the other (as compared to Canada), but I’ll check on that.
I think there will be some who make Worlds on the WUG team and that is great for them. I just think this way of picking them is going to leave some WUG spots empty and a loss chance of someone to represent the USA and maybe their only chance.
More of a question than a comment for those who know more about these things than I do. As Jack Conger is not “currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma” [at a University, or equivalent] – FISU Regulations 5.2, and the gmes are this July, can he legally participate?