Roster Update: Lots of Familiar Faces for 2022 World Championship Team

2022 U.S. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS

• April 26-30, 2022
• Greensboro, NC
• Greensboro Aquatic Center
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times: Prelims – 9 am ET / Finals – 6 pm ET
• Worlds Qualifying Criteria
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The first U.S. swimmers have begun to claim their spots on the 2022 International Teams for this summer’s FINA World Championships and Junior World Pan Pacific Championships.

In addition to the Olympic veterans, Luca Urlando has officially made his first senior international team. He came from behind to win the men’s 200 fly in the final 15 meters to punch his ticket to Budapest. Bobby Finke won the 1500 freestyle, guaranteeing his spot on the team. Caeleb Dressel, Brooks Curry, and Ryan Held will all go to Worlds, going 1-2-3 in the 100 free.

Drew Kibler and Hunter Armstrong tied for 4th, with USA Swimming noting the final relay spot(s) will be addressed at the end of the meet.

On the women’s side, Hali Flickinger was the first person the secure a spot on the Team USA roster. She won the 200 fly with a comfortable lead over the rest of the field. Katie Ledecky won the 800 free in what can be considered her best swim since the 2018 Pan Pacs. Torri Huske, Claire Curzan, Erika Brown, and Natalie Hinds are also en route to Budapest, touching first through fourth in the women’s 100 free.

As reported by James Sutherland, the top-four finishers in the 100 and 200 freestyle events, along with the top-two finishers in the other Olympic events, will qualify for the team, assuming both that they’re under the FINA ‘A’ standard and the maximum roster size isn’t exceeded.

From there, the winners of the stroke 50s and the fifth and sixth-place finishers in the 100 and 200 freestyle will qualify.

For a full breakdown of selection procedures, follow this link.

2022 U.S. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM AFTER DAY 1

Confirmed qualifiers are entirely (including event) in bold. Tentative qualifiers (who need a certain number of multi-event qualifiers to be officially added) are listed in italics.

Women:

• Hali Flickinger – 200 fly
• Torri Huske – 100 free
• Claire Curzan – 100 free
• Erika Brown – 400 free relay
• Natalie Hinds – 400 free relay
• Katie Ledecky – 800 free
• Regan Smith – 200 fly
• Kate Douglass – 400 free relay
• Mallory Comerford – 400 free relay
• Leah Smith – 800 free

Men:

• Luca Urlando – 200 fly
• Caeleb Dressel – 100 free
• Brooks Curry – 100 free
• Ryan Held – 400 free relay
• Bobby Finke – 1500 free
• Trenton Julian – 200 fly
• Drew Kibler – 400 free relay
• Hunter Armstrong – 400 free relay
• Justin Ress – 400 free relay
• Charlie Clark – 1500 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:

1. Top 4 in 100/200 frees, Winner of all other Olympic events
2. 2nd-place finisher in all Olympic events (besides 100/200 free)
3. Winner of non-Olympic events (50 back, 50 breast, 50 fly)
4. 5th-place finisher in 100/200 free
5. 6th-place finisher in 100/200 free

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:

• 6 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side means all Priority 2 athletes (2nd-place finishers) can be added for that gender
• 9 doubles on either the men’s or women’s side means all Prority 3 athletes (stroke 50 winners) can be added for that gender.
• 11 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
• 13 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

After Day 1

• Not surprisingly there are no doubles as of yet, after just one day and three events per gender. We’ll continue to track doubles as the meet progresses.

JUNIOR PAN PACS

The Junior Pan Pac team will consist of 20 men and 20 women. The selection criteria is similar to that of the World Championship. In short, first priority goes to the top finisher in each event, as well as the second-place finisher in the 100 and 200 free. The second priority will then move to the second-fastest swimmer in each Olympic event until the 20 athletes have been selected on both sides.

Up to three swimmers can qualify in each individual event for the team, though for now, only the highest-finishing eligible swimmer is guaranteed to qualify. So we’ll list out the top-three eligible swimmers in each event, noting that the second and third athletes haven’t actually qualified as of yet.

2022 JUNIOR PAN PACS TEAM AFTER DAY 1

Confirmed qualifiers are entirely (including event) in bold. Tentative qualifiers (who need a certain number of multi-event qualifiers to be officially added) are listed in italics. Tentative qualifiers (who need a certain number of multi-event qualifiers to be officially added) are listed in italics.

Women – Confirmed Qualifiers

• Charlotte Hook – 200 fly
• Anna Moesch – 100 free
• Leah Hayes – 100 free
• Bella Sims – 800 free
• Tess Howley – 200 fly
• Kayla Wilson – 100 free
• Katie Grimes – 800 free
• Alex Shackell – 200 fly
• Claire Weinstein – 800 free

Men:

• Aaron Shackell – 200 fly 
• Kaii Winkler – 100 free
• Hudson Williams – 100 free
• Alec Enyeart – 1500 free
• Thomas Heilman – 200 fly
• Michael Schott – 100 free
• Giovanni Linscheer – 1500 free
• Ilya Kharun – 200 fly
• Levi Sandidge – 200 fly