On November 18, four former U.S. national teamers will draft the current crop of national team swimmers to four fantasy-style teams, the start of a season-long competition running through the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series. Connor Jaeger, Elizabeth Beisel, Cammile Adams and Maya DiRado are the team captains this year, with the 111-person national team making up the draft pool.
As we did last year, we’ll mock out a full draft based on our own research into historical Pro Swim Series appearances and production. First, a look at the scoring and draft format:
Scoring & Criteria
Each team should wind up with around 27 swimmers, but only 6 will start in any given month. Each of the 2019 Pro Swim Series’ five stops will feature its own unique lineup: captains select six starters before the meet, one in each discipline:
- Free (50 through 1500)
- Back (50 through 200)
- Breast (50 through 200)
- Fly (50 through 200)
- IM (200 and 400)
- Flex (any 2 events)
Note: we don’t know the full Pro Swim Series event lineup yet, but USA Swimming indicated the multi-round 50 stroke shootouts won’t be included. Knoxville’s meet info does include the 50s, stroke, though, so we’ll proceed under the impression that the stroke 50s will be included as regular, prelims/finals events at all five stops.
Placing in the top 8 will yield points in this order:
- 1st: 10
- 2nd: 8
- 3rd: 7
- 4th: 5
- 5th: 4
- 6th: 3
- 7th: 2
- 8th: 1
Open Water Nationals
In a new wrinkle for 2019, USA Swimming has upped the value of open water national teamers (largely overlooked in last year’s format) by including Open Water Nationals as a scoring event for SwimSquad points. Each team will get to select up to 3 men and 3 women from its roster to start for Open Water Nationals.
Roster Pool Additions
The entire 111-person roster is up for grabs, and last year, select 2016 Olympians were also able to throw their names into contention despite not being on the national team. You can see the full national team roster here.
We came up with 7 more 2016 Olympians who could potentially make an impact if they are included in the draft pool: Missy Franklin, Ryan Held, Dana Vollmer, Anthony Ervin, Amanda Weir, Cierra Runge and Clark Smith. We’ve included them in our draft, just for the sake of conversation.
OUR DRAFTING CRITERIA
That discipline format cuts down a bit on the huge appeal of versatile athletes, but makes athletes with a high level of dominance in their specific discipline much more highly-valued. In our strategic formula, each team is looking for the most ‘sure thing’ point-scorers in every individual discipline.
A few other factors we’re considering in our draft order:
- Availability: you have to show up to swim points. We dug through last year’s results to see how often each national teamer competed on the Pro Swim Series in 2018. Did you know that professional athletes had more than twice the average PSS appearances than college athletes? High schoolers had an even lower appearance rate, averaging just 1.3 appearances over last year’s 6-meet tour. Pro athletes appeared 3.3 times, on average, while college athletes appeared 1.4 times.
- Event depth: if an event discipline has a sure-thing winner (hi again, Katie), that swimmer’s value goes up, but every other swimmer’s value in that discipline probably goes down slightly. But in events that are wide open or extremely deep (like, say, men’s breaststroke), the entire field might be worth drafting a little later, as it’s tougher to project who the top scorers will be.
- In-season ability: Remember, these aren’t necessarily projections of who will be most valuable come Nationals or World Championships. The Pro Swim Series stretches from January to June, and requires swimmers who can swim well all season long. As a former taper swimmer, applying this rule is difficult, but taper swimmers just aren’t as valuable in this scoring system.
- Dominance vs range: A swimmer with 5 good events is less valuable in this system than a swimmer with 2 great ones, or perhaps even one great one. Each swimmer can only score in two events, so we’re most focused on who can place highly twice within the same discipline.
Remember: before you rush to the comment section, do remember that this is not a ranking of best swimmers or a direct ordering of Pro Swim Series viability. The draft order is influenced heavily by (1) the scoring format and (2) the members already on each team. The most notable effect that has is decreasing the value of all but the top few freestylers, as 40-some national team members are freestylers (compared to ~20 for the other disciplines), but each team can only start a single freestyler for each meet.
TEAM CAPTAINS
Official team captains were named this week, along with the draft order:
- Jaeger Squad: Captain Connor Jaeger
- Beisel Squad: Captain Elizabeth Beisel
- Adams Squad: Captain Cammile Adams
- DiRado Squad: Captain Maya DiRado
THE DRAFT
We’ll run the draft in a snake format, meaning the pick order reverses each round. While NFL mock draft sites may have taught us that these projections are supposed to be done in a 28-page slideshow, we’re aiming to make our mock draft actually readable, so it can be found in full below.
Round 1, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Chase Kalisz, IM/Flex
Kalisz is the clear-cut #1 choice. He went undefeated in the IM events across the entire series last year and was one of just two swimmers to appear in all six Pro Swim Series stops.
Round 1, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Katie Ledecky, free
Ledecky won the women’s title on the tour last year despite swimming just 2 of 6 Pro Swim Series stops. (She made up a lot of her ground at U.S. Nationals, which counted for individual points, but not SwimSquad points). A newly-minted pro, Ledecky should be at a fair amount of the Pro Swim Series this year. The only real worry is geography: the PSS is very much based in the Eastern and Central U.S. this year, and there’s a chance Ledecky – and other California-based pros – could opt to reduce travel costs and time by picking invites closer to home when there’s a conflict.
Round 1, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Zane Grothe, free
Grothe joined Kalisz as the only national teamer to appear at all 6 Pro Swim Series events last year. Across those meets, he went undefeated in the 800 free, won 5 of 6 in the 400 free and added four more wins between the 200 and 1500.
Round 1, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Kelsi Dahlia, fly
Dahila is far-and-away the best 100 flyer in the nation, and while she hasn’t focused on the 200 come taper time, she swam it in all five PSS appearances last year and even won it in Columbus. She won the 100 fly four times, losing only to a rare stateside Sarah Sjostrom appearance. Plus, Dahlia is lights-out in the 50 fly and even a spot start in freestyle if the roster gets thin.
Round 2, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Ryan Murphy, back
DiRado uses the bookend picks to shore up the top flyer and top backstroker. Murphy had one of the best summers of any American man, and was pretty unstoppable on the tour last year despite only swimming four of the six stops.
Round 2, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Michael Andrew, breast/flex
Andrew’s value as anything but a flex play is heavily tied to how often the stroke 50s are included in the meet format. But even with that uncertainty, he’s too good to pass up at this point. Travel has never been much of an issue for the Andrew family, and his unique training format allows him to swim fast year-round.
Round 2, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Kathleen Baker, back
The breakout star of the summer for Team USA, Baker turned pro this summer and should see an uptick in her Pro Swim Series participation after entirely skipping the tour last year. With a 100 back world record under her belt, Baker could be in the mix for the top FINA point swim of the tour, which would award $10,000. That’s reason enough to travel to places like Des Moines and Bloomington. The women’s backstrokes are crowded, but bear in mind that high schoolers Regan Smith and Isabelle Stadden only appeared twice each on the tour last year.
Round 2, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Caeleb Dressel, free/fly/flex
It’s almost a certainty that Dressel will be drafted too early. He only appeared once on the tour last year, and the Florida pros are notorious for swimming awfully tired during the regular season. That said, how can you leave the guy on the board, knowing what his ceiling is? His actual production probably won’t live up to this high of a draft slot, but if he’s on, he’s a nearly-unbeatable presence in sprint fly and free, with incredible event range to boot.
Round 3, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Lilly King, breast
The first college swimmer goes off the board at pick 9. King missed the first three stops for NCAA season last year, but competed at every stop after that. And she didn’t just compete – she dominated. King won the 100 breast at all three stops, won the 50 every time it was offered and even won the 200 twice. Jaeger is well-equipped to get through the first two stops without King, and after that, he gets the top talent at a discipline that’s really volatile on the men’s side. A good pick… provided a Michigan alum can stomach drafting a Hoosier.
Round 3, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Melanie Margalis, IM/breast/flex
Consistently one of the top talents on the tour, Margalis probably should have gone in one of the previous two spots, but isn’t as needed when her IM spot is filled by Kalisz. Margalis was in the hunt for the overall series champ last year, and a likely A finalist in either IM, either breaststroke and the 200 free anytime she swims them.
Round 3, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Olivia Smoliga, back/free
The Georgia pros are usually pretty reliable to show up and swim a lot of events – Smoliga swam 5 of 6 PSS meets last year. She’s rock-solid in the 50 back, good in the 100 and even swam well mid-season in the 200 last year. Her production might even go up if Taylor Ruck doesn’t attend as many PSS meets while swimming for Stanford.
Round 3, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Nathan Adrian, free
Adrian is ol’ reliable in the free role. Though 2018 wasn’t his best season, the veteran remains one of the best talents in the sprints. At one point, he had a multi-year unbeaten streak in the 100 free at PSS events, and is insanely consistent in his regular-season swimming. If Dressel swims like a Florida pro and Adrian can win touchouts with Andrew like he did on this tour at times last year, Adrian is a huge talent to get at the end of the third round.
Round 4, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Gunnar Bentz, IM/flex
With a safe pick in hand and free, fly and back spots filled, we’ll project DiRado to address the IM role as professional IM depth in the draft starts to wane. (In fact, almost every pure IMer left on our board is a college swimmer by this point). Bentz only made 1 PSS appearance last year, but was still in college and coming off a broken collarbone. It’s safe to project the he follows the Kalisz/Margalis/Flickinger/Smoliga track of Georgia pros who heavily attend these meets, and though he’s probably not going to knock off Kalisz in either IM, he’s a double-digit scorer anytime he shows up.
Round 4, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Jay Litherland, IM/flex
It’s a run on IMers, who make up 3 of our last 5 picks overall. Litherland only appeared twice on the tour last year, but like Bentz, he has now graduated and should be available to compete more. The bonus upside is that he can double as a flex play based on solid free results last season. IM proved to be one of the trickier roster spots to fill last year, so we’ll count on the captains adjusting their draft strategy to counter.
Round 4, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Hali Flickinger, Fly/IM/Flex
Beisel has filled the free, back and IM roles. Time to take the top flyer available, who also doubles as a stellar flex play. Flickinger was one of the most valuable SwimSquad members last year through four meets, though she didn’t swim the last two stops. The national 200 fly queen’s only downside is that she tends to over-enter events and then scratch, which makes it hard to fit her into a starting discipline beyond ‘flex’.
Round 4, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Jacob Pebley, back
Quietly one of the most reliable swimmers in this draft. Pebley swam five of the six stops a year ago, and was pretty much a guaranteed top-3 finisher in both backstrokes. Murphy is the favorite when he competes, of course, but last year, Pebley pretty much only lost to Murphy or Ryosuke Irie in the 200, and was always in the thick of things with a tough field in the 100.
Round 5, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Leah Smith, free/flex
Jaeger already took a flyer on Dressel, the best high-risk, high-reward prospect in the draft. Here, he gets to hedge his bets with a backup freestyler: Leah Smith, who is herself one of the best freestyle options out there. Smith swam at four PSS meets last year and battled Ledecky and Margalis for the overall series title. Her 400 IM ability makes her an outside flex play, too. And if Dressel swims like himself most of the year, Smith should dominate the flex category with her freestyle events.
Round 5, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Molly Hannis, breast
Without a breaststroker yet in the mix, Beisel avoids the logjam that is men’s breaststroke by taking Hannis, who was outstanding in three stops last year but didn’t appear in any of the final three.
Round 5, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Jack Conger, fly
Continuing to fill out holes in lineups here. Conger is the best flyer left on the board, though he only made 3 appearances last year. If Texas continues their trend of tapering down for a mid-season PSS meet, then Conger is a golden start for at least one meet, and a pretty good play at the rest.
Round 5, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Josh Prenot, breast/flex
DiRado doesn’t yet have a breaststroker or a flex play, and Prenot could be both. Prenot swam in 4 PSS meets last year and was very consistent, with top-8 breaststroke finishes in both the 100 and 200 at all four. He won the 200 twice, and is a threat to win the 200 anytime he swims it. His 200 IM makes him a decent flex option, as well.
Round 6, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Andrew Wilson, breast
DiRado has a pretty nice lineup at this point, with hopefully every-meet starters at fly, back and free. Wilson is great insurance in the breaststrokes, and like Conger, he’s probably good for one stellar meet if the Texas pros rest. And in a field of men’s breaststrokers that could break any which way, Wilson is probably the most balanced between the 100 and 200 meter distances, where the rest of the field is definitely starting to specialize one way or the other.
Round 6, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Kevin Cordes, breast
Sure, Cordes didn’t have his best summer, and he’s had a bit of a shuffle in living and training environment while following Sergio Lopez from Auburn to Virginia Tech. But Cordes finished in the top 8 in both the 100 and 200 breast at all four PSS stops he attended last year, including a win in Indy. With Michael Andrew probably a better flex play than a true breaststroker, Cordes gives this lineup the versatility to start Andrew in 50 free / 100 breast if needed.
Round 6, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Tom Shields, fly
Another team doubling up on one discipline to move a versatile swimmer into flex status. Beisel already has Hali Flickinger, but she was best on the PSS last year in 200 fly and 400 IM. Shields gives a second fly option, allowing Flickinger to slide to flex when needed. Shields was very up and down last year, starting with an awful Austin stop but recovering for four more top-8 finishes in three more tour stops, including a 2nd-place 100 fly showing in Indy.
Round 6, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Emily Escobedo, breast
Jaeger has a pretty loaded roster already (Kalisz, Dressel, King, Pebley, Smith), making us wonder if this format really favors the team with the #1 pick. (Lenny Krayzelburg dominated last year after picking first). Dressel and Smith are the availability question marks, so Jaeger bolsters one of those spots here with a consistent in-season breaststroker who appeared in 4 PSS meets last year and performed very well.
Round 7, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Sarah Gibson, fly
Same principle here: Dressel could lock down the fly spot, but it’s hard to project. (It’s also dependent on the 50 fly being offered at all five meets). Gibson is the quintessential ‘safe flyer’. She was at 4 of 6 meets last year and pretty routinely finished in the top 8, though she only finished higher than 7th one time. She’s a safe bet to make sure Jaeger gets at least some points out of the fly spot when Dressel isn’t competing – there will be time to draft a high-upside sleeper later on.
Round 7, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Matt Grevers, back
Beisel is currently putting all her backstroke hopes on Kathleen Baker, who could attend all of the Pro Swim Series or none of it, as she did last year. Grevers is an excellent value pick in the seventh round for insurance.
Round 7, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Bethany Galat, IM/breast/flex
Adams only has one true IMer, and Jay Litherland is much more specialized to the 400. Galat is at best an elite IMer and at worst a decent flex play when she’s present. She falls in the draft after only swimming 2 PSS meets last year, but could very easily be a dominant force.
Round 7, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Simone Manuel, free
Because the national team is ~45% freestylers, but there’s only one starting free spot, there’s tremendous value in freestyle even late in the draft. Manuel is a high-upside choice who provides insurance if Nathan Adrian starts showing his age.
Round 8, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Andrew Seliskar, flex
Another value pick: Seliskar is still competing in the NCAA and only swam once on the tour last year. But that one showing included a surprise win in the 200 free, a runner-up finish in the 100 fly and a top-8 spot in the 200 IM.
Round 8, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Regan Smith, back
Smoliga is the only backstroker on Adams’ squad, and Smith provides potentially more upside, especially if the 50 isn’t offered at all stops. Smith is also versatile enough to be an emergency start in fly if the roster is really desperate.
Round 8, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Mallory Comerford, free
Beisel doesn’t really have anyone to man the freestyles beyond Ledecky. How about Comerford, who has traditionally swum a lot on the tour despite NCAA conflicts – she appeared in 4 of 6 stops last year.
Round 8, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Justin Ress, back/free/flex
Jaeger kills two birds with one stone, adding free depth behind L.Smith/Dressel and backstroke depth behind Pebley. Ress did compete at 3 meets last year, including one during college season.
Round 9, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Jordan Wilimovsky, free/open water
Jaeger knows the value of distance swimmers, so he’s the first to dip into the pool of open water talents. Their scoring ceiling is much more limited – open water nationals is the only open water event in the series, and unless there’s an overhaul in scoring, each swimmer can only earn up to 10 points. (That’s about half of the max a swimmer can earn at a pool meet). But Wilimovsky is far and away the best pick, the likely open water favorite who could also cross over into pool events here and there.
Round 9, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Hellen Moffitt, fly/back
Beisel takes a bit of a flyer (no pun intended) on high-upside Moffitt, who was one of only 11 national teamers to compete in at least five of the six PSS stops last year. If the 50s are in the mix, she’s outstanding, too, placing inside the top 6 in the 50 or 100 fly seven times last season.
Round 9, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Katie McLaughlin, fly/free
Adams takes another high-upside option that isn’t without significant risk. McLaughlin only swam two stops last year, and in one of them she only swam off-events. That said, her one butterfly appearance last year was in Santa Clara with a 200 fly win, a second-place in the 100 fly and an appearance in the 50 fly semifinals.
Round 9, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Lisa Bratton, back
DiRado doesn’t have any backstroke depth behind Murphy, so she takes Bratton, who was double backstroke A finalist in two of the three stops she attended last year.
Round 10, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Katie Drabot, fly/free
Same principle here, but fly depth behind Dahlia. Drabot won’t swim on the tour much, but when she does, she’ll enter a lot of events and make A finals in most of them (based on 2018 production). A good lineup-filler for her fellow Stanford Cardinal.
Round 10, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Margo Geer, free
Appeared five times on the tour last year and makes for a reliable presence to fill out a lineup. Geer has also been a rock-solid in-season swimmer.
Round 10, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Micah Sumrall, breast
Last summer’s re-emergence story, Sumrall has swum pretty infrequently on the tour over the past two years, but has major upside if she expands her travel plans this season in the leadup to the World Championships.
Round 10, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Gabby DeLoof, free
Now a pro, DeLoof should see more PSS action, maybe closer to the 5 times her sister Ali appeared last year as a pro than the 3 times Gabby appeared as a college senior. Jaeger sticks with a fellow Wolverine in the midst of a major breakout.
Round 11, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Ella Eastin, IM/flex
High upside, low availability. If Eastin swims much of the tour, she’s a great IM talent. But she’ll probably miss most of it for college season.
Round 11, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Blake Pieroni, free
If Ledecky misses any of the tour, Pieroni is a great backup option. The new pro should attend quite a bit of the series (fellow Indiana training group member Grothe hit all six stops last year) and has a good range of events.
Round 11, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Ashley Twichell, free/open water
Mostly a pick for the potential at open water nationals, but Anderson is good enough in the pool to perhaps be in the mix to start in a pinch.
Round 11, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Jack LeVant, flex
DiRado picks a versatile budding star from her alma mater. LeVant is a college freshman and not expected to compete much. But with the summer he had, the upside is undeniable.
Round 12, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Katie Meili, breast
One of the greatest mysteries of the season. Meili declined her spot at 2019 Worlds to focus on law school, suggesting this might be a very light season for the 2016 Olympian. Then again, free from an important end-of-season rest meet, we could see a fresh Meili show up and compete without much fatigue over the course of the tour. By this point in the draft, we’re swinging for homeruns anyways, and Meili is as good a shot as any.
Round 12, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Abrahm DeVine, IM
College swimmer, but a good option in the hard-to-fill IM spot after NCAAs.
Round 12, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Charlie Swanson, IM/breast
IM proved one of the harder spots to fill on the tour last year, so solid depth is never a bad thing.
Round 12, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Dana Vollmer, fly
Remember that high-upside flyer we talked about earlier? Vollmer hasn’t competed much over the past two years, but she’s made clear she intends to push for a 2020 Olympic berth after the birth of her second child last year. There’s elite potential if she swims a good portion of the tour, focusing on 50 and 100 fly.
Round 13, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Brooke Forde, IM
Round 13, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Haley Anderson, open water/free
Round 13, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Justin Wright, fly
Round 13, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Asia Seidt, back
Round 14, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Erica Sullivan, open water/free
Round 14, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Annie Lazor, breast
Round 14, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Zach Harting, fly
Round 14, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Nic Fink, breast
Round 15, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Bryce Mefford, back
Round 15, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Ally McHugh, IM/free
Round 15, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Austin Katz, back
Round 15, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
David Heron, open water
Round 16, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Lia Neal, free
Round 16, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Hannah Moore, open water
Round 16, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Cody Miller, breast
Round 16, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Michael Brinegar, open water
Round 17, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Jack Saunderson, fly
Round 17, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Ryan Held, free
Round 17, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Evie Pfeifer, IM
Round 17, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Kendyl Stewart, fly
Round 18, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Katy Campbell, open water
Round 18, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Abbey Weitzeil, free
Round 18, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Will Licon, breast/IM
Round 18, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Devon Nowicki, breast
Round 19, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Michael Chadwick, free
Round 19, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Isabelle Stadden, back
Round 19, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Allison Schmitt, free
Round 19, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Zach Apple, free
Round 20, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Zoe Bartel, breast
Round 20, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Townley Haas, free
Round 20, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Missy Franklin, free/back
Round 20, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Andrew Abruzzo, free
Round 21, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Elise Haan, back
Round 21, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Taylor Abbott, open water
Round 21, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Daniel Roy, breast
Round 21, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Madison Kennedy, free
Round 22, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Olivia Carter, fly
Round 22, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Gianluca Urlando, fly
Round 22, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Sean Grieshop, IM
Round 22, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Sam Stewart, IM
Round 23, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Brendan Casey, open water
Round 23, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Conor Dwyer, free
Round 23, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Clark Beach, back
Round 23, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Alex Walsh, IM
Round 24, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Emily Weiss, breast
Round 24, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Chase Travis, open water
Round 24, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Brennan Gravley, open water
Round 24, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Clark Smith, free
Round 25, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Dakota Luther, fly
Round 25, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Maxime Rooney, free
Round 25, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Kaersten Meitz, free
Round 25, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Nick Alexander, back
Round 26, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Amanda Weir, free
Round 26, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Emma Barksdale, IM
Round 26, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Meghan Small, IM
Round 26, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Sierra Schmidt, free
Round 27, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Phoebe Bacon, back
Round 27, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Tate Jackson, free
Round 27, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Michael Jensen, free
Round 27, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Grant Shoults, free
Round 28, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Chris Wieser, free
Round 28, Pick 2: Adams Squad
True Sweetser, free
Round 28, Pick 3: Beisel Squad
Grace Ariola, free/back
Round 28, Pick 4: Jaeger Squad
Trey Freeman, free
Round 29, Pick 1: Jaeger Squad
Robert Finke, free
Round 29, Pick 2: Beisel Squad
Anthony Ervin, free
Round 29, Pick 3: Adams Squad
Cierra Runge, free
Round 29, Pick 4: DiRado Squad
Nick Norman, free
Round 30, Pick 1: Dirado Squad
Logan Houck, free
Round 30, Pick 2: Adams Squad
Mariah Denigan, free
Final Mock Draft Rosters
Pick # | Jaeger Squad | Beisel Squad | Adams Squad | DiRado Squad | Pick # |
1 | Chase Kalisz | Katie Ledecky | Zane Grothe | Kelsi Dahlia | 4 |
8 | Caeleb Dressel | Kathleen Baker | Michael Andrew | Ryan Murphy | 5 |
9 | Lilly King | Melanie Margalis | Olivia Smoliga | Nathan Adrian | 12 |
16 | Jacob Pebley | Hali Flickinger | Jay Litherland | Gunnar Bentz | 13 |
17 | Leah Smith | Molly Hannis | Jack Conger | Josh Prenot | 20 |
24 | Emily Escobedo | Tom Shields | Kevin Cordes | Andrew Wilson | 21 |
25 | Sarah Gibson | Matt Grevers | Bethany Galat | Simone Manuel | 28 |
32 | Justin Ress | Mallory Comerford | Regan Smith | Andrew Seliskar | 29 |
33 | Jordan Wilimovsky | Hellen Moffitt | Katie McLaughlin | Lisa Bratton | 36 |
40 | Gabby Deloof | Micah Sumrall | Margo Geer | Katie Drabot | 37 |
41 | Ella Eastin | Blake Pieroni | Ashley Twichell | Jack Levant | 44 |
48 | Dana Vollmer | Charlie Swanson | Abrahm DeVine | Katie Meili | 45 |
49 | Brooke Forde | Haley Anderson | Justin Wright | Asia Seidt | 52 |
56 | Nic Fink | Zach Harting | Annie Lazor | Erica Sullivan | 53 |
57 | Bryce Mefford | Ally McHugh | Austin Katz | David Heron | 60 |
64 | Michael Brinegar | Cody Miller | Hannah Moore | Lia Neal | 61 |
65 | Jack Saunderson | Ryan Held | Evie Pfeifer | Kendyl Stewart | 68 |
72 | Devon Nowicki | Will Licon | Abbey Weitzeil | Katy Campbell | 69 |
73 | Michael Chadwick | Isabelle Stadden | Allison Schmitt | Zach Apple | 76 |
80 | Andrew Abruzzo | Missy Franklin | Townley Haas | Zoe Bartel | 77 |
81 | Elise Haan | Taylor Abbott | Daniel Roy | Madison Kennedy | 84 |
88 | Sam Stewart | Sean Grieshop | Gianluca Urlando | Olivia Carter | 85 |
89 | Brendan Casey | Conor Dwyer | Clark Beach | Alex Walsh | 92 |
96 | Clark Smith | Brennan Gravley | Chase Travis | Emily Weiss | 93 |
97 | Dakota Luther | Maxime Rooney | Kaersten Meitz | Nick Alexander | 100 |
104 | Sierra Schmidt | Meghan Small | Emma Barksdale | Amanda Weir | 101 |
105 | Phoebe Bacon | Tate Jackson | Michael Jensen | Grant Shoults | 108 |
112 | Trey Freeman | Grace Ariola | True Sweetser | Chris Wieser | 109 |
113 | Robert Finke | Anthony Ervin | Cierra Runge | Nick Norman | 116 |
120 | Mariah Denigan | Logan Houck | 117 |
while i do like this model, I wonder if anyone at USA Swimming is paying close attention to what Paul Rabil has established with a new Professional Lacrosse League
Missy Franklin?? LOL
Uncalled for.
I have a suggestion, In addition to keeping track of what each team does, also keep track of how each team would do if they followed Swimswam suggestions, along with how each team would do if they got to pick each week’s team after the fact–that would be the most points they could have gotten. As an alternate procedure, you might have several people at Swimswam each make picks, and keep track of how each one does. There could also be a competition among Swimswam writers as far as who gets the most overall points.
Asking a simple question cause I am wondering:
Do fans or national team athletes really care about these teams and who wins each meet?
nope
I said it last year, I’ll repeat and then move on. Fantasy Football isn’t a $7Billion industry because people like to follow Old Football Player’s picks and how they match up. Over 59 million people world wide love Fantasy Football because they like to see how their picks compare against their friends, in online leagues and even against the experts. Until USA Swimming (or SwimSwam :)) creates a platform for the average Joe to participate, this is just a really great idea really poorly implemented.
I wonder what kind of fine line USA Swimming must walk with this kind of program and college swimmers on National team. Some of them get limited “stipends” from USA swimming versus non-college swimmers and specifically can’t sign on for advertising money with USA Swimming. I don’t think football players could take stipends from a group running a fantasy football program. I know because it is an Olympic sport there is more flexibility on the stipends but where is the line on “profiting” from a student you are “funding”?
Dressel was named to the SC Worlds squad, does that mean we’ll get to see some WRs?
Judging on how Dressel didn’t really taper down hard for Nationals and Pan Pacs, he probably won’t be in his best form for SC Worlds. He’ll definitely do pretty well, but I wouldn’t expect to see many world records from him. I think Morozov is looking better for a record-shattering performance at SC Worlds.