USA Swimming’s team for the 2022 World Short Course Championships has announced four team captains: Nic Fink and Ryan Murphy were elected by their peers to lead the men’s team, while Natalie Hinds and Leah Smith will lead the women’s team.
The four are among the most veteran athletes on a relatively-young team – they are the oldest swimmers on the roster besides Hali Flickinger and Annie Lazor.
Murphy, Smith, and Hinds were all captains of the US team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (in 2021) and the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.
Murphy is the most decorated of the group internationally: he has 4 gold medals among 6 total Olympic honors in addition to 9 World Championships. That includes 4 in short course from 2012 and 2018.
Fink is the only of the four captains who swam at last December’s Short Course World Championships. The 29-year-old is the oldest member of the American team and is the defending champion in the 50 and 200 breaststrokes, as well as the 200 medley relay. Including three relay medals and an individual bronze in the 100 breaststroke, he won six medals total at the 2021 event.
This will be the first World Short Course Championship meet for Hinds, who earned her first individual medals at last summer’s long course World Championships. There she picked up a gold medal via a prelims leg in the women’s 400 medley relay and a bronze medal as a prelims leg of the women’s 400 free relay.
While Smith wasn’t on the 2021 Short Course Worlds team, she did race at the 2016 and 2018 championships. She won a pair of individual gold medals in 2016 in the 400 and 800 freestyles, in addition to three other medals at those two meets.
Racing begins in Melbourne, Australia on Tuesday morning, December 13th. That’s Monday evening in the United States.
Individual Entries for Team USA Captains at the 2022 World Short Course Swimming Championships:
- Nic Fink – 50/100/200 breaststroke
- Ryan Murphy – 50/100/200 backstroke
- Natalie Hinds – 100 freestyle
- Leah Smith – 400/800 free, 400 IM
Leah is so inspirational and friendly! Love her and what she brings to our sport:)
Since there has been a lot of talk about the poor selection process for this meet favoring Long Course talent, I feel as though I can propose a better solution. USA Swimming needs to place a scout at every NCAA Division III meet in the country, since everyone knows that is where the REAL short course talent is. Evidenced by explosive swims such as Sam Dienstag’s 15:26 mile for the Brandeis Judges at the Gompei Invitational (ROLL DIES), I would say that the deep pool of Division III talent could form its own nation and destroy the US contingent at these world championships, if coached by University of Chicago Head Coach Jason Weber and Case Western Reserve Assistant Elizabeth Levy.… Read more »
USA swimming is funded by the USOC. The priority of the USOC is to get results in long course. As a result USA swimming prioritizes giving experience to athletes that are good in long course. I don’t necessarily agree with it but that’s really what it’s about.
AGREE!!!!!
I second the nomination of Jason. He’s done great things for my alma mater.
Murphy looking like he should be a pro bodybuilder in this pic
Is Dressel ever coming back to swimming?
If he is, this wouldn’t have been the meet…
Dressel is living with a narcissist and narcissists love to isolate their supply from everyone else. Who knows if he will ever return
He needs to drive down the road and learn from Tom Brady then
Anyone know How do watch these races?
Maybe YouTube streaming?
https://youtu.be/nBF8qIXLDkY
What country vpn should I use?
It appears it’s just going to be live streamed on YouTube for everyone. We’ll post links shortly.
No geo-lock this time I hope?
Doesn’t look like it. They haven’t released any info about how to watch other than a single diminutive link on the event page. I wouldn’t put it past FINA to sell media rights and then not tell people who has those rights, but I’d like to think…
Don’t you mean World Aquatics?
They quietly put the broadcasters up on their website.
https://www.fina.org/where-to-watch/