Courtesy of USA Swimming:
Olympic gold medalists and reigning world champions Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md.) and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) will lead the United States against Europe’s best in the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, set for Dec. 20-21 in Glasgow, Scotland.
In total, 33 swimmers (17 women, 16 men) will represent USA Swimming in Scotland. The roster features 16 Olympians, including 11 gold medalists. In addition to Ledecky and Lochte, Olympic gold medalists Tyler Clary(Riverside, Calif.), Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.), Anthony Ervin (Valencia, Calif.) and Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) are expected to lead the American team.
Additional Olympic gold medalists on the U.S. roster include Claire Donahue (Lenoir City, Tenn.), Cullen Jones(Irvington, N.J.), Breeja Larson (Mesa, Ariz.), Matt McLean (Sterling, Va.) and Shannon Vreeland (Overland Park, Kan.)
Guiding the U.S. squad in Glasgow will be women’s head coach Jack Bauerle of the University of Georgia and men’s head coach Eddie Reese of the University of Texas. Having combined to serve as a U.S. head coach at four Olympic Games, Bauerle and Reese have a wealth of international coaching experience with USA Swimming.
“The Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool has become a must-watch event for swimming fans around the globe, and USA Swimming is excited to compete against a talented European team in Glasgow,” USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch said. “We’ve assembled a nice mix of veteran performers and rising stars on the U.S. roster, and we look forward to racing some of the top swimmers in Europe.”
The European roster also was announced today and can be viewed on the British Swimming website.
The two-day, short-course meet will be contested at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, site of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Day one of the meet is slated for 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 20, followed by the conclusion of the meet at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 21. Footage from the meet will be televised by NBC as part of a two-hour show on Sunday, Dec. 22. The show will air from 4-6 p.m. ET.
U.S. swimmers were eligible for selection based on posting the top qualifying time in each Olympic event at the 2013 FINA World Championships, 2013 World University Games or 2013 U.S. Open. The top two swimmers in the 100m and 200m freestyles at these three events qualified for selection.
Swimmers can compete in a maximum of six events (individual and relays), and each team may enter up to four swimmers per individual event and one relay. A running score will be kept combining the points earned by both women and men to determine the winning team.
The Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool is a made-for-television event, designed to showcase the sport’s most exciting swimmers in a short-course meters format. This year’s event will be the sixth Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool in the history of USA Swimming, with past Duels held in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011. The U.S. is undefeated and holds a 5-0 record in the event’s history.
The meet will be comprised of 15 events per gender (13 individual and two relays) with prize money at around $120,000. The winning team will earn will take home a portion of the winnings while prize money will be awarded to the winner of each race. A bonus will also be awarded for any world-record swim at the event.
Tickets will be available for purchase beginning Friday, October 25. Visit swimming.org/britishswimming for details.
Media interested in requesting credentials for the 2013 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool should contact David Richards of British Swimming at [email protected].
The 2013 Duel in the Pool list is courtesy of British Swimming:
European Allstars
| Roberto Pavoni (GBR) | Sophie Allen (GBR) |
| Craig McNally (GBR) | Jazmin Carlin (GBR) |
| Robbie Renwick (GBR) | Hannah Miley (GBR) |
| Michael Jamieson (GBR) | Lauren Quigley (GBR) |
| James Guy (GBR) | Francesca Halsall (GBR) |
| Andrew Willis (GBR) | Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) |
| Chris Walker-Hebborn (GBR) | Daryna Zevina (UKR) |
| Florent Manaudou (FRA) | Lotte Friis (DEN) |
| Frederick Bousquet (FRA) | Melanie Costa (ESP) |
| Fabien Gilot (FRA) | Jeanette Ottesen-Gray (DEN) |
| Jeremy Stravius (FRA) | Camille Muffat (FRA) |
| Yannick Agnel (FRA) | Charlotte Bonnet (FRA) |
| Pal Joensen (FAR) | Femke Heemskerk (NED) |
| Yannick Lebherz (GER) | Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) |
| Bence Biczo (HUN) | Michelle Coleman (SWE) |
| Konrad Czerniak (POL) | Fiona Doyle (IRL) |
| Radoslaw Kawecki (POL) | Simona Baumrtova (CZE) |
| Damir Dugonjic (SLO) | |
| Velimir Stjepanovic (SRB) |
USA Team
| Conor Dwyer | Katie Ledecky |
| Ryan Lochte | Shannon Vreeland |
| Kevin Cordes | Cammile Adams |
| Tom Luchsinger | Simone Manuel |
| Chase Kalisz | Jessica Hardy |
| Anthony Ervin | Caitlin Leverenz |
| Jimmy Feigen | Micah Lawrence |
| Michael McBroom | Claire Donahue |
| Matt McLean | Chloe Sutton |
| Eugene Godsoe | Megan Romano |
| Nic Fink | Kathleen Baker* |
| Shane Ryan | Sarah Henry |
| Cullen Jones | Meghan Hawthorne |
| Tyler Clary | Breeja Larson |
| Michael Klueh | Olivia Smoliga |
| Cody Miller | Gillian Ryan |
| Kendyl Stewart |
*Note that Kathleen Baker was a late addition to the roster, taking Sarah Denninghoff’s spot.
Anyway, big names absent or not, I will not watch that meet for the battle USA vs Europe. It’s always weird for me to see a country against a continent, in golf or here in swimming. We see the standings of the nations at the end of the big world meets.
I’m much more interested in watching the performances of the many French swimmers (7!) and also the possible world records for Katie Ledecky.
It is on odd one – I think, In golfing terms (Guessing you are referring to the Ryder Cup) the US still actually has a larger talent pool to chose from than Europe (Due to the limited number of Nations that really play golf competitively). For example, 7 of the 12 Europeans were British (4 English, 2 Northern Irish, 1 Scottish) and usually about that number are made up of Golfers from the British Isles (UK & Ireland). In swimming, I am inclined to agree, Maybe US vs GB/RUS/FRA would work? The top 3 countries at the most recent competitive European LC Championships (Being 2010 as Euro champs in the Olympic year are always of a poorer standard due to… Read more »
I kind of figured that the major college names, Franklin, Shields, ect., wouldn’t be going to this because it’s in the middle of the season/the end of finals, so it’s no wonder why they aren’t going. I don’t understand why the rest of the Cal swimmers, Adrian, Coughlin, and even Vollmer (even though she’ swimming unattached currently). I’m surprised that Cordes is going, mainly because he’s still got a year or more left in college.
Shields have graduated.
vollmer is taking classes again at cal so the cal exam schedule might conflict
I think theres a typo…Kromowijojo isn’t from GBR…
Europe’s team is far from the best!!!
But the US team is also far from the best.
No Missy Franklin
No Nathan Adrian
No Tom Shields, a monster short course swimmer
No Matt Grevers
No Dana Vollmer
No Elizabeth Pelton
No Elizabeth Beisel
No Rachel Bootsma, a monster short course swimmer
No Natalie Coughlin
No Connor Jaeger
Yes there’s big names missing on both sides but it’s still a decent lineup.I don’t think this European team is too bad actually, with the exception of women’s breaststroke where it looks very weak. It could be quite an exciting overall contest.
For the men it looks pretty even on the sprint and mid distance freestyles, back and breast, with an advantage to the US in the medley events and butterfly. For women, the Europeans will be strong in sprint freestyle and butterfly, mid distance looks reasonably even with the exception of Ledecky (but the Europeans should take the minor places) as does backstroke and medley. Breaststroke US will dominate. It could all come down to relays which could… Read more »
I am most looking forward to the resumption of the Lotte and Ledecky show 🙂
Finally Cullen Jones is getting back to some racing. I notice that neither Allison Schmitt nor Nathan Adrian are participating
I think the Euro team will suffer without Simmonds on backstroke. She is great shortcourse even if she hasn’t been swimming her best this year.
I see that Leverenz and Ervin signed up…what about the other Cal contingent of Adrian, Coughlin and Vollmer?