Courtesy: Charles Hartley
There’s a beautiful, patriotic, and down-to-earth song called “Hometown” by Bruce Springsteen. If you’ve ever heard it, you’ll know exactly what I mean. It takes you right back to where you grew up, wherever that was, to what it looked like, what you did there as a kid, and how it made you feel. Treat yourself by listening to Bruce capture all of this as only he can:
This whole idea of hometowns grabbed me this morning as I researched the hometowns of 48 young people who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team and will compete on the most regal stage in swimming, the Paris Olympics.
I immediately gravitated to the hometown of Olympian Katharine Berkoff from Missoula, Montana, far from the swimming hotbeds of our country, which are often in warmer weather states. I traveled to that part of the country a few months ago while en route to Yellowstone National Park. Montana is stunningly remote, decorated with mountains so big they’re overwhelming to stare at. It’s fascinating to realize that Berkoff grew up and ascended from one of America’s most unpopulated and mountainous places to become one of America’s best swimmers. I wonder if she swam outside in rivers and streams surrounded by those massive mountains.
I have a natural affinity for remote American places, desolation, and vast nothingness, for reasons I’m not quite sure of. With that understanding, you can see why I’m rooting for Katharine to bring glory to Montana, a place known for much more than Olympic swimmers but now has one to rally around. She’s the only one from that state who made the team and likely one of the first ever.
Yet she’s not the only one on this team coming from a state not traditionally known for Olympic swimming stars. On this year’s elite team are Mariah Denigan (Walton, Kentucky); Matt King (Snohomish, Washington); and Paige Madden (Mobile, Alabama). Because of where they’re from, I find them inherently intriguing. Rising up from non-swimming meccas. How did they do it? It would be storybook for all of them to win medals so we could see hometowns from Montana, Kentucky, and Alabama go wild with joy about their heroes.
In my research, I also wanted to figure out if the usual states for swimming superstars held true for this team. I figured California, Texas, and Florida would rank at the top of the list. It turns out that Indiana has six qualifiers, the most of any state (Drew Kibler, Lilly King, Aaron Shackell, Alex Shackell, Luke Whitlock, and Blake Pieroni). Tied for second with four each are Maryland (Phoebe Bacon, Erin Gemmell, Chase Kalisz, and Katie Ledecky) and Florida (Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke, Ryan Murphy, and Emma Weyant).
Three states had three qualifiers each: New Jersey (Jack Alexy, Nic Fink, and Matt Fallon); California (Erika Connolly, Abbey Weitzeil, and Luca Urlando); and Pennsylvania (Chris Guiliano, Josh Matheny, and Ivan Puskovitch).
These findings are intriguing. Is Indianapolis now the center of the swimming universe based on the number of Olympic swimmers from there? If so, why? Is Indiana now more of a swimming state than a basketball state? Why not Florida, California, Maryland, or Texas with the most Olympic swimmers? And what about Pennsylvania rising into this illustrious company?
In my research, I also wanted to find out who the oldest and youngest swimmers on this team are. The five oldest members of the team are all men: Nic Fink (31), Chase Kalisz (30), Ryan Held (29), Ryan Murphy (29), and Blake Pieroni (28). The four oldest women are 27: Lilly King, Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, and Abbey Weitzeil.
The youngest members of the team are 17-year-olds Thomas Heilman and Claire Weinstein; Katie Grimes and Luke Whitlock are 18. It’s always thrilling in America when a younger swimmer medals at the Olympic Games like Katie Ledecky did at 15 and Michael Phelps at 19.
Another research finding: the sweet spot age to make this team is 21 years old. Nine on this team are that age. Close behind are the seven 22-year-olds. The most surprising finding, at least for me, was that Katie Grimes is only 18 years old and will be competing in her second Olympics. It feels like she’s been around for a long time, yet her swimming career is just taking off. Also unexpected is she’s from Las Vegas, which is not where many Olympic swimmers grow up; mostly people gamble there.
And she swims different types of events than most swimmers, such as the 6.2-mile marathon swim and 1500 freestyle. Katie Grimes grinds out the longest of the long races. A totally fascinating member of this year’s team.
One other nugget: I studied the names of all these swimmers so I could share what I believe to be the one with the most alluring name. The winner is Luke Whitlock. It looks cool and sounds cooler.
All qualifiers for this team have intriguing backstories just like you and me. They are now practicing as one team, together, getting ready to make us all proud because all of them are from places close to their hearts, where they grew up hoping to become Olympic swimmers in their hallowed hometowns in the United States of America.
About Charles Hartley
Charles Hartley is a freelance writer based in Davidson, NC. He has a masters degree in journalism and a masters degree in business administration.
Anyone who was groomed in the Indiana Age Group / HS ecosystem in the last 30 years already knows that it is pound for pound the hotbed of US swimming. The AG State, HS State, and other championship meets in the Nat are truly electrifying experiences and instill a passion from a very young age that produces an unmatched champion mindset throughout the years. Incredibly grateful I had access to that environment starting at 6!
“I wonder if she swam outside in rivers and streams surrounded by those massive mountains.” Lol yeah and we also rode to practice on our horses.
Swimming in rivers and lakes 😂 And we rode our horses to and from practice too.
Alabama and Kentucky definitely have some swimming hotbeds, at least a lot more than Montana. In AL, Huntsville Swim Association is enormous and has produced swimmers like Zach Harting, and now CMSA in Mobile has produced Paige, and in Kentucky, Lakeside Swim Team in Louisville is one of the best clubs in the country.