2018 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 29, 2018
- William Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
- Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
- Meet website
- Meet information
- Event Order
- Full selection procedures
- Psych Sheet
- SwimSwam Previews Index
- TV Schedule
- Pick ‘Em Contest
- Omega Results
- Live Stream
Almost all second-place finishers are locked into Pan Pacs berths on a night 4 that saw rosters expand dramatically. We should be in line to get at least some of the third place finishers onto Pan Pacs rosters, though fourth-placers are probably out.
With just 3 events remaining for each gender tomorrow, rosters are starting to look fairly complete. Stroke specialists should be pretty well locked in, with tomorrow’s events only affecting freestylers (50 free, women’s 800, men’s 1500) and IMers (200 IM).
Based on our math, if Chase Kalisz wins the 200 IM, Caeleb Dressel wins the 50 and Zane Grothe wins the 800, third-place men should start making the team. If Katie Ledecky wins the mile and Simone Manuel the 50, the same would be true for the women (though third-placers could also get in even if those five don’t win, depending on priority II doubles).
World champ and world record-holder Lilly King broke onto the Pan Pacs team today after spending the first three days on the World University Games roster. Also clinching Pan Pacs berths with wins tonight: Michael Andrew and Zane Grothe. Some well-known veterans joined the roster for the first time as priority II selections: Matt Grevers, Katie Meili and Olivia Smoliga.
DOUBLES TRACKER
In order to start selecting more swimmers to the team, sufficient doubles must be met to make roster space. Here’s how many doubles are needed to reach each priority for each international meet:
| MEET | ROSTER SIZE | PRIORITY I | PRIORITY II | PRIORITY III | PRIORITY IV |
| Pan Pacs | 26 | — | 6 | 18 | 30 |
| Jr Pan Pacs | 20 | — | 8 | 22 | 36 |
| Worlds | 26 | — | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| WUGs | 26 | — | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Pan Ams | 18 | — | — | 8 | 12 |
So far, here is our doubles tally:
Men:
- Pan Pacs: 3
- Jr Pan Pacs: 5
- Worlds: 3
- WUGs: 2
- Pan Ams: 1
Women:
- Pan Pacs: 5
- Jr Pan Pacs: 4
- Worlds: 5
- WUGs: 3
- Pan Ams: 2
Reminder: we define ‘doubles’ as an athlete already qualified for the team who qualifies in another event. If only priority 1 swimmers have been invited, a swimmer already qualified who hits priority 2 status (say, 2nd place) in another event doesn’t count as a double until there is space for the priority 2 swimmers.
You can find full selection procedures for all five major meets here.
Each meet has its own unique selection criteria, but all break down by priority: priority 1 will be selected first, priority 2 only if there is roster space remaining after that, priority 3 only if there is roster space remaining and so on. Below, we’ll track who’s in line to qualify for what team, moving to lower priorities as sufficient doubles are met.
Bear in mind that these rosters are in flux as the meet moves on. We’ll update daily, but be patient as we work through the intricacies of the criteria.
- Priority 1 is listed in blue
- Priority 2 is listed in red
- Priority 3 is listed in green
- Priority 4 is listed in yellow
- Priority 5 is listed in white
- All 2019 rosters hinge on the results of 2019 Pan Pacs, which affect Worlds selection (and therefore the trickle-down of athletes to World University Games and Pan Ams). Those rosters are listed in italics.
Do they have to go by world rankings for 3rd placers? I would think Bentz would be selected based on versatility if they had a choice of which 3rd place finishers to take
They do have to go by modified World Rankings
I would imagine there are some people who may be out of college eligibility this year but would still meet the WUGS qualification standards next year if they are finishing their degrees in 2018-19.
There might be some in that boat, but they have to be 23 or younger by the start of WUGs in 2019. That rules out quite a few. There are probably a few we don’t know about – USA Swimming doesn’t even really track WUGs eligibility until closer to the meet.
I know I asked this question before on another page but I never saw if anyone answered.
Can a swimmer be on both the Sr & Jr. Pan Pac team or do you have to pick one over the other?
What happens if an Open Water swimmer qualifies for Worlds next year that is named to the PanAm team? This is a very possible scenario with Haley Anderson! Can you swim OW at Worlds and pool events at PanAms?
That’s a great question! My gut says Anderson would be allowed to swim both. In 2015, some swimmers (Emily Brunemann and David Heron) were able to compete in open water at Worlds and open water at Pan Ams. If that’s the case, then there’s no reason they shouldn’t also be allowed to compete in pool swimming at Pan Ams.
I feel it is a flawed process when ledexky and smith scratch it impacts who can make the team and who gets another crack at top 2 for worlds. Shouldn’t very one in the top 8 get another swim in two weeks?
Priority 1
Katie Ledecky – 200 FR/400 FR/800 FR
Kathleen Baker – 100 BK/200 BK
No other female swimmer has doubled up on Priority 1 status.
According to the selection procedures don’t Finnerty and Whitley have to do a swim off for the second WUGS spot?
Good catch! It does look like that’s the case (unless something shifts tomorrow or someone declines a position). They may not be planning the swim-off just yet because they need a couple more doubles before either one is in position to be invited.
Jared – I really appreciate all your responses and insight! Thank you so much!
I’m fairly sure Jordan counts as an “open water” swimmer for the men. Therefore every swim he makes counts as a “double”. This opens up a spot, hopefully for Will!
That’s an interesting case. The teams are compiled separately, so he doesn’t count as a double. However, in 2014, there were two swimmers who would have made Pan Pacs in the pool (Wilimovsky and Becca Mann) who were only listed as open water swimmers on the official roster. That allowed more pool swimmers to make the team, and both Wilimovsky and Mann did swim pool events at Pan Pacs anyways. On the other hand, they were both Priority IIIs in 2014. It might be more difficult to get a priority I swimmer to decline a position, though there’s really no telling if that’ll happen this time around or not.
Yes, her and Smith both dropped the 1500 tomorrow.