USA Releases Selection Procedures for 2024 Short-Course Worlds

The 2024 World Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships, scheduled to be held at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary, from December 10th to 15th of this year, will be the 17th edition of these championships, which were first held in Palma, Spain, in 1993.

After a strong performance at the 2022 edition in Melbourne, Australia, in which the United States topped the medal table in gold medals, winning 17 of them, nearly half of their table-leading 26 medals, USA Swimming has released its selection criteria for the 2024 edition. You can view the entire document below, but we have pulled out the relevant information and will cover it in detail.

USA Swimming ATHLETE SELECTION PROCEDURES 2024 World Aquatics Championships (25M)

Selection Procedures (Major Bullet Points)

• The team will have a limit of 16 men and 16 women, which remains unchanged from the 2022 selection procedure.
• All members selected to the team must be a member of the 2024-2025 National Team. The national team comprises the six fastest athletes in each Olympic event; this year, 106 athletes were named on the team. You can view the entire roster here.

Priorities

• Priority 1: Fastest two (2) swimmers in the 50 and 100 Free, the fastest (1) swimmer in the 100s of Back, Breast, and Fly, and the fastest (1) in the 200 Free.
• Priority 2: Fastest (1) swimmer in the remaining Olympic Events: 200s of stroke (Back, Breast, Free), 200/400 IM, 400/800/1500 Free
• Priority 3: Second fastest (1) swimmer in the 100s of stroke (Back, Breast, Free)
• Priority 4: Third Fastest (1) swimmer in the 50 and 100 Free
• Priority 5: Second Fastest (1) swimmer in the 200 Free
• Priority 6: Second fastest (1) swimmer in the remaining Olympic Events: 200s of stroke (Back, Breast, Free), 200/400 IM, 400/800/1500 Free

When a roster of 16 swimmers is met, then the tiebreaker within priorities shall be the order of the swimmer based upon the highest Percentage of “A” Time Standard. Those standards can be found here.

Selection of Non-Olympic Events

The first “Opportunity” to swim a 50 of stroke will go to the swimmer with the fastest time in the corresponding 100, should they have the AQUA time standard in the 50. The second “Opportunity” would go to an athlete already selected to the team that has the fastest time in the event in LCM. The third”Opportunity” would go to an athlete already selected to the team that has the fastest time in the event in SCM, should there be an opening.

The 100 IM requires the swimmer(s) to have achieved the AQUA “A” standard in the event at an approved competition.

Relay Selection

Relay can be comprised from any swimmer selected to the team and will be selected by the Managing Director, National Team, in consultation with the coaches.

What this means for the USA

Looking at the National Team roster and selection criteria, the USA could certainly field a strong team again. Two years ago, the USA set four world records (all in relays) in addition to seven Americas records.

With the procedures being released recently, the plans of the National Team members are not quite known. Kate Douglass, in a podcast with Coleman Hodges, mentioned her intentions to swim at the World Cup stops this fall and at Worlds. Specifically, she brought up the 100 IM as an event she wants to swim, as she has been unable to swim it at Worlds due to not having the A cut at an approved event.

Douglass qualified for the national team in five events, the 50/100 Free, 100/200 Breast, and the 200 IM, so should she confirm her participation for Worlds, she could free up more roster spots based on her covering more priorities.

With Worlds held in the middle of December, many of the members of the National Team, who are in college, would be coming off of their mid-season invites or participating in the SCY U.S. Open, which is scheduled to kick off the weekend before Worlds, so may opt out of making the trip. If they were to do so, then both some veterans and newcomers further down the rankings in the top six may make the team. Swimmers like Audrey Derivaux and Rylee Erisman, may get a nod to the team, should enough spots be open. Both represented the US at the Junior Pan Pacs, with Derivaux winning the 100/200 fly double and Erisman taking gold in the 100 free and silver in the 50 free.