US Adds David Johnston to 2024 Olympic Roster in Open Water; Gemmell Takes Ledecky’s Spot

USA Swimming has announced its official roster for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and there are two significant changes from the strict qualifying processes.

Katie Ledecky Drops the 200 Free

One was expected: Katie Ledecky has again dropped the 200 free individually, giving Erin Gemmell the second individual spot in the event alongside Claire Weinstein. This implies that Paige Madden, the 3rd place finisher in the 200 free, also declined the spot – she will focus on the 400 and 800 individually instead.

Ledecky earned a spot in that race after winning the event at Trials, but as she has done at most major international meets over the last decade (exception: Tokyo 2020 Olympics), she dropped the race to focus on her better individual medal chances in the 400, 800, and 1500 free.

This is a poetic moment for Gemmell in more ways than one. Her father Bruce Gemmell was Ledecky’s coach in the run-up to the 2016 Olympic Games, so the two have a long relationship. What’s more, when Ledecky dropped the 200 free at the 2022 World Championships, USA Swimming did not pull Erin Gemmell onto the team, as had been tradition in prior instances, forcing them to make an apology in 2023.

This time, Ledecky’s scratch benefited Gemmell, who while already on the team, was previously a relay-only swimmer as the 4th place finisher.

USA Swimming closed that gap this year, so nobody gets pulled on to the team (though the other two finalists Simone Manuel and Katie Grimes are already on the Olympic Team in other events, making them available to coaches to use in this relay).

David Johnston Added to Open Water Team

The other notable addition was expected but unknown: David Johnston will join Ivan Puskovitch in the men’s 10km race at the Olympics.

While the direct qualification field for open water at this year’s Olympic Games was reduced from 25 per gender to 22 per gender, World Aquatics did sneak in a loophole to expand the field: swimmers who have achieved an Olympic Qualification Time (OQT, aka “A” cut), in the 800 or 1500 free, and swims either race at the Olympic Games, are eligible to swim the 10km open water race in Paris – presuming it doesn’t put countries over the 2-per-country limit. This allows them to expand the field for the race without adding more athletes to the Olympic Games, which has been a focus of recent IOC policies.

USA Swimming is the first country that we’ve seen announce that they will take advantage of this new limit, though the deadline to communicate all names isn’t until July 8th.

American athletes eligible for that spot would have been Bobby Finke, Luke Whitlock, and Johnston.

Whitlock, 18, has the most significant open water experience, having placed 5th at the 2022 US Open Water Junior Nationals in the 7.5k and 14th (10th among Americans) in the US 10k National Championship in 2023. He also raced internationally at the LEN European Open Water Cup in Spain in 2023.

In spite of that, USA Swimming selection procedures called for the top two finishers in the 1500 free to be prioritized for the open water slot. Johnston’s selection implies that Finke declined the spot.

There wasn’t much to lose for Johnston by taking the spot. The pool swimming portion of the Games ends on August 4th (which includes the final of the men’s 1500 free) and the men’s 10km marathon swim is scheduled for August 9th.

Puskovitch, meanwhile, earned his spot by first qualifying for Team USA in open water at the 2024 World Championships and then placing 14th at that meet in the 10k.

Johnston, who previously swam at the University of Texas, took an Olympic redshirt in the 2024-2025 season to prepare for the Olympic Trials under former US National Team Director Mark Schubert with The Swim Team in California.