USA Swimming Announces 2011 World Championships Rosters; Peirsol Staying Home Again

(Update 6/29: USA Swimming has made some changes to their World Championship Roster, including adding some 50m races. Click here to read about the changes.)
(Updated 7/6: More Changes to the USA Swimming Roster. These should be close to final.)

USA Swimming has announced their official rosters and event entries for the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai. There’s no real big surprises here, as we knew these entries for the most part back in August.

The notable exception to this is the ominous absence of Aaron Peirsol for the second straight World Championship meet. Peirsol was a late scratch from the 2010 Short Course Championships in Dubai, where he was replaced by Nick Thoman. At this meet, Thoman will again replace him in the 100 back, though Peirsol failed to qualify for the 200. Rumors have been flying about a possible Peirsol retirement after he skipped the Austin Grand Prix last weekend at his home pool. The backstroker claims to be just enjoying some time off, including a visit to see his sister Hayley in California, but it’s a situation to keep an eye on.

There are 25 Olympians on the roster, and 23 swimmers who were not on the 2009 Championship roster.

Lochte is swimming the events that he said he would: 200/400 IM, 200 free, and the 200 back. Phelps is also only in 4 individuals (100/200 fly, 200 IM, 200 free), but he’s likely to swim 3 relays if he comes into the meet in strong shape. Lochte too might be in 3 relays after Peirsol declined an invitation to the meet.

We didn’t learn much about the relays either. Though some swimmers have relay entries by their names, these could potentially be prelims relay swims. The final relay swimmers will not be decided until much closer to the meet, with some decisions possibly being delayed until after the days’ morning sessions. Also undecided is who will join Nathan Adrian in representing Team USA in the men’s 50 free. SwimMAC Carolina teammates Cullen Jones and Josh Schneider will participate in a swim-off at the Charlotte UltraSwim in May.

We will also learn in the coming months who will fill in the 50 meter finals of breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke races. IN general, those spots will be filled by the 100m swimmers of the same disciplines.

Open water swimmers will be decided at the Open Water National Championship event on June 10.

USA Swimming 2011 FINA World Championship Team

Women Team Event(s)
Amanda Beard Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics 100, 200 Breast
Elizabeth Beisel Bluefish Swim Club 200 Back, 400 IM
Natalie Coughlin California Aquatics 100 Free, 100 Back
Teresa Crippen Germantown Academy/ Florida 200 Fly
Melissa Franklin Colorado Stars 200 Back, 4X100 Free Relay
Jessica Hardy Trojan Swim Club 50 Free, 4X100 Free Relay
Kathleen Hersey SwimAtlanta 200 Fly
Katie Hoff FAST Swim Team 400 Free, 4X200 Free Relay
Kara Lynn Joyce FAST Swim Team 4X100 Free Relay
Dagny Knutson A. S. K. Swim 4X200 Free Relay
Ariana Kukors FAST Swim Team 200 IM
Caitlin Leverenz California Aquatics 200, 400 IM
Christine Magnuson Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics 100 Fly
Elizabeth Pelton North Baltimore Aquatic Club 100 Back
Allison Schmitt North Baltimore Aquatic Club 200 Free
Morgan Scroggy Athens Bulldog Swim Club 4X200 Free Relay
Rebecca Soni Trojan Swim Club 100 Breast, 200 Breast
Chloe Sutton Mission Viejo Nadadores 400 Free, 800 Free
Jasmine Tosky Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics 4X200 Free Relay
Dana Vollmer California Aquatics 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Fly
Amanda Weir SwimAtlanta 50 Free, 4X100 Free Relay
Kate Ziegler FAST Swim Team 800 free
Men* Team Event(s)
Nathan Adrian California Aquatics 50, 100 Free
Mike Alexandrov Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics 100 Breast
Ricky Berens Longhorn Aquatics 4X200 Free Relay
Tyler Clary FAST Swim Team 200 Back, 200 Fly, 400 IM
Conor Dwyer Lake Forest Swim Club/Florida 4X200 Free Relay
Mark Gangloff New York Athletic Club 100 Breast
Charlie Houchin FAST Swim Team 400 Free
Cullen Jones SwimMAC Carolina 50 free, 50 fly
Chad LaTourette Mission Viejo Nadadores/ Stanford 1500 Free
Jason Lezak Rose Bowl Aquatics 100 Free
Ryan Lochte Gator Swim Club/Daytona Beach 200 Free, 200 Back, 200/400IM, 4X100 Fr
Tyler McGill Auburn University Swim Team 100 Fly
Michael Phelps North Baltimore Aquatic Club 200 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 200 IM
David Plummer Minnetonka Swim Club 100 Back
Scot Robison New South Swimming/ UVA 4X100 Free Relay
Eric Shanteau Longhorn Aquatics 200 Breast
Scott Spann North Baltimore Aquatic Club 200 Breast
Nick Thoman SwimMAC Carolina 100 Back
Peter Vanderkaay Club Wolverine 400 Free, 1500 Free, 4X200 Free Relay
David Walters Longhorn Aquatics 4X100 Free Relay and 4X200 Free Relay
Garrett Weber- Gale Longhorn Aquatics 4X100 Free Relay
*pending 50 free results
Head Men’s Coach: Eddie Reese
Head Women’s Coach: Frank Busch
Assistant Men’s Coaches: Gregg Troy, Bob Bowman, Jon Urbanchek
Assistant Women’s Coaches: Teri McKeever, Sean Hutchison, Jack Bauerle

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Joe
13 years ago

i don’t think it is weird. There is a deadline the swimmers have to make a decision if they are going and what they want to swim….actually what Phelps and Lochte want to swim since they have so many multiple events and relays. They also probably had to see how motivated Peirsol is/was and since it looks like he isn’t swimming, he declined and they put the next in line on the roster, which is Thoman.

Jcoach
13 years ago

Who should have been in the 100 back instead of Thoman?

Kris
13 years ago

Did Aaron Peirsol retire?

Lexi
13 years ago

What happened to Peirsol? I thought he was supposed to swim?!

don
13 years ago

You know something is /was going on. The World champs roster and Wugs roster were both supposed to be announced last September. A friend of mine that coaches said he had contacted USA swimming about the rosters and that their response was they were waiting to hear back from swimmers.
The whole thing is weird.

David Rieder
13 years ago

“Nick Thoman SwimMAC Carolina 100 Back”

You sure we knew the entries back in August? Something is going on, and I don’t really like it.

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Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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