USA Swimming has announced the roster for this year’s LEN European U23 Championships, which are set to take place August 11-13 in Dublin, Ireland.
This will be the inaugural edition of the meet which allows swimmers aged 19-23 years old (born 2000-2004). Traditionally, swimmers in this age-group have represented the US at the World University Games instead, but USA Swimming is not sponsoring a contingent for that competition this year. They have, however, made this a pseudo-university team by requiring that all members have NCAA eligibility remaining to participate (which is not a requirement for the World University Games).
Each country is also allowed to enter one swimmer aged 14-18 per event out of four allowed entries in each event.
The USA Swimming contingent for the Championships is composed of 7 males and 7 females, all of whom qualified to represent the US via their finishes at the 2023 National Championship last month.
The women’s team is headlined by NCAA Champions Paige McKenna and Emma Sticklen, Short Course Worlds medalist Isabelle Stadden, and 2022 US National Champion Kaitlyn Dobler. Other swimmers on the roster include Texas sprinter Grace Cooper, USC standout Justina Kozan, and Louisville’s Julia Dennis.
The men’s team features 2022 National Champion Gabriel Jett, NAG record-holder Rex Maurer, NCAA runner-up Patrick Sammon, and SC World Championship swimmer Hunter Tapp. Age-group standout Aaron Shackell was also named to the team, joining his sister Alex in representing the US internationally this summer. His sister Alex just anchored the USA women’s 4×200 freestyle relay to a silver medal finish at the World Championships. N.C. State and LSU standouts Owen Lloyd and Mitch Mason will also be joining the US contingent.
Entries for the meet have not been announced yet. While the meet is hosted by the European Federation, in its inaugural year, they are allowing one guest nation from each continent to participate. So far, only the US has been announced as part of that program.
A number of the swimmers above were initially slated to compete in the TYR Pro Championships, which are occurring this week, but were late scratches out of the competition, including Kozan, Dobler, McKenna, Tapp, and Sammon.
US Roster, 2023 LEN U23 Championships
Women:
| Swimmer | Hometown | Team |
| Grace Cooper | Oswego, Illinois |
Delta Aquatics/Texas
|
| Julia Dennis | Oxford, Mississippi |
Shockwave Aquatics/Louisville
|
| Kaitlyn Dobler | Portland, Oregon |
Trojan Aquatics Swim Club/The Dolphins Portland
|
| Justina Kozan | Brea, California |
Mission Viejo Nadadores/USC
|
| Paige McKenna | Easton, Pennsylvania |
Nation’s Capital Swim Club/Wisconsin
|
| Isabelle Stadden | Blaine, Minnesota |
California Aquatics
|
| Emma Sticklen | Katy, Texas |
Katy Aquatics/Texas
|
Men:
| Swimmer | Hometown | Team |
| Gabriel Jett | Clovis, California |
California Aquatics
|
| Owen Lloyd | Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
North Carolina Aquatic Club/ NC State
|
| Mitch Mason | Houston, Texas | Aquastar/LSU |
| Rex Maurer | Pasadena, California |
Rose Bowl Aquatics
|
| Patrick Sammon | El Dorado Hills, California |
Aquasol Swim Club/Arizona St.
|
| Aaron Shackell | Carmel, Indiana |
Carmel Swim Club
|
| Hunter Tapp | Louisville, Kentucky |
Lakeside Swim Team/ NC State
|
The team will be led by coaches Arthur Albiero (Louisville), Lea Maurer (USC), and Yuri Suguiyama (Wisconsin). Lea Maurer is notably the mother of competing athlete Rex Maurer.
Keep the tater tots away from Owen Lloyd!! Dude is dangerous when he is around them.
So it looks like that Stadden/Tiltmann swim off did matter. Nice
I think “Most Notably” Lea Maurer coaches Dobler and Kozan. I think we want to steer clear of the implication she’s the only female coach on the squad just because her son made the team.
LEN Euro U23,
Dublin hosts the swim flow,
USA’s young stars.
Why the hell is it called European championships then?
Team USA is just a bunch of lane fillers
Exactly! Are USA swimmers eligible for medals? If so, this makes no sense.
Maybe they’ll give two of that colour medal when a non-American gets on the podium?
That was supposed to be non-European.
They are allowing visitors. Wish Australia had sent a team. Instead of TYR champs in Irvine.