USA Swimming has confirmed a roster of 41 athletes in pool swimming for the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, with 21 women and 20 men headed to Budapest to represent the Stars & Stripes.
This is the smallest U.S. team for a primary international long course meet in a while. The 2019 World Championships roster, for example, had 22 women and 24 men. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic roster had 50 pool swimmers, in spite of there being fewer events at the Olympics (37) than the World Championships (42).
The United States has led the medals tables at each of the last 9 World Aquatics Championship meets, and while this year’s roster has many new faces, we don’t expect that to change: the countries with the 2nd-most medals from 2019, Australia, will be at reduced capacity without stars like Emma McKeon, Kyle Chalmers, and Ariarne Titmus, and the country 3rd-most total medals from 2019, Russia, has been barred from competing after invading neighboring Ukraine.
The U.S. has not yet confirmed who will get the second spot in many of the stroke 50s, though SwimSwam’s Robert Gibbs has put together a list of who should be entitled to those spots. USA Swimming also kept with its confusing tradition of listing relay entries for some athletes but not others. Who actually swims on relays at the World Championships is always the coaches’ final decision, with the exception of 6 swimmers who have no individual entries and therefore are required to swim relays: Mallory Comerford, Natalie Hinds, Bella Sims, Coby Carrozza, Ryan Held, and Justin Ress.
As is so often the case after the Olympics, this year’s roster has seen a youth movement. The team will have 7 teenagers on the women’s team this year, and no swimmer on either team in their 30s: the oldest athlete on the team is Nic Fink, just shy of his 29th birthday.
The pool swimming portion of the World Aquatics Championships will run from June 18-25 at the Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Notes on the team
- Team size: 41 (21 female, 20 male)
- Youngest athlete*: Claire Weinstein – 15 years, three months and 17 days
- Oldest athlete*: Nic Fink – 28 years, 11 months and 15 days
- Average age of men’s roster*: 23
- Average age of women’s roster*: 21
- Most-represented home state: California, five athletes
- Total number of clubs represented: 36
- Total number of universities represented: 15
- First-time FINA World Championships (LCM) performers: 28
- Athlete qualified in most individual events: Four athletes tied with four events – Michael Andrew, Claire Curzan, Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky
*Age at start of the FINA World Championships on June 18.
| 2022 FINA World Championships Roster | [image] | ||||
| Women | |||||
| Name | Age | Event(s) | Hometown | Club | College Affiliation* |
| Phoebe Bacon | 19 | 200 BK | Chevy Chase, Md. | Nation’s Capital Swim Club/Wisconsin Aquatics | Wisconsin, ‘24 |
| Katharine Berkoff | 21 | 50 BK | Missoula, Mont. | Missoula Aquatic Club/NC State | NC State, ‘23 |
| Erika Brown | 23 | 50 FR; 4×100 FR-R | Modesto, Calif. | Tennessee Aquatics | Tennessee, ‘20 |
| Mallory Comerford | 24 | 4×100 FR-R | Kalamazoo, Mich. | Cardinal Aquatics | Louisville, ‘19 |
| Claire Curzan | 17 | 100 FR; 50/100 FL; 100 BK | Cary, N.C. | TAC Titans | ^Stanford, ‘26 |
| Kate Douglass | 20 | 200 BR; 4×100 FR-R | Pelham, N.Y. | University of Virginia | Virginia, ‘23 |
| Hali Flickinger | 27 | 200 FL; 4×200 FR-R | York, Pa. | Sun Devil Swimming | Georgia, ‘17 |
| Katie Grimes | 16 | 1500 FR; 400 IM | Las Vegas, Nev. | Sandpipers of Nevada | N/A |
| Leah Hayes | 16 | 200 IM | Sugar Grove, Ill. | Fox Valley Park District Riptides | N/A |
| Natalie Hinds | 28 | 4×100 FR-R | Midland, Texas | Gator Swim Club | Florida, ‘16 |
| Torri Huske | 19 | 50/100 FR; 100 FL | Arlington, Va. | Stanford University | Stanford, ‘25 |
| Lilly King | 25 | 50/100/200 BR | Evansville, Ind. | Newburgh Sea Creatures/Greater Evansville Aquatic Team | Indiana, ‘19 |
| Annie Lazor | 27 | 100 BR | Beverly Hills, Mich. | Indiana Swim Club/Mission Viejo Nadadores | Ohio State/Auburn, ‘16 |
| Katie Ledecky | 25 | 200/400/800/1500 FR | Bethesda, Md. | Nation’s Captial/Gator Swim Club | Stanford, ‘20 |
| Bella Sims | 17 | 4×200 FR-R | Las Vegas, Nev. | Sandpipers of Nevada | N/A |
| Leah Smith | 27 | 400/800 FR; 4×200 FR-R | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Longhorn Aquatics | Virginia, ‘17 |
| Regan Smith | 20 | 100 BK; 200 FL | Lakeville, Minn. | Stanford University | Stanford, ‘25 |
| Alex Walsh | 20 | 200 IM; 4×200 FR-R | Nashville, Tenn. | Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia | Virginia, ‘24 |
| Claire Weinstein | 15 | 200 FR | Port Jefferson, N.Y. | Sandpipers of Nevada | N/A |
| Emma Weyant | 20 | 400 IM | Sarasota, Fla. | Sarasota Sharks | Virginia, ‘25 |
| Rhyan White | 22 | 200 BK | Herriman, Utah | University of Alabama/WFFM | Alabama, ‘22 |
| Men | |||||
| Name | Age | Event(s) | Hometown | Club | College Affiliation* |
| Michael Andrew | 23 | 50 FR; 50/100 BR; 100 FL | Encinitas, Calif. | MA Swim Academy | N/A |
| Hunter Armstrong | 21 | 50/100 BK; 4×100 FR-R | Dover, Ohio | The Ohio State University | Ohio State, ‘24 |
| Coby Carrozza | 21 | 4×200 FR-R | Austin, Texas | University of Texas | Texas, ‘24 |
| Shaine Casas | 22 | 200 BK | McAllen, Texas | Longhorn Aquatics | N/A |
| Charlie Clark | 20 | 800/1500 FR | Sandusky, Ohio | The Ohio State University/Vacationland Swim Club | Ohio State, ‘24 |
| Brooks Curry | 21 | 100 FR | Atlanta, Ga. | Louisiana State University | LSU, ‘23 |
| Caeleb Dressel | 25 | 50/100 FR; 50/100 FL | Green Cove Springs, Fla. | Gator Swim Club | Florida, ‘18 |
| Nic Fink | 28 | 100/200 BR | Morristown, N.J. | Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club | Georgia, ‘15 |
| Bobby Finke | 22 | 800/1500 FR | Clearwater, Fla. | Gator Swim Club | Florida, ‘22 |
| Carson Foster | 20 | 200/400 IM; 4×200 FR-R | Cincinnati, Ohio | University of Texas/Mason Manta Rays | Texas, ‘24 |
| Trey Freeman | 22 | 400 FR; 4×200 FR-R | Emigration Canyon, Utah | University of Florida/Baylor Swim Club | Florida, ‘23 |
| Ryan Held | 26 | 4×100 FR-R | Springfield, Ill. | NYAC/Sun Devil Swimming | NC State, ‘18 |
| Trenton Julian | 23 | 200 FL; 4×200 FR-R | Glendale, Calif. | Rose Bowl Aquatics | Cal-Berkeley, ‘21 |
| Chase Kalisz | 28 | 200/400 IM | Baltimore, Md. | Athens Bulldog Swim Club | Georgia, ‘17 |
| Drew Kibler | 22 | 200 FR; 4×100 FR-R | Carmel, Ind. | University of Texas | Texas, ‘22 |
| Ryan Murphy | 26 | 100/200 BK | Ponte Vedra Beach, Calif. | California Aquatics | Cal-Berkeley, ‘17 |
| Justin Ress | 24 | 4×100 FR-R | Cary, N.C. | Wolfpack Elite | NC State, ‘19 |
| Kieran Smith | 22 | 200/400 FR | Ridgefield, Conn. | Ridgefield Aquatic Club/University of Florida | Florida, ‘22 |
| Charlie Swanson | 24 | 200 BR | Richmond, Va. | Club Wolverine | Michigan, ‘21 |
| Luca Urlando | 20 | 200 FL | Sacramento, Calif. | University of Georgia/DART Swimming – Davis | Georgia, ‘24 |
Is swimswam going to post day 5 athletes interviews? Looking forward to it.
Did Ress really graduate from college at age 17?
My guess is that’s class of 2019, not 2015, correct?
it may have been discussed before, why didn’t Kate Douglass swim the 200IM? (instead of the 50 free)
She must have thought she had a better shot in the 50. She was wrong.
She gambled, and she lost. Simple.
Correct me if I’m wrong, 16 of the female contingent return from the Tokyo 2021 Olympics squad:
Bacon, Brown (Erika), Curzan, Douglass (Kate), Flickinger, Grimes, Hinds, Huske, King, Lazor, Ledecky, Sims (Bella), Smith (Regan), Walsh (Alex), Weyant, White (Rhyan)
Meanwhile, only 10 of the men return. (Between 2016 and 2017, 14 female and 13 male pool swimmers returned.)
Are the US having trials for world champs next year? Just that the 2018 trials picked the 2019 team 4 years ago.
Selecting a national team a year in advance is the dumbest strategy USA Swimming has ever undertaken.
2019 nationals should’ve stopped this practice. Held 47:39, Rooney 47.61, Jackson 47.88, Casas 52.7, Urlando 1.54 all from the top of my head. None of them were at worlds despite throwing down some absolutely stunning times. Both Rooney and Held could’ve medaled at Worlds with the times they had!
What is the status of former FINA World Aquatics Championships team members going forward?
Baker, Kathleen
Drabot, Katie
Manuel, Simone
McLaughlin, Katie
Baker is getting married this summer. I think she’ll be back to racing next year. Hopefully she can stay healthy going into Tokyo.
Any word on the training camp schedule?
June 6-14 in Croatia.
How many swimmers from the national team do you expect will attend the TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo scheduled June 1 – 4?
From the World Championship team? I wouldn’t expect many. Maybe we’ll see a few swim the first day or two and then bounce.
Mission Viejo to Croatia is a much worse trip than (anywhere on the east coast to Croatia).
I guess if you are East Coast based, it would not make any sense to attend the TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo event.
Right. And there’s only two swimmers based in Southern California on the team – Michael Andrew and Justin Ress (and, I guess, the three Sandpipers aren’t too far).
2.5 – 3 hours longer flight
The time change would be 3 additional hours and if you just came from the east coast your body would be all messed up.
Anyone knows who is coaching Nic Fink & Justin Ress atm?
What is the story with Katie McLaughlin? Is retirement from competitive swimming on the horizon?
Looks like she’s in a wedding in June