USA Swimming has named a squad of 22 girls and 21 boys to the National Junior Team that will represent the U.S. at the third and fourth legs of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup this fall.
USA Swimming used the FINA rules for World Junior Championships which define juniors as girls between 14-17 years of age as at December 31, 2021 and boys between 15-18 years of age as at December 31, 2021.
The team was chosen based on their individual performances at Wave I and Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska in June. First priority was given to the #1 time swum in each event at Trials, other than the 100 and 200 free. In those events, priority was given to the top 4 swimmers. Of the 43 swimmers selected, 18 posted a top-16 performance at Wave II of Trials and two of whom (Charlotte Hook and JoJo Ramey) advanced to an A final.
“In light of the cancellation of the World Junior Championships in 2021, we chose to move forward with an international opportunity for our young U.S. swimmers to provide them with valuable training and racing experiences which we feel are critical to success on the international stage,” USA Swimming Managing Director of the National Team Lindsay Mintenko said. “Our junior athletes are an important conduit to our Olympic Team and, as an organization, we have been focused on pursuing and developing additional competitive racing opportunities for these 18&Under swimmers.”
The team will be led by Head Coaches Chuck Batchelor (Bluefish Swim Club) and Head Coach Kate Lundsten (AquaJets Swim Team), while Brent Arckey (Sarasota Sharks), Jeremy Linn (Nation’s Capital Swim Club), Alec Haley (Fishers Area Swimming Tigers) and Ginny Nussbaum (Long Island Aquatic Club) will join the team as assistant coaches.
The U.S. team will compete at the 2021 FINA World Cup’s leg 3 in Berlin, Germany on October 1-3 in Berlin and leg 4 in Budapest, Hungary on October 7-9.
2021 FINA Swimming World Cup U.S. Roster
Women’s Team
| Name | Event(s) | Club | Coach |
| Berit Berglund | 100 BK | Carmel Swim Club | Chris Plumb |
| Kristin Cornish | 1500 FR | Badger Swim Club,Inc. | John Collins |
| Zoe Dixon | 400 IM | NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc | Norm Wright |
| Erin Gemmell | 200/400 FR | Nation’s Capital Swim Club | Bruce Gemmell |
| Cavan Gormsen | 400/800 FR; 4×200 FR-R | Long Island Aquatic Club | Dave Ferris/Ginny Nussbaum |
| Leah Hayes | 200/400 IM | Fox Valley Park District Riptides | Nancy Hooper |
| Abigail Herscu | 200 BR | Livermore Aqua Cowboys | Alex Silver |
| Charlotte Hook | 100/200 FL; 200 IM | TAC Titans | Bruce Marchionda |
| Tess Howley | 100/200 FL | Long Island Aquatic Club | Dave Ferris/Ginny Nussbaum |
| Paige Kuwata | 1500 FR | Sandpipers Of Nevada | Ron Aitken |
| Hayden Miller | 800 FR | Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club | Louis Demetriades |
| Anna Moesch | 50 FR | StreamLine Aquatics Club | Brian Greene |
| Kennedy Noble | 200 BK | YMCA Westside Silver Fins | Darian Townsend |
| Carly Novelline | 4×100 FR-R | NASA Wildcat Aquatics | Alessio De Rosi |
| Kristina Paegle | 4×100 FR-R | Indiana Swim Club | Chip Kline |
| JoJo Ramey | 100/200 BK | Fishers Area Swimming Tigers | Alexander Haley/Joe Keller |
| Zoe Skirboll | 100 BR | Racer X Aquatics | Jim Skirboll |
| Camille Spink | 50/100 FR | Nation’s Capital Swim Club | Jeremy Linn |
| Claire Tuggle | 200 FR; 4×100 FR-R | Santa Maria Swim Club | Michael Ashmore |
| Emma Weber | 100 BR | University of Denver Hilltoppers | Shawn Smith |
| Gracie Weyant | 200 BR | Sarasota Sharks | Brent Arckey |
| Kayla Wilson | 100 FR/4×200 FR-R | Tide Swimming | Richard Hunter |
Men’s Team
| Name | Event(s) | Club | Coach |
| Aiden Hayes | 100/200 FL | Sooner Swim Club | Kent Nicholson |
| Eric Anderson | 50 FR | Northern Lights Swimming Association | Thor Anderson |
| Spencer Aurnou-Rhees | 200 IM | New Albany Aquatic Club | John Coffman |
| Brice Barrieault | 1500 FR | Sandpipers Of Nevada | Ron Aitken |
| Carl Bloebaum | 200 FL | Mason Manta Rays | Ken Heis |
| Reese Branzell | 100 FR | Saint Andrew’s Aquatics | Sid Cassidy |
| Arsenio Bustos | 100 FR; 100 FL; 200 IM | Woodbridge Aquatic Club | David Reilly |
| Michael Cotter | 400 FR; 4×200 FR-R | TAC Titans | Bruce Marchionda |
| Grant Davis | 800 FR | Chattahoochee Gold Swim Club | Mark Schilling |
| Daniel Diehl | 100 BK | Unattached | Brian Dowling |
| Zhier Fan | 100 BR | Metroplex Aquatics | Brent Mitchell |
| Jakob Frick | 100/200 BR | Nation’s Capital Swim Club | Jeremy Linn |
| Sam Hoover | 4×100 FR-R/4×200 FR-R | North Carolina Aquatic Club | Steve Brown |
| Caleb Maldari | 200 BK | Bluefish Swim Club | Chuck Batchelor |
| Quintin McCarty | 50 FR | Pikes Peak Aquatics | George Heidinger |
| Josh Parent | 800/1500 FR; 400 IM | Bluefish Swim Club | Nick Rice |
| Kyle Ponsler | 400 IM | Fishers Area Swimming Tigers | Alexander Haley/Joe Keller |
| Patrick Sammon | 200 FR/4×100 FR-R | AquaSol | Darin Mai |
| Will Scholtz | 200 BR | Lakeside Swim Team | Mike Deboor |
| Eli Shoyat | 400 FR | Northern Kentucky Clippers | Chad Rehkamp |
| Nick Simons | 100/200 BK | Sandpipers Of Nevada | Ron Aitken |
Coaching Staff
- Head Coaches: Chuck Batchelor (Bluefish Swim Club), Kate Lundsten (AquaJets Swim Team)
- Assistant Coaches: Brent Arckey (Sarasota Sharks), Jeremy Linn (Nation’s Capital Swim Club), Alec Haley (Fishers Area Swimming Tigers), Ginny Nussbaum (Long Island Aquatic Club)
Looking at the times from trials of these swimmers, I bet the Australian junior team is even more disappointed now that junior worlds was cancelled this year. Dekkers and Short and others would have been in heaven.
I agree with this. This is a FINA meet, not a juniors meet. 19y can swim at meet, but an 18y who turns 19ymonths later can’t on behalf of USA juniors, the us 18&under team?! Make that make sense. Bottom line – as easy as it is to point to why not, it’s just as easy to point to a way that is actually supportive of our best, who qualified, who are being denied, who have had enough taken from them. USA swimming could absolutely choose to send any 18y junior they want; they are choosing not to. It’s a shame, short sighted and doesn’t seem to uphold the values and purposes of the organization or the junior national team… Read more »
People like you are the problem, its not sexism because it’s a rule. It’s something Fina sets and it’s probably because the girls have a better chance of making the higher meets like the Olympics at a younger age.
Clearly you don’t have an 18 yo girl on the National Junior team who is not getting to go because the cutoff for women is 17 but for men it is 18. “People like you” are the problem? You are judging someone based on one comment on one issue on one website. Maybe people like you are the problem.
Why are there only a few relay swimmers listed (not even enough to put together a relay)?
I believe just because those swimmers only made the relays (3rd and 4th spots for 100 and 200.)
Did you see the R ? They are reserve. I assumed the relays will come from the swimmers who qualified for individual events. 🤦🏻♂️
The “R” actually means “Relay” in this nomenclature, not reserver. FR means “Free,” not “Free Relay.”
But yes, those are generally the 3rd and 4th names that will make up the free relays, swimming alongside the individual entries.
Hmmm 🤔 I though the 4×100-FR means relay and the -R implies reserve. My bad. Thank you for the clarification.
The Future of NC State looks bright! Almost 30% of this men’s roster is committed to the Wolfpack (Bustos, Cotter, Hayes, Hoover, McCarty, Ponsler)
🐺🐺
There is a whole band of athletes, both girls and boys that missed opportunities over the last year because of COVID that have aged up. Let’s hope the USA swimming organization figures out a way to help give opportunities to those athletes.
Nick Simons is coached by Michael Kinross of the sandpipers, and is not directly coached by Ron Aitken
Wonder if the age restriction is determined by FINA or USA Swimming. Feel bad for the two USA National Jr Teams (2019-20, 2020-21). They never get the chance to represent the country in international competitions. Are there any tangible benefits at all for them besides being mentioned in the news release and social media?
FINA sets it for World Juniors and World Junior Records with birthday as of year end. This team was originally the World Junior Team so it uses the same criteria.