USA Swimming has outlined the selection process that will be used to select the remaining members of its coaching staff for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with Todd DeSorbo and Anthony Nesty having been announced as head coaches on Thursday.
The U.S. will return to its traditional Olympic staff of having three women’s assistants and three men’s assistants after they appointed eight assistants for the Tokyo Games.
The Americans also had just five assistant coaches at the 2022 World Championships and then eight assistants at the 2023 World Championships.
In addition to a list of subjective requirements, coaches must have served in one of the roles listed below (#1 and #2), or be a primary coach of an Olympic team member (#3), to be considered for the Olympic team staff:
From The Selection Criteria:
- Have been a coach, Head or Assistant, on a 2018 Pan Pacific Championship Team, 2019, 2022, or 2023 World Championship Team (Long Course), 2019 World University Games Team, 2019 or 2023 Pan American Games Team, 2019 or 2023 World Junior Championships Team, 2020 Olympic Games Team, 2018, 2021, or 2022 World Championships Team (Short Course), 2023 LEN 19-23U Championship.
- Or have been a primary coach or coach of record of an athlete member on a 2018 Pan Pacific Championship Team, 2019, 2022, 2023, or 2024 World Championship Team (LCM), 2019 World University Games Team, 2019 or 2023 Pan American Games Team, 2019 or 2023 World Junior Championships Team, 2020 Olympic Games Team, 2018, 2021 or 2022 World Championships Team (SCM), 2023 LEN 19-23U Championship.
- Or be a primary coach or coach of record of an athlete member of the 2024 Olympic Team. – *coaches who meet this qualification at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials- Swimming, do not have to fill out the appropriate application prior to the stated deadline.
Another notable piece of criteria is that coaches must be at least 25 years old.
Those who meet the established criteria to be an assistant coach at the Games will have been contacted by USA Swimming Managing Director of the National Team Lindsay Mintenko by September 1, 2023, and they must submit an application by October 1.
As listed in the third piece of criteria above, coaches can still be named to the staff in June even if they don’t submit the application provided they coach an athlete who qualifies for the 2024 Olympic team.
Coaches have historically been named to the Olympic staff after either putting multiple athletes on the team, or in certain cases, one bonafide star, such as Gregg Troy being named in 2021 as the primary coach for Caeleb Dressel.
Assistant coaches will be named on June 24, 2024, one day after the conclusion of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Why do they have to apply so early? Feel like its not that hard to pick
The deadline only applies to individuals who are not the primary coach of an Olympic Team qualifier.
That deadline/provision probably checks some nuanced box needed for a fringe situation, but in practice doesn’t actually mean anything.