USA Swimming will send 10 of its top youth swimmers to the final two stops of the 2017 FINA World Cup, a roster that includes Regan Smith, Michael Andrew, Andrew Abruzzo, Dakota Luther and Alex Walsh.
Those five, despite being 18 and under, are members of USA Swimming’s senior national team for 2017-2018. They’ll be joined by five other top junior talents in competing at the short course meters racing tour in Asia.
Here’s the full roster, per USA Swimming:
- Andrew Abruzzo (Plymouth Whitemarsh Aquatics)
- Michael Andrew (Race Pace Club)
- Carson Foster (Mason Manta Rays)
- Trey Freeman (Baylor Swim Club)
- Lindsay Looney (Metroplex Aquatics)
- Dakota Luther (Austin Swim Club)
- Daniel Roy (King Aquatic Club)
- Regan Smith (Riptide Swimming)
- Alex Walsh (Nashville Aquatic Club)
- Matthew Willenbring (Austin Swim Club)
Staff
- Head Coach Doug Wharam (Nashville Aquatic Club)
- Manager Jeri Marshburn (Irvine Novaquatics)
- Team Physician Jim Johnson
USA Swimming also says it will be sending veteran Olympic medalists Lia Neal and Tom Shields to the meet as “national team reps.”
The World Cup resumes again this weekend with a stop in Hong Kong and another in Doha next week. It appears USA Swimming’s crew won’t start the third cluster in Beijing, but will join the tour for the 7th stop in Tokyo, Japan on November 14-15 and the 8th and final stop in Singapore on November 18-19.
Can’t wait to see how Regan Smith does after a stellar summer. Also can’t wait to see how Walsh swims. Love her technique in all 4 strokes.
Where does Tom Shields go from here? I don’t think he’s gonna be top 2 100 fly ever again. So does he just focus on SCM/minor meets?
I know my comment is about to get downvoted but…
All of the elite California male swimmers kind of had an off summer (with the exception of Adrian)
Ryan Murphy
Tom Shields
Josh Prenot
Anthony Ervin
Shields will bounce back just as Murphy and Prenot will.
Pebly had a good year- but I agree with you. Obviously I don’t know what their training was this year, but based on interviews and social media I got the impression that Durden did an excellent job prepping them during the Olympic year (frequent trips to OTC, skipping PAC-12s for Areno Pro Swim, etc.) but the cal swimmers seemed much more relaxed this past year- and it showed this summer. Hopefully they will be back “on” this year.
Tim Phillips can definitely be challenged by Tom Shields. He’ll come back just like Grevers. The mere fact that he has been racing in Europe is a good sign. He’s still hungry. Let’s go Tom.??
Nine youngsters and MA
True. MA is a pro and old enough to be a college freshman. He’s no longer a youngster.
Eighteen ain’t old. Michael Andrew is still somewhat of a youngster himself even tho he has crossed the adult mark.
18 is considered adult in most countries
So is Lia Neal/ Tom Shields swimming? They are the ones that can actually make money at these meets since they are out of college and pro’s
Andrew can too.
That is a winning situation for MA. USA Swimming funds this trip and he gets to make money.