USA Swimming Unveils Selection Procedures for Euro U23 Championships

USA Swimming has unveiled their selection procedures for the inaugural LEN European U23 Championship. The Americans are the North American representatives for the meet, with the hosts allowing one country from each of four continents (North America, South America, Asia, and Africa) to participate. The countries from the other continents have not yet been announced.

• See the full meet results here.

This meet fills an important hole in USA Swimming’s usual selection cycle. USA Swimming has chosen not to send a team to China for the World University Games (relevant athletes say they have been told that the absence is for political reasons), and the U23 Championships occupy a similar slot in the organization’s heirarchy.

Athlete Eligibility

Among technical details, to be eligible for USA Swimming’s selections, athletes must be:

• Born 2000-2004 (LEN criteria)
• Have remaining NCAA eligibility as of the date of selection
• Accept selection within 48 hours.

This will be a small roster: 7 men and 7 women can be chosen. But it is a relatively-compact meet too, with only three days of competition and just the mixed 400 medley and 400 free relays on the schedule.

With a roster of just 14 athletes, USA Swimming is unlikely to be able to fill all events.

Summer 2023 USA Swimming priority:

1. 2023 World Aquatics Championships
2. 2023 World Aquatics Junior Championships
3. 2023 Pan American Games
4. 2023 LEN European U23 Championships

While in past years, there has been the option for athletes qualifying as a relay-only swimmer to a higher priority meet being allowed to swim individual events at a lower priority championship, there is no such flexibility this year. Athletes also cannot choose to decline invites to the World Championships or World Junior Championships to attend the Pan American Games.

There is some flexibility, though, for eligible athletes to decline an invite to the Pan American Games in order to attend the European U23 Championships.

The team will leave the US on August 7, have a short training camp in Dublin from August 8-10, compete August 11-13, and return home August 14.

Selection Procedure

Like the other summer international meets, the selection meet will be the 2023 Phillips 66 National Championships that will be held in Indianapolis from June 27-July 1, 2023.

Because such a small team is being selected, the math will get a bit complicated. We’ve tried to make it easier for digestion below, but to read all of the tiebreakers and technicalities, see section 1.3 of the document linked above.

Selection Priority:

Within each priority, swimmers will be ranked based on Percentage of “A” Time Standards for the World Championships. The “A” Time Standards are listed below.

• Priority #1 – The two best available swimmers based on the finish order from Trials in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle events will be ranked based on proximity to the “A” time standard. The two swimmers per gender whose times are best relative to the “A” time standard will be chosen.
• Priority #2 – The one best available swimmer based on the finish order from Trials in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyle events will be ranked based on proximity to the “A” time standard. The one swimmer per gender whose times are best relative to the “A” time standard will be chosen.
• Priority #3 – The one best available swimmer based on the finish order in the 100 and 200 butterfly will be ranked. The one swimmer per gender whose times are best relative to the “A” time standard will be chosen.
• Priority #4 – The one best available swimmer based on the finish order in the 100 and 200 backstroke will be ranked. The one swimmer per gender whose times are best relative to the “A” time standard will be chosen.
• Priority #5 – The one best available swimmer based on the finish order in the 100 and 200 breaststroke will be ranked. The one swimmer per gender whose times are best relative to the “A” time standard will be chosen.
• Priority #6 – The one best available swimmer based on the finish order in the 200 and 400 IM will be ranked.  The one swimmer per gender whose times are best relative to the “A” time standard will be chosen.
• Priority #7 – If the team is not full, which would only happen if there was an overlap between swimmers chosen in the above priorities or they ran out of Available Swimmers, then all available swimmers in all individual Olympic events will be ranked based on percentage of “A” time standard, and they will be added (by gender) until the roster cap is hit.

In other words, USA Swimming is prioritizing taking two sprinters per gender and one swimmer from each other stroke/discipline per gender, agnostic of the distance.

And, as always, swimmers will be ranked first by placement at Trials and then by time. In other words, a fast 9th place finisher from Trials cannot jump a slow 8th place finisher.

The selection of the team will be published on the USA Swimming website on or before July 23, 2023.

World Aquatics Championships “A” Time Standards

There are no time standards for the U23 Championships themselves; however, USA Swimming is using the World Aquatics Championships “A” standards as their benchmark for ranking swimmers in different events.

Below, find an explanation of how percentages will be calculated, and the World Aquatics Championships time standards for reference.

Calculation of Percentage:

Time Standards: