Courtesy: USA Deaf Swimming
The USADS National Team just missed the medal podium on Day 4 of the 2019 World Deaf Swimming Championships but made progress on personal best times and gained valuable competition experience. There are 14 athletes on the current national team. Eight of these athletes are under 18, and seven are first time members of the national team. The team is coached by Brad Robbins, Head Coach, from Tigard Tualatin Swim Club in Oregon; and Chris Daly, Assistant Coach, from Chico Aquajets in Chico, California.
USA Deaf Swimming National Team Members
| Elizabeth Cocker (California)* | Kaitlyn Weatherby (New Jersey)* |
| Carli Cronk (Texas) | Anquniece Wheeler (Michigan) |
| Trysta Duerson (Oklahoma) | Tyler Brown (Kentucky)* |
| Samanth Fujii (California) | Collin Davis (North Carolina) |
| Molly Likins (Michigan)* | Daniel Pletenets (Florida) |
| Emily Massengale (Florida)* | Cooper Willetts (Texas)* |
| Brooke Thompson (Michigan) | Matthew Zou (Maryland)* |
*Returning team member.
In the Men’s 400 Freestyle, Collin Davis swam a personal best time of 4:16.68 to place fourth in preliminaries and followed that up with a sixth-place finish in finals (4:17.11). This is his first international competition with Team USA.
Carli Cronk and Brooke Thompson qualified for finals in the Women’s 200 Freestyle with fifth (2:16.08) and eighth place (2:17.04) finishes respectively. Cronk placed fourth in finals with a time of 2:14.22 (PR), and Thompson placed eighth with a new personal best time of 2:16.78.
Team USA placed 22nd (Pletenets), 23rd (Zou), and 24th (Brown) in the Men’s 50 Fly preliminaries.
Emily Massengale qualified for finals in the Women’s 50 Backstroke with a time of 32.62. She lowered that time to 32.02 to place fifth in finals. Brooke Thompson placed eleventh in prelims, Fujii placed 13th, and Duerson placed 15th in prelims.
The strongest finisher of the day was Cooper Willetts who was seeded first in the Men’s 200 Breaststroke after preliminaries with a morning swim time of 2:25.14. He lowered that time to a personal best of 2:22.62 in finals and was just out-touched at the wall by Nikita Semin from Russia. Willetts placed fourth just ahead of Deaflympian Terence Parkin (2:23.06). Also swimming the 200 Breast final was Daniel Pletenets who placed eighth in finals with a time of 2:39.92 (PR). This is the first World Championship for Pletenets.
The evening ended with a fifth-place finish in the Men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 8:35.07 by Davis, Zou, Pletenets, and Willetts.
DAY 4 PRELIMINARIES
Men’s 400 Freestyle
4th—Collin Davis, 4:16.68 (PR) Qualified
Women’s 200 Freestyle
5th— Carli Cronk, 2:16.08 Qualified
8th— Brooke Thompson, 2:17.04 Qualified
Men’s 50 Butterfly
22nd— Daniel Pletenets, 29.14
23rd— Matthew Zou, 29.20
24th—Tyler Brown, 29.30
Women’s 50 Backstroke
5th—Emily Massengale, 32.62 Qualified
11th—Brooke Thompson, 33.83
13th—Samantha Fujii, 35.08
15th—Trysta Duerson, 35.41
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
1st—Cooper Willetts, 2:25.14 Qualified
8th—Daniel Pletenets, 2:41.54 Qualified
12th—Tyler Brown, 2:46.11
Men’s 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay
6th—9:12.13 (Brown, Zou, Willetts, Pletenets) Qualified
DAY 4 FINALS
Men’s 400 Freestyle
6th—Collin Davis, 4:17.11
Women’s 200 Freestyle
4th— Carli Cronk, 2:14.22 (PR)
8th— Brooke Thompson, 2:16.78 (PR)
Women’s 50 Backstroke
5th—Emily Massengale, 32.02
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
4st—Cooper Willetts, 2:22.62 (PR)
8th—Daniel Pletenets, 2:39.92 (PR)
Men’s 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay
5th—8:35.07 (Davis, Zou, Pletenets Willetts)