USA Swimming has released its selection criteria for the 2018 Short Course World Championships, selecting the team from the current National Team roster as established by the results of this summer’s long course championship meets.
Team USA will select its Short Course Worlds participants from the 111 athletes named to the 2018-2019 National Team earlier this week. Those swimmers were selected based off of the top 6 times from combined results of prelims and finals at the U.S. National Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships and the Junior Pan Pacific Championships. You can check out the full National Team roster here.
USA Swimming’s selection criteria defines “Individual Olympic event” and “Individual Non-Olympic event” as individual races held in long course meters only, which are held at the 2018 Short Course World Championships. Olympic events are those held at the Olympics, non-Olympic events those not included in the Olympic program (namely, 50s of fly, back and breast and the 100 IM). That would imply that the selection priorities calling for the fastest times in each event are specifically asking for the fastest time in long course meters, not short course meters.
You can see the full USA Swimming selection criteria here. We’ll break things down as simply as possible below.
The U.S. team for Short Course Worlds is notoriously hard to predict, as many athletes will decline their roster spots. Swimmers still in school and competing at either the college or high school level are particularly likely to decline the invite to the event, which takes place from December 11-16 in Hangzhou, China.
Simplified Selection Procedures
Roster capped at 26 men and 26 women
Roster selected only from 2018-2019 U.S. National Team members
- Priority #1: Swimmers with top 4 times in 100 free, top 3 times in 50 free and 200 free, top 1 time in other individual Olympic events
- Priority #2: Swimmers with second-fastest time in individual Olympic events besides 50/100/200 free
- Priority #3: Top-placing swimmer from Nationals in the non-Olympic events (stroke 50s & the 100 IM)
- Priority #4: Swimmers with fifth-fastest time in 100 free, fourth-fastest times in 50 free and 200 free
- Priority #5: Swimmers with sixth-fastest time in 100 free, fifth-fastest times in 50 free and 200 free
- Priority #6: More swimmers at the discretion of USA Swimming’s staff
It’s worth noting that most priorities call for the fastest times in Olympic events – that would appear to mean the fastest long course meter times. Priority 3 is the only priority which calls for the highest-placing athlete from Nationals, rather than the fastest time.
There are further restrictions based on FINA rules – a nation can only enter up to two athletes per event and can only enter two if both have hit FINA A cuts in either long course or short course. That’s typically not an issue for USA Swimming, but is included in the selection criteria and could be relevant if enough swimmers in a specific event decline the invite.
I’d love to see Morozov v Dressel v Andrew in 100 IM.
I bet Dressel does at most 3 practices a week in scm leading up to Worlds, and nailing the turns is all-important in that race. My money would be on Morozov. But it would be a sweet race.
1:38.0 200 scy IM. Morozov wouldn’t have a chance.
On a related topic, after the slow-starting PanPacs performances (NOT the athletes’ faults, mind you! – arrival in a totally different time zone 4 days before the meet begins for starters, etc. etc., don’t get me started), many may be hungry for breakout performances here since they lost their chances to swim while fully rested & time-zone adapted at PanPacs. Their swims could therefore be something special.
I like the USA selection process. Objective, not subjective! So I assume this leaves Madyson Cox not eligible?
No Michale Andrew 100IM title defended unless people give up there spot
Wait, really? That’s wild.
Not true. The criteria says the fastest two Americans from Jan.1, 2017 to Oct.6, 2018 in the event who are already on the team will swim it. Andrew is the fastest right now at 51.65. Section 1.3.9.
Things could be worse….they could have done what Canada did. Have fun with your team of 6!
Another classic by USA Swimming.
“Here are the selection criteria for SHORT COURSE World Champs.
You really hot at SHORT COURSE kid, not so good in an Olympic pool? Doesn’t matter, we’ve selected based on LONG COURSE times. Check that logic”.
Good stuff, my dude
Dressel would obliterate everyone. He’s even better at SCY than LCM, and I would expect his SCM to be in the middle.
It’s much closer to SCY, SCM pool is just over 2m (c. 7 ft) longer than SCY.
I don’t think Ledecky has swum Scm much, if at all. Lots of wr bonuses in play for her (not that she knows it)
I’d love to see her 400 IM again.
She swam the 2013 duel in the pool. It was the last time she lost a freestyle event over 200m
She was sick at this meet.
Well, she did as a kid (summer league – MCSL). And yeah, she was really fast then too!
With no blocks either!