USA Swimming, perhaps trying to drum up some excitement for a controversial Minneapolis Grand Prix that was still two weeks away, last week announced an impressive lineup of Olympians that are set to participate in the season-opening stop from November 9th-11th.
The two headliners of the event are 5-time London Olympic medalists Missy Franklin and Ryan Lochte. Those two both participated in this meet last year as well: in 7 events, Franklin picked up three wins, whereas Lochte had a typical early-season Lochte meet: generally pretty slow (though his prelims 200 back of 2:00 was decent before scratching the final).
This year, though, the meet will be held in yards instead of long course meters: notable because of how much focus has been put on Franklin’s yards swimming as of late with her NCAA commitment to Cal.
We’ll delve further into the storylines to watch as the meet draws nearer, but there will be plenty of them. That includes Dangy Knutson’s first meet back after missing the Olympic Trials while battling an eating disorder.
Other former Olympians announced include:
- Conor Dwyer
- Claire Donahue
- Jimmy Feigen
- Garrett Weber-Gale (2008)
- Scott Weltz
- Chloe Sutton
Very happy to see Dagny Knutson back in the water without her problems. I’m sure the best is to come for her.
Whether Dagny goes 20:00 in the 50 or sets a WR she will be the swimmer of the meet in my opinion.
It really is a shame that the view of body image has become so twisted that even one of the premier athletes in the world like Dagny could struggle with an eating disorder. Here’s to hoping she is doing well now.