2017 U.S. NATIONALS/WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TRIALS
- Tuesday, June 27th-Saturday, July 1st
- 50-Meter Course
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Meet Info
- Prelims timelines
- Broadcast schedule
- Event-by-event previews
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream (U.S. viewers)
- Live Stream (International viewers)
One of the more intriguing questions about the U.S. Nationals psych sheets has been answered: Italian national Mitch D’Arrigo will be transitioning his sports citizenship to the United States for this summer. He won’t be able to make the switch in time for the World Championships, but could earn a spot on the United States World University Games roster this summer.
D’Arrigo appeared on the psych sheets with an asterisk, typically denoting a foreign swimmer. However, this year’s Nationals are not an “open” event, meaning D’Arrigo needed approval from USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch to gain entry to the meet. We reached out to USA Swimming for more information, and they got back to us this morning with the news that D’Arrigo is making the leap to the United States for his international sporting citizenship.
“After representing Italy earlier in his career, he is transitioning his national affiliation to the United States,” a USA Swimming spokesperson told SwimSwam. “Per FINA rules, he must have not represented Italy internationally for more than one year before being eligible to represent the U.S. That date comes after this summer’s FINA World Championships but before the subsequent World University Games.”
As such, D’Arrigo will be able to swim in tonight’s 200 free final. He finished 5th earlier this morning, spurring some question about whether he’d be allowed in the A final or relegated to the B, as is common for international athletes competing in another nation’s selection meet.
D’Arrigo just wrapped up his eligibility for the University of Florida this past spring.
D’Arrigo has competed for Italy at the European Championships since 2012, winning three silvers and two bronzes. He’s been a member of Italy’s 4×200 free relay and also won medals in the 400 free in 2012 (bronze, short course), 2013 (silver, short course) and 2014 (silver, long course). Here’s a look at his best times, per SwimRanking.net:
LCM:
- 200 free: 1:47.18
- 400 free: 3:46.91
- 100 free: 50.68
No disrespect to Mitch, but this was probably the dumbest decision I’ve seen and had no reasoning behind it. He eliminated Roberts from having a chance at Worlds, but it could have easily been fixed by simply bumping him to 9th. Basically, he swam in A final where his best-case scenario could only qualify for the WUGs team (which he pretty much locked up already) and could be reached from the B final as well, and had roberts swim in the B final where he could at best make the WUGs team as well and have no shot at worlds. Poor decision by frank busch. We’re here to pick the best team possible for the world championships and you screwed… Read more »
Welcome aboard Mitch.
not fair
Let Roberts swim
This is a very odd spot. Roberts gets a swim tonite in the B final. If his time tonite is faster than a couple of A finalists, it can’t count for more (for him or anyone else in the B final). So with D’Arrigo in the A final finishing top 6, 7th is really 6th for the last relay spot.
I think D’Arrigo should relegate to the B final. No slight to him, but he’s on the WUG team without doubt. Roberts deserves his shot at the Worlds team. D’Arrigo doesn’t have that by way of the rules. This disposition by USA Swimming seems dumb.
The rich get richer. Good depth for the relay in the future.