Luke Hobson and Chris Guiliano are not twins, but they do share a birthday! Both swimmers were born in June 25, 2003, marking a momentous day in the history of American middle-distance swimming as the two male representatives on the US Olympic Swim Team for the Paris 2024 Games.
Hobson and Guiliano are a demonstration of the birthday paradox, where if you gather just 23 people, there is already a greater than 50% chance of at least two sharing a birthday (though that accounts for only the month and date, not the year). At over twice as many, 48 including open water swimmers, the odds climb even higher – about a 95% chance.
Overall, they are part of a youth trend in American men’s swimming. Perhaps a bit obscured by a few veterans on the team like 30+ year olds Nic Fink and Chase Kalisz, most of the Olympic Swim Team this year is under the age of 23.
All ages based on the date of the opening ceremony, July 26, 2024
Means & Medians
- The average age of the whole team is 23 years, 140 days
- The average age of the men’s team is 23 years, 277 days, which is the youngest men’s team we’ve seen in a long time (thanks in part to the first two high schoolers to qualify since Michael Phelps). In 2021, the average age was 24 years and 87 days; in 2012, the team was 26 years and 96 days old on average, with a group of older swimmers (Held and Murphy are 29, Kalisz and Fink are 30 and 31, respectively) dragging the average up.
- The median of the men’s team is 23 years, 28 days
- The average age of the women’s team is 22 years, 288 days. The women’s team’s average age has stayed remarkably stable; while this is slightly older than all of the teams we’ve seen since 2012, all of the teams have averaged about 22 years.
- The median of the women’s team is similar to the mean at 22 years, 167 days
Zodiac Signs
In a trend that has happened way too often to be a coincidence, the two most common zodiac signs on the US team are Pisces (9 swimmers) and Aquarius (7 swimmers), represented by the fish and the water bearer. Pisces was the most common zodiac sign in 2012 and the second-most common in 2016 (behind Leo).
Zodiac Signs | |
Aries | 0 |
Taurus | 2 |
Gemini | 0 |
Cancer | 5 |
Leo | 4 |
Virgo | 2 |
Libra | 5 |
Scorpio | 6 |
Sagittarius | 3 |
Capricorn | 5 |
Aquarius | 7 |
Pisces | 9 |
There is a pretty consistent distribution of birthdays throughout the year (though nobody on the team was born in April)
Month |
Number of Swimmers
|
January | 7 |
February | 6 |
March | 6 |
April | 0 |
May | 2 |
June | 3 |
July | 3 |
August | 4 |
September | 2 |
October | 6 |
November | 4 |
December | 5 |
In another “what is going on here?” scenario, for the second straight Olympics, Wednesday was the most common day of the week for US Olympic Swimmers to be born.
Day of the Week |
Number of Swimmers
|
Sunday | 5 |
Monday | 7 |
Tuesday | 5 |
Wednesday | 11 |
Thursday | 6 |
Friday | 4 |
Saturday | 10 |
Holiday Babies
Katie Ledecky will again bring the luck of St. Patrick to Team USA – her March 17th birthday is celebrated around the world as St. Patrick’s Day.
Shaine Casas was a Christmas baby, having been born on December 25, 1999.
There are
Oldest to Youngest
At 31 years and 23 days, Nic Fink is 23 days younger than Allison Schmitt was at the start of the 2021 Olympics. Schmitt was the oldest member of that year’s team.
Simone Manuel at 27 years, 358 days is the oldest member of this year’s women’s team – a significant shift from where Schmitt carried that torch in 2021.
Claire Weinstein and Thomas Heilman, both 17 and born about a month apart, are the youngest members of Team USA for the Paris Olympics. They are both almost two years older than Katie Grimes was at the 2021 Olympics where she was the youngest swimmer at 15 years, 190 days.
Swimmer | Birthday | Age at Start of Olympics | Zodiac Sign |
Nic Fink | 7/3/1993 | 31 years, 23 days | Cancer |
Chase Kalisz | 3/7/1994 | 30 years, 141 days | Pisces |
Ryan Held | 6/27/1995 | 29 years, 29 days | Cancer |
Ryan Murphy | 7/2/1995 | 29 years, 24 days | Cancer |
Blake Pieroni | 11/15/1995 | 28 years, 254 days | Scorpio |
Simone Manuel | 8/2/1996 | 27 years, 358 days | Leo |
Caeleb Dressel | 8/16/1996 | 27 years, 344 days | Leo |
Abbey Weitzeil | 12/3/1996 | 27 years, 235 days | Sagittarius |
Lilly King | 2/10/1997 | 27 years, 166 days | Aquarius |
Katie Ledecky | 3/17/1997 | 27 years, 131 days | Pisces |
Charlie Swanson | 2/20/1998 | 26 years, 156 days | Pisces |
Erika Connolly | 8/27/1998 | 25 years, 333 days | Virgo |
Paige Madden | 10/22/1998 | 25 years, 277 days | Libra |
Bobby Finke | 11/6/1999 | 24 years, 263 days | Scorpio |
Shaine Casas | 12/25/1999 | 24 years, 214 days | Capricorn |
Drew Kibler | 3/9/2000 | 24 years, 139 days | Pisces |
Kieran Smith | 5/20/2000 | 24 years, 67 days | Taurus |
Brooks Curry | 1/22/2001 | 23 years, 185 days | Aquarius |
Hunter Armstrong | 1/24/2001 | 23 years, 183 days | Aquarius |
Katharine Berkoff | 1/28/2001 | 23 years, 179 days | Aquarius |
Ivan Puskovitch | 2/28/2001 | 23 years, 148 days | Pisces |
Alex Walsh | 7/31/2001 | 22 years, 360 days | Leo |
Carson Foster | 10/26/2001 | 22 years, 273 days | Scorpio |
David Johnston | 10/28/2001 | 22 years, 271 days | Scorpio |
Kate Douglass | 11/17/2001 | 22 years, 251 days | Scorpio |
Emma Weyant | 12/24/2001 | 22 years, 214 days | Capricorn |
Regan Smith | 2/9/2002 | 22 years, 167 days | Aquarius |
Matt King | 2/19/2002 | 22 years, 157 days | Pisces |
Luca Urlando | 3/16/2002 | 22 years, 132 days | Pisces |
Phoebe Bacon | 8/12/2002 | 21 years, 348 days | Leo |
Anna Peplowski | 9/25/2002 | 21 years, 304 days | Libra |
Matt Fallon | 10/3/2002 | 21 years, 296 days | Libra |
Josh Matheny | 10/16/2002 | 21 years, 283 days | Libra |
Torri Huske | 12/7/2002 | 21 years, 231 days | Sagittarius |
Jack Alexy | 1/19/2003 | 21 years, 188 days | Capricorn |
Gretchen Walsh | 1/29/2003 | 21 years, 178 days | Aquarius |
Mariah Denigan | 5/3/2003 | 21 years, 84 days | Taurus |
Chris Guiliano | 6/25/2003 | 21 years, 31 days | Cancer |
Luke Hobson | 6/25/2003 | 21 years, 31 days | Cancer |
Emma Weber | 1/13/2004 | 20 years, 195 days | Capricorn |
Keaton Jones | 10/13/2004 | 19 years, 286 days | Libra |
Erin Gemmell | 12/2/2004 | 19 years, 236 days | Sagittarius |
Aaron Shackell | 9/11/2004 | 18 years, 228 days | Sagittarius |
Katie Grimes | 1/8/2006 | 18 years, 199 days | Capricorn |
Luke Whitlock | 3/8/2006 | 18 years, 140 days | Pisces |
Alex Shackell | 11/13/2006 | 17 years, 255 days | Scorpio |
Thomas Heilman | 2/7/2007 | 17 years, 169 days | Aquarius |
Claire Weinstein | 3/1/2007 | 17 years, 147 days | Pisces |
LA Team could be a powerhouse if the <24 year-olds stick with it for the next cycle
Eight teenagers and only two 30+. Who of those 26+ today will still be challenging for a roster spot at LA28?
75% — a wild guess, nothing more!
I think Ledecky and Dressel, though in smaller capacities.
I think Dressel swims until 2028, just does it differently – doesn’t push through until the breakdown. He’ll take a Titmus-like break and come back fresh (but not completely out of shape) in 2026 ready to go.
Dressel in 50 free for sure and a relay spot maybe
Dressel 50 free and 100 fly…. Fly comes so natural to him… I cannot imagine him leaving it out of his lineup if he is still swimming.
100 free requires more/different training with unsure results (not sure if he would train for it just for the chance of a relay spot)
OK, guys!
It’s trivia, mostly trivia, but I still luv breezing thru this stuff.
MOST INTERESTING: the shifting “or not” of average ages of men’s vs. women’s teams.
A lovely Saturday AM read for me!
PS: Dec. 29 / Tuesday / way back when!
Learning that you’re a Capricorn is completely unsurprising.
(I have no idea what that means)
No 2005s?
Aqua Obscura
Shackell family meeting FY 2006:
We’re projecting a growth of customers from 0 to 2 over the next FY. We’ll reach 1 by the end of Q1 and if we really work hard, we should reach our goal of 2 near the end. Regardless, the FY06 money is allocated for the second customer should it arrive next FY.
Damn, the Shackells are only 11 months apart. Alex Shackell has an Irish twin and a real twin.
Three kids under a year old at the same time. God bless their parents!
And then they were done.
Other news sources report Aaron as 19 years old and born in 2004. Which makes more sense with him being high school class of 2023.
Yeah looks like I had a bad source on his birthday. It has been updated above.
Which puts him between Weber and Jones at (19y, 318d?) and makes a Virgo instead of Sagittarius,
Pretty sure Aquarius is considered an air sign smh
It’s silly given the name starts with aqua, but you’re totally right
Ya who let that fly? although tbf aeroius doesn’t have the same ring to it