USA Swimming has announced that the time standards for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials will remain in effect through December 31, 2020, with a decision to be made later in the year if they need to be altered.
The organization issued the following statement:
The time standards established for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, to be held June 13-20, 2021, will remain in place and in effect through December 31, 2020. Due to the one-year postponement caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, later in 2020, USA Swimming will make a determination on whether the time standards need to be modified in order to control the size of the meet.
It was initially reported that USA Swimming would release new time standards for the 2021 Trials, in an effort to control the size of the meet, while those who had qualified prior to the COVID-19 pandemic would go unaffected.
As for the probability of standards changing after December 31, USA Swimming has indicated that it will depend on how many new qualifiers there are and also how many athletes retire from the sport. If the number of qualifiers exceeds 1,400, standards will likely get quicker. In April, we reported that 1,213 swimmers are currently qualified.
It’s important to specify that no matter what happens to the standards after December 31, any swims under the current standards prior to that date will qualify for the 2021 Olympic Trials.
The U.S. Olympic Trials are scheduled for June 13-20, 2021, in Omaha, Nebraska.
OLYMPIC HEAD COACHES RECONFIRMED
Additionally, USA Swimming Managing Director of the National Team Lindsey Mintenko has reconfirmed that Dave Durden, Greg Meehan and Catherine Kase are the U.S. Olympic head coaches for the 2021 Games. The news was announced in a press release on Thursday.
Durden (men’s team) and Meehan (women’s team) were initially announced as the head coaches for the now-postponed 2020 Games in December of 2018, while Kase was named the head open water coach last November.
Durden and Meehan are both first-time Olympic head coaches, while Kase will serve for the third time in the position after leading the Tunisian team in 2012 and the U.S. in 2016. Ashley Twichell, Haley Anderson and Jordan Wilimovsky have already punched their tickets to swim under Kase in Tokyo.
“These three incredible coaches remain committed now more than ever to leading our team to great success in Tokyo in 2021,” Mintenko said. “While we respect and understand the concern and uncertainty that continues to be felt around the world, together we chose to remain positive and to set our sights on readying a strong team for the Games. Dave, Greg and Catherine’s experienced leadership will be invaluable as we navigate these very unique and unprecedented circumstances.”
Who are the associate/assistant coaches going to be, or will they be based off of who qualifies for the games?
Yes, the assistant coaches are typically not named until the Olympic Trials, and are heavily influenced by who qualifies athletes for the team.
Okay, so just to sum up… if someone gets under the current standard during a meet before December 31, 2020… they qualify?
That’s correct. (But not in July)
Really excited for USA Swimming with this stellar staff! We are in excellent hands!