The South African and Japanese rosters for the swimming portion of the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series have been officially announced. With the previous announcements of the Australian and Brazilian teams, we now have a much clearer picture of what the meet will look like. Only China’s roster is still a mystery at this point.
The South African team is led by Chad Le Clos and Cameron Van der Burgh, the reigning world champs in the 100/200 fly and 50 breast, respectively. Le Clos has to be the butterfly favorite at this meet, as he’s been on a tear as of late. Van der Burgh appears set up for several great battles with Australian Christian Sprenger, who took the 100 breast silver medal behind Van der Burgh at the London Olympics and then upset him for the world championship in Barcelona this past summer. Sprenger was also just a hundredth away from beating Van der Burgh in the 50 breaststroke at short course Worlds as well.
Japan’s squad is headlined by Olympians Ryosuke Irie, Kosuke Hagino and Natsumi Hoshi. Irie looks like the best backstroker in the field, coming off a summer in which he finished 4th at Worlds in both the 100 and 200. Hagino took home a silver medal at that same meet in the 200 IM, and he looks like he could be in for a tight showdown with bronze medalist Thiago Pereira of Brazil here. Hoshi took home the 200 butterfly bronze in London, and also finished 4th at Worlds in Barcelona. Notably absent from the Japanese lineup are backstroker Aya Terakawa (who announced her retirement earlier this month after medaling twice at Worlds) and breaststroker Satomi Suzuki.
The BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series will run from January 31st-February 2nd in Perth, Western Australia. Here are the 4 teams with full rosters announced at this point:
South African roster
| Men | Women |
| Devon Brown | Erin Gallagher |
| Ryan Coetzee | Lehesta Kemp |
| Jarred Crous | Clarice Le Roux |
| Charl Crous | Justine Macfarlane |
| Chad Ho | Trudi Maree |
| Mark Hunter | Rita Naude |
| Clayton Jimmie | Kyna Pereira |
| Calvyn Justus | Karin Prinsloo |
| Chad Le Clos | Marlies Ross |
| Daniel Marais | Tatjana Schoenmaker |
| Caydon Muller | Nathania Van Niekerk |
| Darren Murray | Rene Warnmes |
| Luke Pendock | |
| Hercules Prinsloo | |
| Christopher Reid | |
| Daniel Ronaldson | |
| Ayrton Sweeney | |
| Cameron Van der Burgh | |
| Giulio Zorzi |
Japanese roster
| Men | Women |
| Takuro Fujii | Sayaka Akase |
| Kosuke Hagino | Asami Chida |
| Ryosuke Irie | Natsumi Hoshi |
| Kenta Ito | Chihiro Igarashi |
| Kohei Kawamoto | Yayoi Matsumoto |
| Yuki Kobori | Mio Motegi |
| Yasuhiro Koseki | Miyu Otsuka |
| Takeshi Matsuda | Miho Takahashi |
| Katsumi Nakamura | Miki Uchida |
| Koichiro Okazaki | Kanaki Watanabe |
| Daiya Seto | Misuzu Yabu |
| Shinri Shioura | Misaki Yamaguchi |
| Yuki Shirai | |
| Sho Sotodate | |
| Akihiro Yamaguchi | |
| Kohei Yamamoto |
Australian roster
| Men | Women |
| Ashley Delaney | Jessica Ashwood |
| Thomas Fraser-Holmes | Bronte Barratt |
| Jordan Harrison | Cate Campbell |
| Grant Irvine | Bronte Campbell |
| Matson Lawson | Alicia Coutts |
| Daniel Lester | Sally Foster |
| James Magnussen | Ellen Gandy |
| Cameron McEvoy | Madeline Groves |
| David McKeon | Belinda Hocking |
| James Roberts | Emma McKeon |
| Christian Sprenger | Taylor McKeown |
| Kenneth To | Keryn McMaster |
| Daniel Tranter | Kylie Palmer |
| Benjamin Treffers | Leiston Picktt |
| Chris Wright | Emily Seebohm |
Brazilian roster
| Men | Women |
| Nicholas Araujo Dias Dos Santos | Joanna Albuquerque Maranhao Melo |
| Henrique Cavalcanti Rodrigues | Beatriz Azzolini Travalon |
| Marcos Antonio Costa Ferreira De Macedo | Natalia De Luccas |
| Brandonn Cruz De Almeida | Alessandra Christine Harrison Marchioro |
| Felipe Ferreira Lima | Graciele Herrmann |
| Leonardo Gomes De Deus | Larissa Martins De Oliveira |
| Joao Luiz Gomes Junior | Daniele Paoli De Jesus |
| Guilherme Guido | Bruna Rocha |
| Luiz Altamir Lopes Melo | Nathalia Siqeira Almeida |
| Thiago Machado Viela Pereira | |
| Alan Madeira Vitoria | |
| Daniel Orzechowksi | |
| Matheus Paulo De Santana | |
| Fernando Pires Dos Santos | |
| Henrique Ribeiro Marque Barbosa | |
| Tales Rocha Cerdeira | |
| Vinicus Rocha Barbosa Waked |