With the Tokyo Games not far away, it’s time for some fun statistics on the birthdays and ages of the 50 swimmer United States Olympic roster.
The average age of the women’s team for the day of the opening ceremony on July 23 will be 22 years and 37 days old. The men’s average will be 24 years and 87 days old. The median age on the day of the opening ceremony for the women is 22 years and 141 days and 24 years old and 91 days for the men. The overall average will be 23 years and 62 days old. The overall median will be 23 years and 62 days old.
With the Tokyo team having a women’s average of 22 years and 37 days old, this year’s team is around the same age as the 2012 and 2016 teams. The average of the 2012 women’s team was 22 years and 219 days old, and the average of the 2016 women’s team was 22 years and 32 days.
With an average of 24 years and 87 days, this year’s men’s team is slightly older than the 2016 team but is much younger than the 2012 team. The average for the 2016 team was 24 years old, and the average for the 2012 team was 26 years and 96 days old.
The youngest member of the women’s team is distance swimmer Katie Grimes. She will be 15 years and 190 days old on the day of the opening ceremony. The youngest member of the men’s team is University of Michigan swimmer Jake Mitchell who will be 19 years and 213 days old during the opening ceremony. The oldest member of the women’s team is now four-time Olympian Allison Schmitt who will be 31 years and 46 days old. On the men’s side, it is American Record holder in the 200 SCM butterfly, Tom Shields who will be 30 years and 12 days old.
This year’s team has the most common zodiac sign of Cancer, with 7 athletes, but the roster only features one Aries. The team’s second most common Zodiac signs were Aquarius and Leo. Both had 6 members of the roster each. Pisces, the most common sign for the 2012 roster, was not far behind as it had 5 members. Some may say it is fitting for some of the most common signs to be Aquarius symbolizing water and Pisces symbolizing fish for the swimming roster.
By Zodiac Sign:
| Cancer | 7 |
| Aquarius | 6 |
| Leo | 6 |
| Virgo | 5 |
| Pisces | 5 |
| Libra | 4 |
| Capricorn | 4 |
| Sagittarius | 4 |
| Taurus | 3 |
| Scorpio | 3 |
| Gemini | 2 |
| Aries | 1 |
The Olympians this year were most likely to be born in the months of July or August. 15 of the 50 athletes were born in either of these months. Interestingly though, the least common months were May and June. Only four athletes total were born in these two months.
By Month:
| August | 8 |
| July | 7 |
| December | 6 |
| January | 5 |
| February | 4 |
| March | 4 |
| November | 3 |
| October | 3 |
| September | 3 |
| April | 3 |
| May | 2 |
| June | 2 |
Overwhelmingly, the swimmers were most likely to be born on a Wednesday. 14 of the athletes were born on Wednesdays, and 11 were born on Thursdays. Friday was the least likely day for the team to be born. Only 2 were born on a Friday.
By Day:
| Wednesday | 14 |
| Thursday | 11 |
| Saturday | 9 |
| Monday | 6 |
| Tuesday | 4 |
| Sunday | 4 |
| Friday | 2 |
There are multiple sets of swimmers who share the same birthday. Natalie Hinds and Torri Huske both share the birthday of December 7, though Hinds was born 9 years earlier. Bowe Becker and Hali Flickinger also share a birthday of July 7, and Flickinger was born 3 years earlier.
A few athletes will be able to celebrate their birthday’s during the Olympic Games. Simone Manuel will turn 25 on August 2, Alex Walsh will turn 20 on July 31, and Erica Sullivan will turn 21 on August 9, right after the conclusion of the Games.
One unique birthday is Lydia Jacoby’s. She was born on February 29 which makes her a leap year birthday. Katie Ledecky has a birthday full of luck as her birthday is March 17, which is celebrated in the much of the world as St. Patrick’s Day. Ledecky is of Irish descent on her mother’s side, and took Irish dance lessons until age 11.
Lydia having a leap year birthday just does not surprise me in the slightest
Erica Sullivan will have one fun 21 birthday
Must be a slow news day
I found this mentally exhausting
Can’t wait to find out what their favourite colours are.
Aquarius is an air sign, not a water sign. And the symbolism of the water-bearer represents charity and aid to those who need it most – it doesn’t have anything to do with water itself. Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio are water signs, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some correlation there if the sample size was large enough – typically water-sign people have more of a natural affinity to the water.
I do believe in astrology, but analysis based purely on Sun sign (not taking into account rising sign, moon, aspects between planets, etc) is just not going to show much at all. People’s personalities are very complex, and so is astrology.
Amazing that the average age of women Olympians is 22. Wasn’t that long ago when college was the finish line for most elite women.
Speaking of February 29th, I think it would be really cool to have that birthday, have red hair, and be left-handed. You’d have the whole package!
Speaking of left-handed people, I wonder how many on the National team are southpaws. Swimming is one of those rare sports — unlike baseball, bowling, and tennis — where the handedness of the player is not clear while performing it.
Probably just your breakout stroke in free/back would indicate it.
Also, people who are generally more dominant on their right side tend to bring their left foot back on their start. This might not be as strong of an indication though.
Lydia has only had four birthdays.