USA Swimming has announced a lineup of 102 swimmers, 51 boys and 51 girls, who will attend the USA Swimming National Select Camps, postponed from the fall of 2020 to October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A description of the camp’s activities from USA Swimming:
“During the three-day camps, the 51 boys and 51 girls attending will experience the day-to-day routine of a National Team athlete. The campers will learn from top aquatic professionals about post-race recovery, drug and supplement rules, psychological training skills, nutrition and race strategy. 2020 Tokyo Olympic alumni of the program include Katie Ledecky, Michael Andrew, Lily King, Hali Flickinger, Kieran Smith and Bobby Finke.”
Included on the 2020 Roster are a number top swimmers from the high school class of 2022, including Lucy Malys, Emma Karam, Sophie Duncan, Ella Welch, Josh Zuchowski, Liam Custer, Landon Gentry, Sebastien Sergile, Will Hayon, Ryan Branon, and Levi Sandidge; and from the class of 2023: Lucy Thomas, Keelan Cotter, Will Modglin, Andrew Taylor, Will Heck, and Bert Najera.
Swimmers were selected from the SWIMS database using their top time throughout the January 1, 2019-August 31, 2020, qualifying period. The three-fastest athletes of each gender, aged 14-16, in each Olympic event earned an invite. Thereafter, the six swimmers with the best IMX scores and the top-three open water swimmers, who weren’t already selected, were included to round out the 51 slots per gender.
The National Select Camps are slated for October 7-10, 2021 (girls) and October 14-17, 2021 (boys) at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, California. The swimmers will be joined by established staff members chosen from various teams around the country. A complete roster of camp participants, including staff members, for both boys and girls is now available.
NOTE: Athletes must be US Citizens and be able to represent the USA in international competitions. Athletes who are on or have been on any National Teams/National Junior Teams or USA Swimming international trips, including the 2018, 2019 and/or 2020 National Junior team will not be eligible for the National Select Camp. Athletes who previously attended the National Select Camp are also not eligible. If a swimmer is qualifying based on the Open Water Junior Nationals Championship, then they cannot have qualified for the National Team and/or National Junior Team for Open Water or the pool OR represented USA Swimming internationally in an open water or pool competition.
Awesome!!! Happy for these swimmers!
I wonder when they will announce the National Junior Team? Oh, I think they all got selected to go to Europe for first 2 World Cup meets… an article about that, focusing on the Junior Team, would be cool.