With the 2015 Duel in the Pool less than two months away, USA Swimming has released their men’s and women’s roster. 36 men and women will represent the United States on December 11th and 12th at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis as they take on the European All Stars in short course meters. The team will be coached by Georgia’s men’s and women’s head coach, Jack Baurle.
There are a ton of big names on the roster, but the two biggest names in American swimming right now, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, are not included on the roster.
The United States team will rely on the leadership of Olympic medalists Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian, Natalie Coughlin, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Caitlin Leverenz, Lia Neal, Conor Dwyer, Nick Thoman, Tyler Clary, and Matt Grevers as they compete in this special dual meet format. Simone Manuel, the hero of the 2013 Duel in the pool, is also on the roster for this year’s meet.
The team also feature up-and-coming stars Kelsi Worrell, Katie Meili, Claire Adams, Michael Chadwick, and Andrew Wilson. These five really blossomed in the last year. Worrell and Meili were the stars of the 2015 Pan American games, each taking home multiple Gold medals. Adams, Chadwick, and Wilson all shined at home, winning National titles in San Antonio at the US National Championships.
Claire Adams, the 2015 national champion in the 100 and 200 backstroke, will be competing in her home pool. She trains with Carmel Swim Club which is just north of the IUPUI Natatorium, where she competes several times a year.
“The Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool is an exciting format for the athletes, fans and viewers, where our sport’s most decorated athletes line up with some of USA Swimming’s future stars,” USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch said. “I’m looking forward to watching this group compete against a talented European roster, and the experience gained in Indianapolis will be key heading into an Olympic year.”
Swimmers can compete in a maximum of six events (individual and relays), and each team may enter up to four swimmers per individual event and one relay. A running score will be kept combining the points earned by both women and men to determine the winning team. The 2015 meet will be comprised of 15 events per gender (13 individual and two relays) with more than $120,000 in prize money on the line. The winning team will take home a portion of the winnings, while prize money will be awarded to the winner of each race. A bonus will also be awarded for any world-record swim at the event.
The 2013 meet was the most exciting meet to date, ending in a tie after the last event. The meet was decided by a mixed medley relay for 1 point to break the tie. The Americans put up Eugene Godsoe, Kevin Cordes, Claire Donahue, and Simone Manuel against Chris Walker-Hebborn, Damir Dugonjic, Jeanette Ottesen, and Fran Halsall.
With both squads opting to put their two men first and their two women at the end, there was no obvious advantage. On paper, Godsoe had an edge on Hebborn, Cordes had a slight edge on Dugonjic, and Ottesen and Halsall at the end both had an edge on their American counterparts.
The meet couldn’t have asked for a more ideal ending, with two well-matched relays, and everything on the line.
It was a close race throughout, but at the wall, the Americans touched in a new World Record of 1:37.17, with the Europeans taking 2nd in 1:37.37. That kept the Americans’ streak alive, and won the 2013 Duel in the Pool for Team USA.
The team was selected by Frank Busch and Jack Baurle. There were no time standards to achieve, but USA Swimming did defined their defitniton of “Qualifying Times” for this meet. All times from the 20152016 National Team members were considered, along with times done at the 2015 NCAA Championships, the 2014 Winter National Championships, and the 2014 Winter Junior National Championships. The team was then selected based on the following criteria:
“The selection of the Team will be at the discretion of the National Team Director and the Head Coach in order to field the best team possible. Athletes who have a Qualifying Time in any event will be considered for selection. Selection will be based on, but not be limited to: personal best performances, individual workload, other recent results and performances, consistency of performances, fatigue, health, fitness levels, training preparation, attitude and team chemistry. In addition physical and mental preparation of athletes in conjunction with their international and national experience, strategy of the sport, ability to score points in a duel meet situation and need to fill the team in order to win the Competition may be used for selection to the Team.”
Women
| Name | Hometown | Club |
| Cammile Adams | Cypress, Texas | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Claire Adams | Carmel, Ind. | Carmel Swim Club |
| Courtney Bartholomew | Holland, Mich. | Cavalier Swimming |
| Natalie Coughlin | Vallejo, Calif. | California Aquatics |
| Hali Flickinger | Spring Grove, Pa. | Athens Bulldog Swim Club/Georgia |
| Missy Franklin | Centennial, Colo. | Colorado Stars |
| Margo Geer | Milford Center, Ohio | Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics |
| Jessica Hardy | Long Beach, Calif. | Trojan Swim Club |
| Sarah Henry | Garner, N.C. | Aggie Swim Club/Texas A&M |
| Micah Lawrence | Pflugerville, Texas | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Caitlin Leverenz | Tucson, Ariz. | California Aquatics |
| Becca Mann | Homer Glen, Ill. | North Baltimore Aquatic Club |
| Simone Manuel | Sugar Land, Texas | Stanford Swimming |
| Melanie Margalis | Clearwater, Fla. | St. Petersburg Aquatics/Georgia |
| Katie Meili | Colleyville, Texas | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Lia Neal | Brooklyn, N.Y. | Stanford Swimming |
| Leah Smith | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Cavalier Swimming |
| Laura Sogar | Exeter, R.I. | Bluefish Swim Club/Texas |
| Kelsi Worrell | Mt. Holly, N.J. | University of Louisville |
Men
| Name | Hometown | Club |
| Nathan Adrian | Bremerton, Wash. | California Aquatics |
| Michael Chadwick | Charlotte, N.C. | SwimMAC Carolina/Missouri |
| Tyler Clary | Riverside, Calif. | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Kevin Cordes | Naperville, Ill. | Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics |
| Conor Dwyer | Winnetka, Ill. | Trojan Swim Club |
| Nic Fink | Morristown, N.J. | Athens Bulldog Swim Club/Georgia |
| Matt Grevers | Lake Forest, Ill. | Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics |
| Zane Grothe | Boulder City, Nev. | Badger Swim Club/Indiana |
| Connor Jaeger | Fair Haven, N.J. | Club Wolverine |
| Ryan Lochte | Daytona Beach, Fla. | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Michael McBroom | The Woodlands, Texas | The Woodlands Swim Team/Texas |
| Cody Miller | Las Vegas, Nev. | Badger Swim Club/Indiana |
| Josh Prenot | Santa Maria, Calif. | California Aquatics |
| Josh Schneider | Cincinnati, Ohio | New York Athletic Club/Cincinnati |
| Tom Shields | Huntington Beach, Calif. | California Aquatics |
| Nick Thoman | Cincinnati, Ohio | Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics |
| Andrew Wilson | Bethesda, Md. | Longhorn Aquatics/Emory |
All these silly arguments about which USA athletes could be avoided if you gentlemen joined the rest of us in SCM instead of SCY.
I fail to see why either SCY or SCM should be taken seriously.
Bill O – I don’t know why either. I think selection process is crap. Abigail should be in, and in MY opinion Danielle Galyer should have been, as well. Franklin is obvious in back, but then Adams and Bartholomew follow. Galyer beat Adams SCY and Bartholomew LCM this past year. (Bartholomew by 5 seconds at Nationals). Curious to know what pool the team was picked from, long or short.
Is Ledecky taking classes at Georgetown this semester? I seem to remember that being the plan, so my guess is her finals schedule means she has to miss Duel in the Pool.
Why would she be taking classes at Georgetown? She is going to Stanford. Did I miss something?
Sure James Guy is swimming ?
What about Abbey Weitzeil? How is she not on this team?
Do we know whether Phelps or Ledecky turned down invites or whether they weren’t selected? I guess I’m assuming they turned down the opportunity. Bummer! I was hoping maybe Ledecky would want to redeem her only off international performance (from when she was sick at the last Duel).
I’m surprised it took so long for someone to suggest this. I would guess that Ledecky and Phelps, and perhaps others, declined to participate.
Whatever the reason Phelps isn’t swimming, I’m disappointed he isn’t swimming.
Phelps has said many times his most important goal is to advance swimming. A great way to help swimming would grow would be to emphasize this rivalry meet, on in the heart of the United States in the country’s most important pool no less.
Of course Phelps knows the Olympics are number one to himself, other swimmers, swim fans and the general public, but him leading the American team into battle with the Europeans is in my opinion a big opportunity missed to create non-Olympic swimming hype.
Not to mention he missed the chance to swim with his national teammate at Kazan, I think this Duel is the last one the national team will gather around before The Trials.
MP and Katie were never regarded as better short course swimmers. Of course they’re both fantastic, but both of them are going to be training LCM full time in prep for Rio
So this meet WILL be scm???
Can anyone confirm, and is the event lineup the same as previous years?
It is surprising… USA gave up their SCY nationals for a LCM meet, and LEN/FINA gave up the SCM World Cup for LCM. This may really be the only SCM meet of consequence in the world for the entire year…
Well there’s the short course euros at least !