USA Swimming announced the 12 swimmers that will represent the U.S. at the 2022 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships on Thursday, with the competition set to run September 1-4 in Beau Vallon, Seychelles.
The athletes qualified for the team by virtue of their performances at the U.S. Open Water Nationals, which ran April 1-3 in Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
The U.S. roster features Tokyo Olympian Katie Grimes, along with four of her teammates from the Sandpipers of Nevada.
See the full roster and the events each swimmer will contest in Beau Vallon below:
U.S. Roster, 2022 World Junior Open Water Championships
Women
- Mariah Denigan (Indiana University) – 10K
- Summer Smith (University of Tennessee) – 10K
- Katie Grimes (Sandpipers of Nevada) – 7.5K
- Claire Stuhlmacher (Fast Lane Aquatics’) – 7.5K
- Claire Weinstein (Sandpipers of Nevada) – 5K
- Abigail Miller (Mission Viejo Nadadores) – 5K
Men
- Joshua Brown (Highlander Aquatic Club) – 10K
- Brice Barrieault (Sandpipers of Nevada) – 10K
- Ilya Kharun (Sandpipers of Nevada) – 7.5K
- Luke Ellis (Sandpipers of Nevada) – 7.5K
- Samuel Marsteiner (New Wave Swim Team) – 5K
- Nathan Szobota (NOVA of Virginia) – 5K
The events at World Juniors are broken down into age categories, with 18-19 year-old athletes racing the 10K, 16-17 year-olds competing in the 7.5K and the 14-15 year-olds taking on the 5K.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity back on our schedule,” USA Swimming National Team Open Water Director Bryce Elser said. “We have not had a major international open water competition at the junior level since 2018, so this will be a great opportunity for our best swimmers to race the best athletes in the world in their respective age groups.
“Our junior athletes have been successful on the domestic stage in open water swimming for years, and I am looking forward to watching them display their talents on the international stage again.”
At the 2018 championships in Eilat, Israel, the United States won three medals, two gold and one bronze. Mariah Denigan is the lone swimmer on this year’s roster who also competed four years ago.
Way to go swimmers!
Why did Paige Kuwata not swim?
If only Bella Sims would do the 7.5/10K. She has so much potential, and seeing her swim she seems like she would be the best of the best
Open water is so different than pool swimming, I think we need to see her in a true world-class field to declare her best of the best, but…either way, the answer is probably that there is way more money to be made in the pool.
Pool swimming is a much better career path for a teenager. There’s less volatility in results, there are more options, and there is more visibility. The upside of open water is that swimmers seem to be able to hold on longer, though more youth is moving into that side of the sport too. But, it also seems that swimmers are able to make a late-career shift to open water, so that door won’t close to… Read more »
Haley Anderson is a great example. She started out in the pool. She was on JR team in 800/1500, National team in 800/1500, then made her first Olympic team in the 10K.
Open Water swimming is very different from pool swimming. Often times, you will find swimmers that are much better in Open Water than the pool, or vice versa. Cadence Fort for example is a member of the JR National Team in the 10K, and in the pool is 4:54/9:56/16:51. Open Water requires ability to be aggressive, know how to ride through currents and waves, and know how to body surf in oceans. Throw Ledecky in open water, she may not be as good in the pool, and throw Cadence Fort in the pool, she may not be as good as she is in the ocean. It’s about environment
So agree…. OW swimmers are a different breed. My OW 15yr old would much rather swim a 5k than a mile and she might not win in the pool but she will always be competitive in the open water. There is something different about her swimming in a lake, river, or ocean at about 1.8 to 2 miles there is a physical change in her movement through the water. I find it interesting that most open water races have a required pool distance USA Swimming times to participate. Yet OW experience or events are not considered. I could not agree more with your assessment that there are such different factors an OW must consider/overcome and really doesn’t compare to pool… Read more »
I really hope she doesn’t abandon the pool. I’d prefer to see her focus on the pool with Paris 2024 and LA 2028 as main goals.
A golden career is promised to her in the 800 and 1500 free and I would also add in the 400 IM where she has a tremendous potential like Summer McIntosh in Canada.
Although our swimming typically focuses on the pool maybe these young ladies and gentlemen will help change that focus a little and help us see the open water side of things. A fast swimmers is a happy swimmer and wherever they are happiest competing — just a bonus it’s representing the red, white & blue I’m happy for them! They’ve got all my support!❤️🇺🇸💙
I was ready to do a Bobo parody post, but I got beaten by the real thing.
So I guess I’ll just do an Italian one instead.
Aye, mamma mia! Katie is-a going to start swimming in-a that open water and forget-a how to get to a pool, madonne!! That’s a spicy meat-a-ball. I hope she remembers how to swim inside the lane-a lines! Oh!
Erica Sullivan literally is 15:41 LC 1500, and was 5th in the 25K. Open water swimming and distance swimming is a lot of the same training.
Why can’t she do both, works for Florian Wellbrook
Does this mean Kharun is not eligible for pool world juniors now? He would definitely be a candidate for the fly races
I don’t think there’s an answer to that, because USA Swimming hasn’t said if they’re even going to send a team to pool world juniors (if FINA finalizes that and it really happens).
I mean, we don’t even have Worlds selection criteria yet, let along World Juniors, and the selection meet for Worlds is in 2 weeks.
Team Sandpipers!
Water temp currently 85. Might be 80-81 in September.
this might be a stupid question to ask but I do want to know. Is there world records for open water?
edit: And if there isn’t then what is the fastest recorded time swum in the 10, 7.5, and 5k?
World records are not kept for open water — each body of water is different, conditions are different (currents, wind, etc), so there’s no way to have a level playing field like you’d find in a pool. Courses can be different as well – I’ve swim events in loops, where you repeatedly go around a rectangle, while other times it could be a circumnavigation when it’s just one loop around. Even a course record can be misleading – the fastest swimmer may have had ideal conditions while the same event a year later could be facing heavy winds and inclement weather.
that is what I was sort of expecting to hear but never really had a clear answer to this. Thank you
It’s interesting that there is still a world record for a running marathon despite the differences in courses and conditions. I would like to see one for open water and have people try to create the ideal conditions to beat it.
I’m not too familiar with marathon rules, but I know that the Boston Marathon several years ago had what was at that time the fastest marathon in history (since eclipsed). However, it didn’t count as a world record (just a course record) since it was a one way course, point A to point B. “The fastest time for the Boston Marathon was set in 2011 by Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya who finished the men’s race in 2:03:02. Mutai’s time was the fastest marathon ever at the time, shaving about a minute from the previous world record, then 2:03.59, and set by Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin back in 2008. However, Mutai was not officially… Read more »