USA Swimming Names 99 Athletes To 2022-23 National Team Roster

USA Swimming named 99 swimmers to its National Team Roster for the 2022-23 season on Wednesday. The qualifying period for the team came to a close at the end of August.

The National Team roster consists of the top-six ranked swimmers in each individual Olympic event from the U.S. inside the qualifying period, which began on January 1, 2022, and runs until August 31, 2022.

👊 𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 👊

Your 2022-2023 U.S. National Team presented by @Toyota ➡️ https://t.co/4JGA0U04DE pic.twitter.com/wpHCHCkSoA

— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) September 7, 2022

The 99-member team includes 46 women and 53 men, with 26 of the athletes earning selection for the first time. Last season, the roster consisted of 114 total athletes—51 women and 63 men.

WOMEN’S ROSTER

MEN’S ROSTER

“This year’s National Team roster features a good mix of veteran presence and emerging talent,” USA Swimming National Team Managing Director Lindsay Mintenko said.

“This roster showcases the strength of both our club and college systems. These athletes had strong showings nationally and internationally this past year, and we look forward to seeing them compete as we look to next year and ultimately the 2024 Paris Olympics.”

• Full National Team Roster

Six different swimmers are tied for having qualified for the team in the most events with five: Shaine Casas, Claire Curzan, Carson Foster, Katie Grimes, Katie Ledecky and Leah Smith. Note that one of Grimes’ five is the 10K open water event. The open water swimmers on the National Team were previously announced in May.

While there was some uncertainty about whether or not the times registered at the Duel In The Pool were official, USA Swimming is considering them to be eligible for the National Team.

While meet organizers said that Duel in the Pool times were not sanctioned, USA Swimming explained that the following criteria was used to select the team: “The six (6) athletes with the fastest times in each Individual Olympic Event, from the combined results of (i) a USA Swimming sanctioned competition, (ii) a FINA approved competition, or (iii) an international competition between January 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022, to which USA Swimming sent a team.”

Duel in the Pool would count under a literal interpretation of the third clause of that section, which was a late addition to the selection criteria (which can be seen redlined here).

In the last month, the criteria have been updated to include “an international competition between January 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022, to which USA Swimming sent a team” as an eligible qualifying event. Previously, the criteria only included “USA Swimming sanctioned” and “FINA approved” competitions.

• Full U.S. National Team qualifying criteria

Just over a month ago, we took a look at how the National Team roster was shaping up with only a few more high-level meets on the schedule—most notably the Duel In The Pool and the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

While the majority of those projections stayed intact, there were a few changes.

• Trenton Julian added a fourth event, the men’s 200 freestyle, after clocking a time of 1:46.66 at the Duel In The Pool to bump out Grant House (1:46.68).
• Aaron Shackell made his way onto the team in the men’s 200 butterfly, swimming a time of 1:55.81 at Junior Pan Pacs to knock off Chase Kalisz. Kalisz is still on the team in the 200 and 400 IM.
• Jillian Cox made her way onto the team in both the women’s 400 free (4:06.84) and 800 free (8:30.38) after her performances at Junior Pan Pacs, which knocked Hali Flickinger and Mariah Denigan out of their spots in those events, respectively. Both Flickinger and Denigan are still on the team in other races.

Among the first-timers on the National Team were recent Junior Pan Pac champions Erin Gemmell and Daniel Diehl, along with members of last year’s Junior National Team such as Luke Hobson and Leah Hayes.

Further details on the National Team Roster, courtesy of USA Swimming:

•  56 clubs represented
•  31 states represented
•  23 universities represented
•  36 Olympians
•  31 Olympic medalists
•  14 current American Record holders (LCM)
•  9 current World Record holders (LCM)
•  12 members of last year’s U.S. National Junior Team
•  California is the most-represented home state (11)
•  Longhorn Aquatics/University of Texas is the most-represented club/college (11)

Qualifying for the National Team gives athletes several key benefits, including access to monthly stipends, meet reimbursement, athlete health insurance, and Olympic Training Center access, among other things. Read more about the benefits here.

As previously mentioned, the 2022 Open Water National Team members were announced in May and will be active through October 31, 2022. There will then be a 2022-23 Open Water National Team announced based on these criteria that will be in effect from November 1, 2022 until May 2023.

The pool swimmers selected will be on the National Team through September 8, 2023.