9 Rising Female Stars Who Can Make a Team USA Impact on Road to 2028 Olympic Games
As the United States women excelled at the Paris Olympics with 18 total medals, experienced swimmers provided the highlights. Of the nine American women who won individual medals, seven were returners from the Tokyo Games, with Gretchen Walsh and Katharine Berkoff the only newcomers reaching the podium, and eight out of 12 finals relay legs were handled by veterans.
Of course, much of that core could stay in place in the coming years, with Walsh and Torri Huske both 21 years old while Kate Douglass and Regan Smith are 22, but it’s not too early to begin considering new swimmers who could break onto this team in the coming years and take central roles at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, much like Walsh did this year. Here are a few young, talented competitors to keep an eye on:
Lilla Bognar
This teenager from South Carolina put herself in position to pull off a significant upset at this year’s Olympic Trials when she stayed close to 400 IM favorites Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant through 300 meters. The two veterans pulled away on the freestyle — on the way to winning medals in the event in Paris — but Bognar built a name for herself with this third-place finish in 4:37.86.
Bognar also qualified for the 200 IM final and 200 backstroke semifinal at Trials, and at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships last month, she added gold in the 400 IM and silver in the 200 IM.
Jillian Cox
Jillian Cox — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Cox has previously represented the U.S. at an “A” level international competition, having surprisingly qualified for the World Championships team in the 800 free in 2023 and placing sixth in the final. She could not keep pace with Katie Ledecky and Paige Madden this year, ending up third in both the 400 and 800 free at Trials, but she will not turn 20 until next year.
Audrey Derivaux
Derivaux was one of the surprise finalists at Olympic Trials. At just 14 years old and entering her freshman year of high school, Derivaux knocked almost four seconds off her best time in the 400 IM to qualify for the final, and she later swam huge best times in 10th-place finishes in both the 200 fly and 200 back. She swam further best times in the butterfly events at Junior Pan Pacs, ending up with gold medals in both the 100 and 200-meter races as well as the 400 medley relay.
Rylee Erisman
Erisman, 15, looks like a rising sprint star who could make her way onto senior-level teams quite soon with up to six spots available for relay duty at most major meets. She qualified for the 100 back and 100 free semifinals and 50 free final at Trials before making the trip Down Under for Junior Pan Pacs and excelling, capturing 100 free gold, 50 free silver and four relay golds.
Erisman clocked 53.75 in the 100 free at Junior Pan Pacs, becoming the fourth-fastest swimmer in the 15-16 age group in U.S. history, behind the accomplished trio of Claire Curzan, Missy Franklin and Gretchen Walsh. In the 50, only Curzan has been faster. And Erisman just turned 15 earlier this year.
Kayla Han
Han got a taste of senior-level international racing when she represented the U.S. at the World Championships in February in the distance freestyle races plus the 400 IM. Her performance at Trials was uneven, as she did not qualify for the top-eight in any of her individual events, but she was the beneficiary of a scratch in the 400 free that put her into the final, where she posted a huge time drop to finish fourth. The 16-year-old won gold in the 800 free at Junior Pan Pacs, and she looks to be a consistent contender in the longer events in the years to come.
Leah Hayes
Hayes has not only competed on the senior level in the past, but she actually won a medal, setting a world junior record (since broken) to win bronze in the 200 IM at the 2022 World Championships. She has not returned to 2:08-territory since then, placing fifth in both individual medley events at Olympic Trials, but the talented Chicago-area swimmer has just matriculated at the University of Virginia. Entering that competitive environment with a history of helping great swimmers become elite swimmers should help Hayes get closer to her best times.
Madi Mintenko
Mintenko is the daughter of two Olympians, Lindsay (Benko) Mintenko of the U.S. (currently the National Team Managing Director at USA Swimming) and Mike Mintenko of Canada, and she has made inroads in the mid-distance freestyle events as she has progressed toward the national level. Mintenko was a finalist in the 400 free at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and she placed 10th in the 200 free at that meet. At the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, she won silver in both her individual events and helped the U.S. women to gold in the 800 free relay. Mintenko owns a 200 free best time of 1:58.02, which is about a second away from the usual cutoff for senior-level relay qualification.
Teagan O’Dell
Teagan O’Dell — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The High School Swimmer of the Year in 2022-23, O’Dell has been a short course standout for years, but her long course swimming has come around. She qualified for the 200 back final at Olympic Trials and just missed the final of the 100. Her best event, however, might be the 200 IM; she owns the national high school record in the yards version of that event, and she won gold at Junior Pan Pacs in 2:11.57. She also won 200 back silver and two relay medals in Canberra.
Leah Shackley
Shackley was the 2023-24 recipient of the high school award thanks to her short course success in the 100 fly and 100 back. Before heading to NC State this fall, Shackley had a strong summer season, reaching the Trials final of the 100 back and the semis of the 100 fly before starring in the backstroke events at Junior Pan Pacs. She emerged from her Australian meet with four gold medals, two individual and two from the leadoff legs of medley relays, and she now owns the Junior Pan Pacs meet records in the 100 back (59.05) and 200 back (2:08.19).