Olympians Katie Grimes, Michael Brinegar Leads U.S. Delegation to Open Water Worlds
Olympians Michael Brinegar and Katie Grimes lead a nine-strong Team USA to the World Open Water Championships this summer, as announced by USA Swimming on Saturday.
Worlds includes not just the 10-kilometer distance, which is the lone Olympic open water race, but five-kilometer and 25-km races.
The team includes:
- Michael Brinegar (Columbus, Ind./Mission Viejo Nadadores) – men’s 25K
- Brennan Gravley (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada/University of Florida) – men’s 5K, 10K
- Dylan Gravley (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada/Arizona State University) – men’s 10K
- Joey Tepper (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./University of Tennessee) – men’s 5K, 25K
- Anna Auld (West Palm Beach, Fla./University of Florida) – women’s 5K, 25K
- Mariah Denigan (Walton, Ky./Indiana University) – women’s10K
- Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) – women’s 10K
- Kensey McMahon (Jacksonville, Fla./University of Alabama) – women’s 25K
- Summer Smith (Agawam, Mass./Bluefish Swim Club) – women’s 5K
Both Brinegar and Grimes swam the 800 freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Grimes finished fourth in the Olympic final; Brinegar missed out on the top eight, finishing 17th in prelims.
Qualifiers for worlds were based on a points system, factoring in April’s U.S. Open Water Nationals and the FINA Marathon Swim World Series in Portugal this weekend. Grimes finished eighth in the women’s event there, while Tepper was the top American in ninth.
Brinegar and Brennan Gravley won bronze in the team event at the 2019 World Championships. The other seven will be making their Worlds debut for open water. Grimes is also on the roster for the pool events in Budapest, having qualified for the 400 individual medley and 1,500 freestyle. (The full American Worlds roster, for pool and open water, is here.)
The open water events in Budapest will take place June 26-30.