During the 2021 USA Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, each athlete signed a drum to signify becoming an official member of the Tokyo Olympic Team. While watching this monumental moment, some may have just considered this a right of passage. But Swimming World was curious to investigate: How many righties and lefties are there on Team USA?
Well, there are 45 “righties” and 7 “lefties” – 3 of those 52 athletes consider themselves ambidextrous! Here is the breakdown:
Righties (Men)
- Michael Andrew
- Zach Apple
- Bowe Becker
- Gunnar Bentz
- Michael Brinegar
- Patrick Callan
- Caeleb Dressel
- Nic Fink
- Bobby Finke
- Townley Haas
- Zach Harting
- Chase Kalisz
- Drew Kibler
- Jay Litherland
- Bryce Mefford
- Jake Mitchell
- Blake Pieroni
- Tom Shields
- Jordan Wilimovsky
- Andrew Wilson
Righties (Women)
- Haley Anderson**
- Phoebe Bacon**
- Erika Brown
- Claire Curzan
- Catie DeLoof
- Kate Douglass
- Hali Flickinger
- Brooke Forde
- Katie Grimes
- Natalie Hinds
- Torri Huske
- Lydia Jacoby
- Lilly King
- Katie Ledecky
- Paige Madden
- Simone Manuel
- Katie McLaughlin
- Allison Schmitt
- Bella Sims
- Olivia Smoliga
- Ashley Twichell
- Alex Walsh
- Abbey Weitzeil
- Emma Weyant
- Rhyan White
Lefties (Men)
- Hunter Armstrong
- Brooks Curry
- Ryan Murphy**
- Kieran Smith
Lefties (Women)
- Annie Lazor
- Regan Smith
- Erica Sullivan
Ambidextrous
Someone who is ambidextrous is able to use both their right and left hand equally as well.
•Phoebe Bacon
“I usually write with my right hand but I’m ambidextrous!”
•Haley Anderson
“I write with my right and do most things with my right, but throw and do sports stuff with my left.”
As Tom Shields noted, Haley is “crazy talented like that. Ambidextrous in sport, too.” Haley earned a spot on Team USA in open water but also swam at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, placing 4th in both the 1500 and 400 freestyle and 3rd in the 800.
•Ryan Murphy
“It depends what I’m doing, but I write lefty! I basically throw, write, kick with left. But if I’m holding something, I’m a righty. So I golf and bat right.”
Note: All findings are from watching the drum signing and/or confirmed by the athletes themselves. Whether Team USA Tokyo Olympian Andrew Seliskar is a righty or lefty is unknown.
~Are you right-handed, left-handed, or ambidextrous?~
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