A Look At the USA Swimming Roster For World Short Course Championships
USA Swimming announced its list of athletes who will represent the U.S. at the 2021 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) and the 2021 FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series.
Twenty-eight U.S. swimmers will represent the U.S. at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), which will take place December 16-21 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Fifteen U.S. swimmers who competed at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be taking the stage, including Olympic gold medalists Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Seward Tsunami Swim Team) and Zach Apple (Trenton, Ohio/Mission Viejo Nadadores), among others. American-record holders Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Stanford University) and Michael Andrew (Encinitas, Calif./MA Swim Academy) will also make the trip.
Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) comes in as the youngest rostered U.S. swimmer at just 15 years old, while Melanie Margalis (Clearwater, Fla./St. Petersburg Aquatics/MAAC) and Tom Shields (Huntington Beach, Calif./California Aquatics) are the lone 30-year-olds on the list.
• Check out the full roster here
All but six individuals on the U.S. roster will be making their FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) debuts. Andrew, Margalis, Zach Harting (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville Swim Association/Cardinal Aquatics), Ryan Held (Springfield, Ill./New York Athletic Club/Sun Devil Swimming) and Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield Aquatic Club/University of Florida) will all make an appearance after competing at the last championships, which took place in 2018.
The U.S. has finished on top of the medal table in each of the last two FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) competitions, totaling at least 30 medals in each outing.
The USA Swimming coaching staff will be comprised of head coach Dave Salo (Irvine Novaquatics), and assistant coaches Blaire Bachman (University of Virginia), Wyatt Collins (University of Texas), Bruce Marchionda (TAC Titans) and Ozzie Quevedo (University of Alabama).
Check out more on the competition here.
Also taking place in Abu Dhabi, from December 15-16, is the FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series, which will feature a 10K and team relay event. While separate from the World Championships (25m), the open water and pool teams will travel together to UAE.
Below are the U.S. athletes competing in the open water event:
- Michael Brinegar (Columbus, Ind./Mission Viejo Nadadores/Indiana University)
- David Heron (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores)
- Brennan Gravley (Las Vegas, Nev./University of Florida)
- Dylan Gravley (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada)
- Joshua Brown (Winter Park, Fla./Highlander Aquatic Club)
- Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada)
- Brooke Travis (Newark, Del./NC State University)
- Mariah Denigan (Walton, Ky./Indiana University)
The USA Swimming representatives at the FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series will be coached by Ron Aitken (Sandpipers of Nevada) and Cory Chitwood (Indiana University). Additional information on the competition can be found here.
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Melanie is only 29