USA Swimming has reconfirmed Dave Durden, Greg Meehan and Catherine Kase as head coaches for the Tokyo Olympics, which have been moved to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
USA Swimming Managing Director of the National Team Lindsay Mintenko made the announcement on Thursday. Durden will serve as the men’s head coach, while Meehan will lead the women’s team and Kase will lead the open water team.
Durden, the men’s coach at the University of California, Berkeley and Meehan, the Stanford University women’s coach are both first-time U.S. Olympic Team head coaches, while Kase, formerly the associate head coach at the University of Southern California, will be making her third Olympic open water head coaching appearance, with the other appearances coming in 2012 for the Tunisian Olympic Team and 2016 for Team USA.
“These three incredible coaches remain committed now more than ever to leading our team to great success in Tokyo in 2021,” Mintenko said. “While we respect and understand the concern and uncertainty that continues to be felt around the world, together we chose to remain positive and to set our sights on readying a strong team for the Games. Dave, Greg and Catherine’s experienced leadership will be invaluable as we navigate these very unique and unprecedented circumstances.”
The Team USA swimming roster for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be decided at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, set for June 13-20, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska, in what is widely regarded as one of the most competitive meets in all of swimming. As previously announced, Kase will lead a team of three Americans competing in the open water 10-kilometer race in Tokyo. The open water trio of Haley Anderson (Granite Bay, Calif./Trojan Swim Club), Ashley Twichell (Fayetteville, N.Y./TAC Titans) and Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Team Santa Monica) punched their Olympic tickets with top-10 finishes in the 10K at the 2019 FINA Open Water World Championships, where Kase was also the team head coach. The team’s assistant coaches will be named at a later date.
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