Monday, June 21, 2021
USA Swimming Names 2020 U.S. Olympic Swim Team
OMAHA, Neb. – Following a successful two Wave edition of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, USA Swimming today announced a 53-member roster for the pool and open water competition at the 2020 Olympic Games Tokyo.
A complete roster is available online at usaswimming.org. Notable facts about the 2020 roster include:
- Allison Schmitt (Canton, Mich./Sun Devil Swimming/NBAC) qualified for her fourth U.S. Olympic Team (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020), becoming the eighth swimmer to do so in USA Swimming history. She is joined by veterans Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Nation’s Capital/Alto Swim Club) and Haley Anderson (Granite Bay, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores) who qualified for their third U.S. Olympic Teams (2012, 2016, 2020).
- Ledecky was a quadruple winner in Omaha, capturing the 200m, 400m, 800m and inaugural women’s 1,500m free titles.
- Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./Saint Petersburg Aquatics/University of Florida) won the inaugural men’s 800m free at Olympic Trials, in addition to the 1,500m free.
- Ledecky became the third American female to ever three-peat at Olympic Trials, which she did by winning the 800m free. She joins Janet Evans (400m free) and Mary T. Meagher (200m fly).
- Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Gator Swim Club) became the first American since Matt Biondi (1988) to qualify in the 50m and 100m free and 100 fly for the Olympic Games.
- Fifteen-year-old Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) became the youngest swimmer since Ledecky in 2012 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. Like Ledecky, Grimes will make her Olympic debut in the 800m free.
- Ryan Murphy (Jacksonville, Fla./California Aquatics/Bolles) will be the first American since Aaron Peirsol (2004 and 2008) to swim the 100m and 200m back at two consecutive Olympic Games.
- Other multiple-event winners included Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./University of Florida) in the 200m and 400m free, Michael Andrew (Encinitas, Calif. MA Swim Academy) in the 50m free, 100m breast and 200m IM, and Murphy in the 100m and 200m back.
- Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Seward Tsunami Swim Club/NLSC) became the first-ever swimmer from Alaska to qualify for the Olympic Games.
- Andrew Wilson (Bethesda, Md./Athens Bulldog Swim Club) became the first-ever NCAA Division III
- Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) has not lost a race in the 100m breaststroke since 2015.
- California is home to the largest number of athletes on the roster, with seven hailing from the Golden State. Five athletes are from Indiana and four from Florida.
- Fifteen Olympians are representing the U.S. in a long-course (senior level) international competition for the first time.
- The 2020 U.S. Olympic Swim Team boasts 35 first-time Olympians, 20 women and 15 men, compared to 31 first timers in 2016, 28 in 2012 and 26 in 2008.
- Eleven Olympians on this year’s roster will be teenagers when the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 begin.
The assistant coaches will be Peter Andrew (MA Swim Academy), Jack Bauerle (University of Georgia), Bob Bowman (Sun Devil Swimming), Todd DeSorbo (University of Virginia), Ray Looze (Indiana University), Terri McKeever (University of California – Berkeley), Anthony Nesty (University of Florida), Gregg Troy (Gator Swim Club).
The entire U.S. Olympic Swim Team opens training camp June 27 in Hawaii. This training camp will include a virtual media day on Thursday, July 8. Further details will follow shortly.
The Olympic Games pool competition will take place July 24-August 1 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, followed by the Aug. 4-5 open water events at the Odaiba Marine Park.
Note: All nominees to the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team are subject to final approval by the United States Olympic Committee.