Thursday, April 7, 2022
USA Swimming Releases Roster for 2022 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Following the results of the 2022 Open Water National & Junior Championships, which took place April 1-3 in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., USA Swimming today announced the names of the 12 athletes who will represent the U.S. at the 2022 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships September 1-4 in Beau Vallon, Seychelles.
Competing for the U.S. in the 10K will be Joshua Brown (Highlander Aquatic Club), Brice Barrieault (Sandpipers of Nevada), Mariah Denigan (Indiana University) and Summer Smith (University of Tennessee). In the 7.5K, the U.S. will send out three Sandpipers of Nevada swimmers in Ilya Kharun, Luke Ellis and Tokyo Olympian Katie Grimes, along with Fast Lane Aquatics’ Claire Stuhlmacher. The 5K will see Samuel Marsteiner (New Wave Swim Team), Nathan Szobota (NOVA of Virginia), Claire Weinstein (Sandpipers of Nevada) and Abigail Miller (Mission Viejo Nadadores) wearing the American flag cap.
The various events at the 2022 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships will be broken down into age groups, with 18-19-year-old athletes taking on the 10K, while the 16-17-year-old division tackles the 7.5K and the 14-15-year-old division competes in the 5K.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity back on our schedule,” USA Swimming National Team Open Water Director Bryce Elser said. “We have not had a major international open water competition at the junior level since 2018, so this will be a great opportunity for our best swimmers to race the best athletes in the world in their respective age groups. Our junior athletes have been successful on the domestic stage in open water swimming for years, and I am looking forward to watching them display their talents on the international stage again.”
The 2018 competition took place in Eilat, Israel, seeing the U.S. capture three medals (two gold, one bronze) across the three individual events. Tokyo Olympians Michael Brinegar and Erica Sullivan represented the U.S. at the competition, as did the 15-year-old Denigan, who is the lone member of the 2018 U.S. roster to compete again in 2022.