USA Swimming has released its 2015-2016 Junior National Team roster, and it’s headed by 6-event qualifiers Katie Drabot and Michael Andrew.
The Junior National Team is made up of the 6 fastest eligible swimmers in each Olympic event over the past eight months – from January 1, 2015 through August 30th, 2015. All members of the Junior World Championships team also made the roster.
The open water swimmers were selected using the results from the 2015 USA Swimming Open Water Nationals, with the top 6 junior finishers qualifying.
The Junior National Team is only for athletes who are 18 or younger as of September 1, 2015.
Note: all members of the USA Swimming team that traveled to the World Junior Championships automatically made the Junior National Team. Due largely to the difference in the definition of “age” between USA Swimming and FINA, in some events that resulted in 7 swimmers.
Drabot and Andrew each qualified in 6 individual events. Drabot made every freestyle race from 50 meters to 400 meters, plus the 200 and 400 IMs. Andrew qualified in the 100s of all four strokes, plus the 50 free and 200 IM.
Also heading the list: Ella Eastin, qualifying in 5 events, Sean Grieshop in 4 and Maxime Rooney also in 4.
A few quick facts about the Junior National Team, courtesy of a press release by USA Swimming:
2015-16 National Junior Team by the Numbers:
- 114 swimmers named to the National Junior Team
- 33 states represented; California tops the list with 15 selections
- 80-plus USA Swimming clubs represented; Nation’s Capital Swim Club leads the way with eight selections
- 11 swimmers earned National Junior Team status in three-plus events
You can view the rosters in two formats below:
Way to go Katie!
And on September 30 or before, they will also announce the roster of US junior swimmers who will go to Dubai and Doha world cups early November.
http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/524390b2-7828-48a4-b164-645b2babef82/2015%20USA%20Swimming%20U-18%20World%20Cup%20Selection%20Proceduresv3.pdf
Bobo – I just saw the invite for that go out to eligible US Junior swimmers this week. Those are nice competition pools.
Weird to see Abbey Weitzeil on that list. I’ve just realized she wasn’t on the US national team.
Harnish 800 free?
Fan Swim – Courtney qualified for the senior National Team in the 400 free, and thus is ineligible for the Jr National Team in any event.
There are some members on the national team that would be eligible for the jr national team, that aren’t listed. Is there some sort of rule about that?
NickH – correct. You can’t be on both teams in the same season.
I think if you are on the National Team you are ineligible for the Junior National Team unless you were also on the World Junior Team.
Yes, good clarification – that’s correct.
More than six athletes qualified in some events due to the qualifications regarding birth year for FINA World Junior Championships versus USA Swimming’s Junior National Team age qualification cut off of September 1st 2015.
This was the explanation given to coaches: “This year we had more than six athletes qualify in some events due to the qualifications regarding birth year for FINA World Junior Championships versus our age qualification cut off of September 1st 2015.”
Why are there 7 qualifiers in some of the events when most of them are 6?
This is because all swimmers from the World Junior Championships qualify automatically in the events that they competed in.