2021 US Open Championships
- Wednesday, December 1 – Saturday, December 4, 2021
- Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Info
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results (Omega)
Katie Ledecky headlines a talented field set to descend on the Greensboro Aquatic Center this week for the 2021 US Open, which will be held in just one location this year after nine pools hosted the multi-site event in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Ledecky, who announced a move to train at the University of Florida just over two months ago, is the biggest name entered in the event, along with a plethora of NCAA athletes that are coming off of competing in their respective invitational meets just over a week ago.
Ledecky is entered in the women’s 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle, with fellow pros Leah Smith (200, 800 free) and Paige Madden (200, 400 free) joining her in a few of those events. Smith, who recently changed training bases to the University of Texas, will tackle a wider variety of events with entries in the 200 back, 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM in addition to the two freestyle races.
Among the other noteworthy professional swimmers entered in the meet includes Kathleen Baker, who was representing the LA Current in the ISL this season but didn’t race in the club’s final playoff match. Fellow LA Current swimmer Maxime Rooney is also on the psych sheets, as is Cali Condor swimmer Coleman Stewart. Both Rooney and Stewart were competing in the ISL last week and are expected to remain in Eindhoven for the league final, which coincides with the US Open (Dec. 3-4).
Other pros entered include Mallory Comerford, Bruno Fratus and Madison Kennedy.
In terms of collegiate athletes, several top names from Virginia, NC State, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee are competing, along with Stanford freshman Regan Smith. Smith is the top seed in the women’s 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly and 200 fly, and is also entered in the 200 IM.
Highlighting the other NCAA standouts entered include individual Olympic medalists Bobby Finke (Florida) and Alex Walsh (Virginia).
We’ll also see members of the Korean National Junior Team in attendance.
EVENT SCHEDULE
The meet will kick off on Wednesday evening with timed finals of the 800 freestyle, and will follow a schedule very similar to that of the NCAA Championships (or an NCAA invite) for the remaining days.
Wednesday, December 1
- 800 freestyle
Thursday, December 2
- 400 freestyle
- 200 IM
- 50 freestyle
Friday, December 3
- 400 IM
- 100 butterfly
- 200 freestyle
- 100 breaststroke
- 100 backstroke
Saturday, December 4
- 1500 freestyle
- 200 backstroke
- 100 freestyle
- 200 breaststroke
- 200 butterfly
The meet will feature ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ finals, with all of the ‘C’ finals swimming after the ‘A’ and ‘B’ heats have concluded.
Good to see Claire Tuggle on the list. Wondering what she will bring, it’s been a while since she hit her listed times….but excited to see what she can bring before heading off to Virginia
Tuggle is an interesting one to watch. By virtue of age group swimming, she’s one of the best athletes ever. She has been at such a high level for such a long time, and now as a 17 year old, although she isn’t per se dropping as much time, is still amazing. I am not sure if it’s some sort of injury or just peaking early, but I can say that with college training, an Olympic birth in 2024 could very well be in the picture. Sometimes this happens to high schoolers.
No mention of Kayla Han 👀👀
I’m not expecting much from anyone who hasn’t swam a meet yet this fall. Gonna keep an eye on the results for the 13 year old
Name that is back that a lot of people are ignoring. Tate Jackson. Interested to see what he can do in his first major meet back from suspension
His suspension ended in May, a month before trials. Does anyone know why he didn’t swim at trials and pretty much went MIA the rest of the season?
Also, whatever happened to Devon Nowicki? Dude went a 59.69 LC 100 BR in summer 2019 and never swam at another meet (according to the SWIMS database).
Hot Take: Katharine Berkoff pulls an upset on Regan Smith in the 100 Back.
Katie and Bobby to sweep🧹
Fratus entered in the 100! If he doesn’t scratch that could be a nice off-event
Probably to get back on Brazil’s 4*100 FR relay. He was a 47.0 split on their silver-medal relay in 2017, and especially with G. Santos regressing and Cielo retired, a speedy split by him could help them get back into medal contention.
I really wish she was up for another ISL season. I have no doubt she knows herself best, but I would love to see her take down those 800/1500 SCM records in a SC championship meet! Hoping Florida has been good for her thus far ❤️