USA Swimming will be sending 19 of the nation’s top 18 and under swimmers to compete in the FINA World Cup events during the month on November.
These swimmers were selected by criteria set by USA Swimming which can be found here. The team can hold 10 women and 10 men which will be chosen based on their World Rankings. This years team is only fielding 19 swimmers as only 9 men met the Priority #1 selection criteria.
Priority #1
Each Available Swimmer’s Time will be ranked according to the World Ranking lists. The Available Swimmer with the highest ranking will be added to the Team, provided her Time is equal to or faster than the 50th World Ranked time for women and provided his Time is equal to or faster than the 75th World Ranked time for men.
–USA Swimming 2013 FINA World Cup 18 and Under Team Athlete Selection Process
Leading the roster are Kathleen Baker, Gunnar Bentz, and Kathryn McLaughlin who each won 4 medals at this summers FINA World Junior Championships in Dubai. Reinforcing the roster with individual Gold medalists in Ella Eastin, Becca Mann, and Kylie Stewart a list which also includes Bentz and McLaughlin, the US looks to bolster its international medal count. The 19 athletes that are attending the World Cup events combined to win 27 medals at the World Juniors.
The Team will meet in San Francisco on November 6th before leaving to the country to compete in Tokyo, Japan from November 9-10, 2013. Boarding a plane on the 11th they will then travel to Beijing, China to compete on the 13-14 before returning to the US on November 15th.
Here is a complete list of the athletes competing and the clubs they represent stateside:
| NAME | HOMETOWN | CLUB |
| WOMEN | ||
| Kathleen Baker | Winston-Salem, NC | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Quinn Carrozza | Austin, Texas | Longhorn Aquatics |
| Ella Eastin | Irvine, Calif. | SOCAL Aquatics Association |
| Kaitlin Harty | Gardner, Mass. | Greenwood Memorial Swim Club |
| Becca Mann | Homer Glen, Ill. | Clearwater Aquatic Team |
| Kathryn McLaughlin | Dana Point, Calif. | Mission Viejo Nadadores |
| Kylie Stewart | Atlanta, Ga. | Dynamo Swim Club |
| Danielle Valley | Lakewood Ranch, Fla. | Sarasota YMCA Sharks |
| Hannah Weiss | Mercer Island, Wash. | King Aquatic Club |
| Brooke Zeiger | Cumberland, R.I. | Bluefish Swim Club |
| MEN | ||
| Gunnar Bentz | Atlanta, Ga. | Dynamo Swim Club |
| Connor Green | Milton, Mass. | Bluefish Swim Club |
| Francis Haas | Richmond, Va. | NOVA of Virginia Aquatics |
| Alexander Katz | Sarasota, Fla. | Sarasota YMCA Sharks |
| Jay Litherland | Alpharetta, Ga. | Dynamo Swim Club |
| Curtis Ogren | Menlo Park, Calif. | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics |
| Corey Okubo | Irvine, Calif. | Aquazot Swim Club |
| Paul Powers | Clermont, Ga. | Splash Aquatic Club |
| Justin Wright | Fresno, Calif. | Fresno Dolphins Swim Team |
School work can be a problem, yes, but the report above seems to say that only 9 boys qualified under selection priority #1, and that those 9 are the 9 listed.
It’s got to be tough to take nearly two weeks off of high school in November. I know Seliskar attends Thomas Jefferson HS in Virginia, the county’s math/science magnet school, and which is often ranked as one of the nation’s top public schools. I imagine 11th grade there isn’t easy even when you’re not missing much school, and lots of other big meets to come over the course of the year.
agree that missing two more weeks of school is a lot to ask….especially since some of them already missed a week or two of school for Worlds. there should be priorities there and hopefully their parents realize it.
No Andrew Seliskar?? I am surprised, he will be missed in the IM and 200 fly
He has high school states that week. He has some goals he would like to achieve. He was 47.3 in the 100 yard fly and 48 in the 100 back in his first dual meet for Clay High School.
No Caeleb Dressel? Was looking forward to seeing how he’d get on in SCM…