U.S. Paralympics Names 2014 Paralympic Swimming National Teams

The U.S. Paralympic Committee has named their 2014 Paralympic Swimming National Team, divided into 4 different types of teams.

• The National “A” team are swimmers who won gold medals at the 2013 IPC World Championships, or who meet the National A Team standard during any IPC recognized event;
• The National “B” team are swimmers who had one or more top 8 finishes at the 2013 IPC World Championships and were within 3% of the bronze medal time, or who hit the National B Team standard during an IPC recognized event.
• The Emerging Team are athletes within 15% of the bronze medal time at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games, and may be invited to select U.S. Paralympic activities at the discretion of the Director of Paralympic Swimming High Performance.

Among the newcomers to the National “A” Team are Leticia Martinez, Elizabeth Smith, and Colleen Young.

Current benefits for members of the National Team:

1. USOC Direct Athlete Support, which is $800/month for World Championship medalists, $600/month for those who hit the National A Team standard, and $300/month for National B Team members.
2. Additional Paralympic Swimming Support, in the form of travel reimbursements to select meets, plus a World Record bonus of $500 in a  Paralympic event.
3. USOC Elite Athlete Health Insurance Program.
4. Hilton Hotel Discount.
5. United Airlines Discount of 5%.
6. Merchandise Discounts at the Olympic Training Center.
7. USOC Athlete Career Program.
8. USOC/Devry Academic Performance Partnership.
9. USOC Tuition Grants.
10. Use of “National Team member” designation in non-commercial situations.
11. U.S. Paralympics National team uniform.

A full rundown of the benefits can be seen here.

The 2014 target meet are the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships, which will be held from August 6th-10th in Pasadena, California. The team just completed a camp this week at the Olympic Training Center, and competition begins on February 1st-2nd at the TVA Para-RACES in Richmond, Virginia.

The first big meet is the 2014 Spring Can-Am meet in Miami, Florida, followed by the British International Disability Championship in April, the German Open at the end of April, the Croatia Open in early May, the Cincinnati Disability Open in early May, another camp at the OTC in June as a part of the Jimi Flowers Classic weekend, and then the big meet in August.