Final bags are being packed and final tests are being taken as today the Americans set off on their Short Course Worlds quest on Friday. The team plans to arrive in Istanbul early, ahead of the December 12th start, and hopefully will sneak in some time to explore the phenomenally historic city of Istanbul.
The meet will be televised daily on Universal Sports in the United States, though details are fuzzy still about any online live streaming. The taped-delay broadcast will be aired at 8PM Eastern each day of the 5 day meet (December 12th-16th) on Universal Sports, and then again at 1:30 in the morning for the night owls.
The official meet website is launched, and today is the official test event in the temporary pool at the 16,000 seat Sinan Erdem Arena on the more modern, European side of the city. Everything seems ready (though of course no psych sheets yet) for a fast competition.
The American roster has shifted several times, but the final squad is all settled in under the guidance of head coaches Eric Hansen (men’s) and Chuck Batchelor (women’s) and their staffs. This is actually Hansen’s third time The Americans are one of the deepest squads at this meet; that is the norm for them, but in this year’s case, as national federations around the world try to regroup after the Olympics, many international countries have severely cut back their rosters.
The Brazilians are without most of their stars; as are the French, who focused on the European Championships that were hosted within their borders.
The Brits will have a decent squad included Fran Halsall and Michael Jamieson, but that whole federation is a bit of a mess right now with coaches and organizers and swimmers jetsetting to every corner of the world. The Australian federation is in a similar position, though if Kenneth To’s World-Cup title is an indicator, they’re faring ok emotionally. They send a small roster of just 19.
The South Africans are headed down that same dysfunctional path; they invited 25 to Short Course Worlds, but trouble is brewing over who would have to pay for their travels, their two biggest stars Cameron van der Burgh and Roland Schoeman have backed out.
The biggest threat to the Americans, on the men’s side, is the Russians. They’re always very good in short course, and though there are a lot of NCAA Champions on the United States roster, the Russians have international experience and are more accustomed to that extra stroke needed in a 25 meter pool. There could be a medley relay upset brewing, though the Russian free relays won’t be as good as they were in 2010.
Check out Garrett’s interview with World’s Short Course swimmer Laura Sogar this morning as she talks about Istanbul.
| Women | ||
| Name | Event | Club |
| Ellyn Baumgardner | 50/100 breast | Curl Burke Swim Club/Arizona |
| Bonnie Brandon | 200 back | Mission Aurora Colorado Swimming |
| Chelsea Chenault | 4×200 free relay | Terrapins Swim Team |
| Maya Dirado | 100/200/400 IM | Stanford Swimming |
| Claire Donahue* | 50/100 fly | Western Kentucky University |
| Jessica Hardy* | 50/100 free, 50/100 breast | Trojan Swim Club |
| Kathleen Hersey* | 50/100/200 fly | Longhorn Aquatics |
| Andrea Kropp | 200 breast | Rattler Swim Club/USC |
| Becca Mann | 400 IM, 800 free | Clearwater Aquatic Team |
| Christine Magnuson | 50 free | Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics |
| Melanie Margalis | 100/200 IM | St. Petersburg Aquatics |
| Lia Neal* | 4×100 free relay | Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics |
| Megan Romano | 100/200 free, 50/100/200 back | Athens Bulldog Swim Club |
| Allison Schmitt* | 200/400 free, 4×100 free relay | North Baltimore Aquatic Club |
| Olivia Smoliga | 50/100 back | Glenview Titan Aquatic Club |
| Laura Sogar | 200 breast | Bluefish Swim Club/Texas |
| Chloe Sutton* | 400/800 free | Mission Viejo Nadadores |
| Jasmine Tosky | 200 fly | Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics |
| Shannon Vreeland* | 4×200 free relay | Athens Bulldog Swim Club |
| Men | ||
| Mike Alexandrov | 50/100 breast | Trojan Swim Club |
| Bobby Bollier | 200 fly | Stanford Swimming |
| Clark Burckle* | 200 breast | Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics |
| Kevin Cordes | 50/100 breast | University of Arizona |
| Conor Dwyer* | 100/200 IM, 200/400 free | Lake Forest Swim Club/Gator |
| Mark Dylla | 200 fly | Athens Bulldog Swim Club |
| Anthony Ervin* | 50 free | California Aquatics |
| Ryan Feeley | 1500 free | University of Michigan |
| Jimmy Feigen* | 100 Free, 4×100 free relay | Longhorn Aquatics |
| Matt Grevers* | 100 free, 50/100 back | Tucson Ford Dealer Aquatics |
| Ben Hesen | 50/100 back | Pacesetter Aquatics/Gator |
| Michael Klueh | 400 free, 4×200 free relay (added after Houchin dropped) | FAST Swim Team |
| Ryan Lochte* | 200 free, 200 back, 50/100 fly, 100/200 IM | Daytona Beach Swimming/Gator |
| Michael McBroom | 1500 free | The Woodlands Swim Team/Texas |
| Matt McLean* | 4×200 free relay | FAST Swim Team |
| Ryan Murphy | 200 back | Bolles School Sharks |
| Tyler Reed | 4×100 free relay | Southern Kentucky Swim Club |
| Tom Shields | 50/100 fly | California Aquatics |
| Josh Schneider | 50 free | SwimMAC Carolina |
| Steven Schmuhl | 400 IM | Indiana University |
| Garrett Weber-Gale | 4×100 free relay | Longhorn Aquatics |
| Scott Weltz* | 200 breast | Marin Pirates |
| Michael Weiss | 400 IM | Wisconsin Aquatics |
Is there anywhere we can go to get rosters for ALL the major teams competing?
Not that I’ve seen.
Is Vlad swimming for Russia in Turkey?
Yes.
Well Assad’s days are clearly numbered. NATO is deploying forces to the border as we speak, so chances of any attack getting through, especially to Istanbul, seems slim to none. Still, it does seem a little too close for comfort, eh?
Sure hope that Syria does not attack Turkey!
An American team on the women’s side without Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky is obviously a weakest team and I’m sad they don’t go to Istanbul but on another side it allows new swimmers to show their talent at the international level.
The new swimmers I will follow the most are Ryan Murphy, Kevin Cordes, Megan Romano and Becca Mann. I believe they can play the medals.
do we know who actually has retired? i noticed a few names that haven’t swum yet and aren’t on this roster….soni? shanteau? kukors? joyce? houchin? etc I know hansen has officially retired. are these others not formally announcing their retirement so they can continue to get the $40k from usoc/usa swimming? seems like wasted money.
Does this mean that Cordes will NOT get to swim the 200br?
JJ – correct. Weltz and Burckle both opted into this meet, while Shanteau and Hansen both opted out. That left two spots in the 100, and no spots in the 200.
Too bad. I imagine his national 200 time converts to meters very nicely.
Yes, it’s a pity that the best American breaststroker doesn’t swim the 200. But the rules are the rules. Thanks to the swimming world time converter, his 1.50.73 in SCY converts to 2.02.22 in SCM. With this time he would have played the gold medal.
Need to update the list. Kyle Whittaker, a late replacement, is missing.
jman – Whitaker was added to World University Games roster, not World Champs roster. See link below
http://swimswam.com/2012/11/michigans-kyle-whitaker-added-to-2013-us-world-university-games-team/