USA Swimming has revealed its roster for the 2022 Mel Zajac Jr. Invitational, which will be held from June 3 to 5, 2022 in Vancouver, Canada.
Swimmers were selected onto this roster based off their performances from the time window between May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022. This time window includes the 2022 U.S. Team Trials, which determined the rosters for the 2022 FINA World Championships and the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs meet. In order to be selected, a swimmer must be under 19 years old as of May 1, 2022. The roster size is limited to ten men and ten women.
The selection priorities are:
- Priority #1. The available swimmer with the fastest time in the 100-meter Freestyle and 200-meter Freestyle will be added to the Team.
- Priority # 2. The available swimmer with the highest FINA “A” Cut among any Individual Olympic Event will be added to the Team. This process shall repeat until the Team is full.
“Available” swimmers are those who were not previously selected to the World Championships or Junior Pan Pacs.
The Mel Zajac roster includes many swimmers who are too old to be selected onto the Junior Pan Pacs team, meaning they will be over 18 years old on December 31, 2022. This includes 18-year-old Cal commit Matthew Chai, who finished 5th in the men’s 1500 free but was not named onto the Junior Pan Pacs roster. Chai swam a time of 15:16.42 out of one of the slow mile heats, dropping 15.92 seconds from his previous best time.
Another notable swimmer that was too old for Junior Pan Pacs (despite being able to qualify had he met the age criteria) but eligible for Mel Zajac is Baylor Nelson. Nelson, a Texas A&M commit for the 2022-23 school year, will be swimming the 100/200 free, the 200/400 IM, and the 200 free. At trials, he finished 24th in the 100 free, 17th in the 200 back, 9th in the 200 IM, and 9th in the 400 IM.
In addition, since U.S. trials were not the only selection meet for Mel Zajac, there were swimmers who did not compete at trials that got selected to the team. Lilla Bognar, who clocked a time of 2:10.62 in the 200 back in August 2021, is amongst one of them and will be swimming the 200 back at Mel Zajac. Ella Welch, who went a time 55.55 in the 100 free in July 2021, will be swimming at Mel Zajac in the 100 free despite not swimming at trials.
Abi Liu, the head coach of the Bellevue Club Swim Team, was named as the head coach of the Mel Zajac team. However, she does not coach any of the athletes on the roster for the meet. Liu is best known for being the coach of Piper Enge, who will be representing the United States at Junior Pan Pacs. Gunnar Schmidt, the head coach of Club Wolverine, was named as an assistant coach. He is the coach of one swimmer on the Mel Zajac roster: Hannah Bellard.
Read the full Mel Zajac selection criteria here.
2022 Mel Zajac Jr. Invitational Roster
Women’s Team |
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| Name | Event | Hometown | Club | |||||
| Lucy Bell | 100 FL |
Fort Collins, Colo.
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Fort Collins Area Swim Team
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| 800 FR |
Grosse Ile, Mich.
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Club Wolverine
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| 200 BK |
Greenville, S. C.
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Team Greenville
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| 1500 FR |
Glen Rock, N. J.
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Scarlet Aquatics
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| 100 BK |
Miami, Fla.
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Eagle Aquatics
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| 200 FR |
Sarasota, Fla.
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Sarasota Sharks
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| 100 BK |
Montrose, Ala.
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TNT Swimming
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800/1500 FR
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Jensen Beach, Fla.
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Treasure Coast Aquatics
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| 1500 FR |
Moorestown, N.J.
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Jersey Wahoos
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| 100 FR |
Louisville, Ky .
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Cardinal Aquatics
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Men’s Team |
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| Name | Event | Hometown | Club | |||||
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800/1500 FR
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La Habra Heights, Calif.
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FAST Swim Team
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| JT Ewing | 200 BK |
Falls Church, Va.
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Arlington Aquatic Club
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| 200 IM |
Omaha, Neb.
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iNspire Swim Team
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| 200 BK |
Apex, N.C.
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TAC Titans
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| 100 FL |
Sebastian, Fla.
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Treasure Coast Swimming Conquistadores
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| 200 BK |
Zionsville, Ind.
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Zionsville Swim Club
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| 400 IM |
Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
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The Swim Team
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100/200 FR, 200/400 IM, 200 BK
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Huntersville, N. C.
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SwimMAC Carolina
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| 200 FL |
Fort Worth, Texas
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Lakeside Aquatic Club
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21 guys on one team, 9 on the other. Things that make you go “hmmm?”
I’m not sure I understand the link between rosters sizes for Junior Pan Pacs and Zajac or why we would expect them to be the same. Am I missing something?
Simply that one was supposed to be 10 and the other was supposed to be 20. But together it adds up. Something’s rotten in Denmark, and as you mentioned in the other thread, there seems to be a lack of transparency.
Where’s rex mauer?
Junior Pan Pacs.
I assume most of the swimmers will pick up a few more events
Why such a low #?
Probably because most going to jr pan Pacs and this is the overflow?!? A National teamers only have one option this summer so more juniors are getting international experience than senior ones!
No one swimming breaststroke ??
Only 9 men? USAS you have my info