2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS
- June 15-23, 2024
- Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, IN
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Session Start Times (ET):
- 11 a.m. Prelims
- 7:45 p.m. Finals (varying based on broadcast needs)
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USA Swimming has officially named the six coaches who will be Team’s USA assistants for the upcoming Paris Olympics. They’ll be working with women’s head coach Todd DeSorbo (Virginia) and men’s head coach Anthony Nesty (Florida), who were chosen as head coaches last fall. Also announced were the coaches who will lead the USA’s open water team.
While the coaches will technically be divided into a men’s and women’s staff, per the criteria, they will all be available to all participating athletes.
You can click here to get some insight into the selection criteria and some of our-mid meet thoughts about who might get the nod. But without further ado, here’s the USA Paris coaching squad:
Carol Capitani, Texas
- Erin Gemmell – 4×200 free
The University of Texas coaching situation is in flux right now, with soon-to-be-retired Eddie Reese still there, new Director of Swimmer Bob Bowman there, and women’s head coach Carol Capitani there. There are currently three different groups under the Longhorn banner, and Gemmell was the only woman who swam under Capitani this past season to make the team. However, roughly another seven athletes who have been training at Texas recently made the team, so it makes sense to have some Texas coach in Paris.
Dave Durden, California
- Ryan Murphy – 100 back, 200 back
- Hunter Armstrong – 100 back, 4×100 free relay
- Brooks Curry – 4×200 free relay
- Jack Alexy – 100 free
- Abbey Weitzeil – 4×100 free relay
- Keaton Jones – 200 back
This was a no-brainer, as the Bears put six athletes on the team, including a good chunk of the men’s free relay athletes and both 200 backstrokers. It’s been just under two years since Durden, the long-time men’s coach at Cal, took over the women’s team as well, and the Golden Bears haven’t really missed a beat. Durden will be on the Olympic staff for the third time, having previously been an assistant in 2016 and the men’s head coach in 2020(1).
Braden Holloway, NC State
- Katharine Berkoff – 100 back
Holloway may only have one athlete on the team, but he brings a wealth of international team experience. He was the men’s head coach for World Championships (2022) and World University Games (2019) teams, and served as an assistant on several other teams. Additionally, DeSorbo served on Holloway’s staff at NC State during the Wolfpack’s men early meteoric rise early in Holloway’s tenure.
Chris Lindauer, Notre Dame
- Chris Guiliano – 200 free, 100 free, 50 free
It’s fairly rare to see a see a college coach get their first Olympic team appointment with only one swimmer on the team, but this one makes sense. The Notre Dame men have exploded in general over the last two years under Lindauer, and more importantly, this week Guiliano became the first US man since Matt Biondi to qualify in the 50/100/200 freestyle. It probably didn’t hurt Lindauer’s case that another swimmer training at Notre Dame, Serbia’s Andrej Barna, had a great week at Euros as well.
Greg Meehan, Stanford
- Torri Huske – 100 free, 100 fly
Another one-athlete coach, but Meehan has a ton of international team experience. He was the women’s head coach for the Tokyo team, an assistant for the Rio squad, and has coached on numerous other international teams over the last decade-plus, so like Holloway, he brings a ton of international experience.
Chris Plumb, Carmel Swim Club
- Alex Shackell – 4×200 free
- Aaron Shackell – 400 free
As head coach of the Carmel Swim Club, Plumb has led one of the most consistently-successful club teams in the country over the last decade or so. He’s served on several junior international team staffs, including a stint as head coach of the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Championships team. He got his feet wet on the senior international side as an assistant coach on last summer’s World Championships team.
Open Water Coaches – Ron Aitken (Sandpipers) and Cory Chitwood (Indiana)
The open water team will be led by a pair of familiar faces, as Aitken and Chitwood also led the 2023 World Open Water Championships squad last summer. Aitken, the head coach of the Nevada Sandpipers, has Sandpipers swimmers Katie Grimes and Claire Weinstein on the pool team, and Grimes is also slated to contest in the open water discipline.
Surprisingly, Indiana head coach Ray Looze wasn’t selected for the pool staff, despite putting four swimmers on the team, but Chitwood’s selection ensures that the Hoosiers are represented in some capacity. Additionally, several other Indiana swimmers will represent other countries in Paris, so Looze will probably be on deck in Paris anyway.
Some of y’all need to stop tripping. There are four coaches with one swimmer on the team, and you are only picking on Carol? I’m big on the Wyatt fan club, and I don’t think I would have picked him over Carol for this. Carol is a head coach with experience leading delegations to international meets for USA Swimming. Even if you accept the premise she isn’t an elite coach (and I’m not her biggest fan), no one is asking her to develop an athlete over a season(s) right now to earn gold. She’s helping out for a month. She isn’t going to ruin any athletes. I think the task she is being given is an area she excels. … Read more »
Carol is the best women coach , it is not the first time for her to coach us team Stop all this negativity and nonsense comments, please!!
Trolls need to stop acting like this was a gender hire. An amazing coach from a now COMBINED Texas staff was added to the roster. Eddie is retired. Wyatt is no longer repping the burnt orange. Bowman is going to coach France.
React more to someone like JJ Redick being named the head coach of the Lakers with a coaching resume of one year as a volunteer coach of a 4th grade basketball team.
Comments do not pass the vibe check. And we wonder why there aren’t many high level, elite, female coaches.
Carol is great coach who brings an incredible energy to the pool. She will be well liked by the team and has a positive affect on the people around her, She is a great choice.
She’s average at best… strongest program with NIL great institution legacy. Her results are fine, however she was on the hot seat and forced to make a change. Here comes Mitch Dalton… program has had quite a an uptick.
How many females from 10 years ago are still here and yet she is just an assistant coach for one lady… slim pickings. I don’t remember making a team for one athlete ever. This is a wild card folks.
So Carol is definitely the coach at Texas. What Mitch brought was a boost in recruiting. Roric is a better coach than both, but I’m not sure he is the guy you go there for from a recruiting perspective. He would be a guy you stay there for. But Mitch didn’t show up at Texas and the coaching suddenly got better. He just got better recruits, and there is no doubt his previous job as junior national team director factored into his hiring. He knew everyone. I generally think Mitch is a good guy who really tries to support the women. And I think he’s exactly what Carol wants, which does mean something.
Coaches have absolutely been appointed with… Read more »
As someone who has been personally coached by Carol Capitani (for eight years) she is an exceptional coach. Should the team have a female coach? Absolutely. But being female isn’t what makes her a great choice, Carol is one of the best coaches out there. She’s coached national champions, Olympic medallists, world champions, etc. She’s more than qualified.
Those who might be upset or in disagreement with Carol Capitani named to this prestigious team are not anti-woman or misogynistic and to call them that is just uneducated and mean. People want the best coaches named to the Olympic team. That’s all. We all want people named to this team who deserve to be based on their coaching success with current swimmers along with proven ability and qualification. That’s all. There are some times its important to “hire” or award a position based on somebody’s deserved qualifications and hard earned skill set rather than on the basis of some quota. Several other coaches deserved this over Capitani. USA Swimming failed on this. End of story. That’s what people are… Read more »
The regression of Jillian Cox, Erin Gemmell, Lydia Jacoby during the 2023-2024 Season speaks to the coaching of Carol Capitani.
Interesting…. all had some pbs this past season… want to try again?
Carol Capitani did not coach Jillian Cox
Jillian Cox took a redshirt and trained with her club coach. Gemmell did pbs in all her major SC events and was within a couple tenths in her LC events. Listen to what Lydia had to say in her statement. Of course you probably know all this already since it’s obvious you make stuff up to troll Capitani.
You’re so naive if you truly believe that. She’s an incredible coach, and you suggesting that she’s not is just pathetic. Keep defending the misogyny.
Has nothing to do with her gender and for you to think so is pretty shallow.
Since the three athletes you mentioned had pbs this season…I can’t think of another reason you’d give false info. Can you?
Flatlander didn’t name any athletes. That was a different commenter.
Thank you for pointing that out.
People really mad about one (1) woman being on the coaching staff
No. People are realizing this is what happens when you reward diversification over qualification. Most people would rather have the best coaches rather than coaches who fill a quota.
I knew I didn’t need to look far for a comment like yours… truly sad that you see the world like this… take your misogyny (and I’m guessing this carries over into racism) elsewhere
You’re either not a strong reader, not a good listener or hopelessly entrenched in a shallow worldview. Hopefully its the first one or two. Thanks. Have a great week.
I’m a strong reader.. you, however, lie to support your quota theory.. which would carry over to any person who you feel only received the position due to sex, ethnicity, etc.. really not a stretch to assume you have a chip on your shoulder..
Braden Holloway also only has one athlete on the team. I don’t see any comments mentioning other people deserving the spot over him?
Not saying Carol is the greatest coach or anything like that but she has a swimmer that qualified for the team and she’s a head women’s coach at a relatively successful team.
The hate in the comments is just a bit over the top
She didn’t coach at Georgia she was opps and has struggled until Mitch was hired. Give her all the credit for hiring him, all she has done.
Incorrect. She coached for all 12 years that she was there. She was the breaststroke group coach, she coached me.
please dont get blinded by the diversification. Bowman had something to do this this. And yes, Carol is a good coach however USA swimming did not name asst coaches based on merit. That’s the shameful aspect.
not suprising
I would rather have Bruce Gemmell coach his daughter.