SW Biweekly October 21, 2021 Issue

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CONTENTS

SWIMMING WORLD BIWEEKLY OCTOBER 2021 | ISSUE 20

008 GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED BY USA SWIMMING

by Dan D’Addona USA Swimming will honor the top swimmers of Team USA at the 18th annual Golden Goggle Awards, set for Tuesday, Dec. 7, at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla.

022 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

010 USA SWIMMING ANNOUNCES GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE MEDAL CLUBS IN EXCELLENCE PROGRAM

by Dan D’Addona USA Swimming announced that 200 clubs will be recognized as Gold, Silver or Bronze medal clubs in the 2021-22 Club Excellence Program, led by the TAC Titans of North Carolina.

028 USA SWIMMING NAMES 43 GIRLS, 36 BOYS TO 2021-22 U.S. NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM USA Swimming announced 79 athletes from 61 clubs and 26 states to its 2021-22 U.S. National Junior Team.

Nation’s Capital Swim Club and TAC Titans each have four athletes on the team, followed by three apiece from Sandpipers of Nevada and SwimMAC Carolina. Leading the way in the most individual events was Mission Viejo’s Justina Kozan with four.

011 TOM SHIELDS LOWERS DRESSEL’S 50 BUTTERFLY AMERICAN RECORD

by David Rieder During the first two stops of the FINA World Cup in Berlin, then Budapest, Tom Shields won five events, with his final swim in the SCM 50 fly breaking Caeleb Dressel’s American record (22.04, set last year). The 30-year-old’s 21.96 makes him only the sixth man in history to break 22 seconds in the event.

012 THE OLYMPIC “QUADRENNIUM”: A LOOK BACK AND A LOOK AHEAD

by David Rieder Swimming World Biweekly reflects on the last five years since the last Olympic Games in Rio and ponders the questions that lie ahead during the next three years leading up to Paris 2024.

026 KYLE CHALMERS STILL SUPERB, STILL SEARCHING FOR BIG WIN OVER CAELEB DRESSEL

by David Rieder

030 2021 PREP SCHOOL DIRECTORY 038 HALL OF FAME DAY: WHEN REBECCA SONI CRASHED THROUGH THE 2:20 BARRIER IN 200 BREASTSTROKE Swimming World Biweekly takes a look back at Rebecca Soni at the London Olympics in 2012, when she became the first woman to dip below 2:20 in the 200 meter breaststroke. In October, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

039 PARTING SHOT

PUBLISHING, CIRCULATION AND ACCOUNTING www.SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Publisher, CEO - Brent T. Rutemiller BrentR@SwimmingWorld.com Editor-in-Chief - John Lohn Lohn@SwimmingWorld.com Operations Manager - Laurie Marchwinski LaurieM@ishof.org Production Editor - Taylor Brien TaylorB@SwimmingWorld.com Circulation/Membership - Lauren Serowik Lauren@ishof.org Accounting - Marcia Meiners Marcia@ishof.org

EDITORIAL, PRODUCTION, ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND MERCHANDISING OFFICE ONE HALL OF FAME DRIVE, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33316 TOLL FREE: 800-511-3029 PHONE: 954-462-6536 WWW.SWIMMINGWORLDMAGAZINE.COM

016 SWIMMING AND ATHLETICS TO BE SOLE COMPULSORY SPORTS AT 2026 AND 2030 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

by Liz Byrnes With swimming and athletics (track and field) designated as the only compulsory sports at the 2026 and 2030 Commonwealth Games, these hosts will be given greater flexibility to determine the program, “relevant to their nation or culture, to enhance cultural showcasing and community engagement.”

EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION Editorial@SwimmingWorld.com Senior Editor - Bob Ingram BobI@SwimmingWorld.com Managing Editor - Dan D’Addona DanD@SwimmingWorld.com Design Director - Joseph Johnson JoeJ@SwimmingWorld.com Historian - Bruce Wigo

017 JUSTICE FOR SHIRLEY BABASHOFF AND OTHERS? FINA WILL EXPLORE DOPING HISTORY AND AWARDING PROPER MEDALS Due to the systematic doping program orchestrated

by East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s, many female swimmers were beaten by performance-enhanced opponents. Now, with FINA pushing for greater transparency and reform under new president Husain AlMusallam, the governing body for aquatics has indicated it will look at past performances and how doping played a role.

Staff Writers - Michael J. Stott, David Rieder, Shoshanna Rutemiller, Matthew De George, Michael Randazzo, Taylor Brien Fitness Trainer - J.R. Rosania Chief Photographer - Peter H. Bick SwimmingWorldMagazine.com WebMaster: WebMaster@SwimmingWorld.com

ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND MERCHANDISING Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com

018 MATT SATES JOINING HWANG SUN-WOO AND DAVID POPOVICI AS THE FUTURE IN 200 FREESTYLE

by David Rieder Based on recent performances, teenagers Matt Sates of South Africa, Hwang Sun-Woo of South Korea and David Popovici of Romania look like the future in one of swimming’s signature races, the men’s 200 free.

Marketing Assistant - Meg Keller-Marvin Meg@SwimmingWorld.com

INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS Americas: Matthew De George (USA) Africa: Chaker Belhadj (TUN) Australia: Wayne Goldsmith, Ian Hanson Europe: Norbert Agh (HUN), Liz Byrnes (GBR), Camillo Cametti (ITA), Oene Rusticus (NED), Rokur Jakupsstovu (FAR) Japan: Hideki Mochizuki Middle East: Baruch “Buky” Chass, Ph.D. (ISR) South Africa: Neville Smith (RSA) South America: Jorge Aguado (ARG)

020 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RECORD HOLDER GRACE ARIOLA MEDICALLY RETIRES

by Matthew De George Grace Ariola from the University of Texas announced she is retiring from swimming for medical reasons due to a viral infection that has led to chronic fatigue syndrome.

Besides being a four-time All-American, Ariola won five medals at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

PHOTOGRAPHERS/SWTV Peter H. Bick, USA Today Sports Images, Reuters, Getty Images

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COVER PHOTO: KYLE CHALMERS BY ROB SCHUMACHER /USA TODAY SPORTS

THE INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME IS LOOKING FOR 1,OOO SPECIAL MEMBERS IN THE AQUATICS COMMUNITY

*Artist rendition of possible new museum

- JOIN THE CLUB -

Commit $10, $25, or $50 a month, or make a one-time donation.

Your donation helps keep us moving toward a new vision and museum*. www.swimmingworld.com/one-in-a-thousand

Follow Us On:

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@ISHOF

ISHOF / 1 Hall of Fame Drive / Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 / 954.462.6536 / www.ishof.org

[ Photo Courtesy: David Rieder ]

Golden Goggle Award Nominees Announced by USA Swimming

BY DAN D'ADDONA

F

ollowing standout performances at the much-anticipated Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, USA Swimming will honor the top swimmers of Team USA at the 18th annual Golden Goggle Awards set for Tuesday, December 7 at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.

Olympic champions Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Stanford Swimming/Alto Swim Club), Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Bolles School Sharks/Florida), Lydia Jacoby (Seward, Alaska/Seward Tsunami Swim Club) and Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./Saint Petersburg Aquatics/University of Florida) lead the group of nominees with three individual nominations each following standout performances at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Golden Goggle Awards nominations are based on the year’s top accomplishments by U.S. swimmers, focusing primarily on the 2020 Olympic Games, where Americans topped the medal table in Tokyo with 30 total medals (11 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze.) The United States’ top swimmers and coaches are nominated in eight categories. The complete list of 2021 Golden Goggle Awards nominees by category is listed below. Full bios are included on the online ballot and fan voting is now open through 18. A percentage of the fan vote will count towards the final ballot.

This year’s event will allow swimming stars and attendees to mingle with celebrities, outstanding athletes, business leaders and entertainment icons on Miami Beach. The host of the event will be renowned NBC sports personality and commentator Mike Tirico, who led the network’s coverage of this summer’s Olympic Games.

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On November 29, the Golden Goggles online silent auction will open with all proceeds benefiting the USA Swimming Foundation. Please visit www.usaswimming.org/ foundation#golden-goggle-awards for more information.

Since 2004, proceeds from the Golden Goggle Awards have benefited the USA Swimming Foundation, whose mission is to save lives and build champions. In addition to providing learn-to-swim grants to programs across the country, the USA Swimming Foundation supports the U.S. National Team and its development efforts aimed at strengthening the future of USA Swimming’s programs and services. In 2020, the Foundation broadened its focus to include providing grants to local clubs in need and supporting efforts to open our sport to more people than ever. New needs in our swimming community came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Foundation answered the call, providing COVID-relief grants to more than 700 clubs.

2021 Golden Goggle Awards Nominees Breakout Performer of the Year This award is given to the athlete whose performance(s) stand out in relation to other years, with special emphasis on the 2020 Olympic Games.

• Bobby Finke • Katie Grimes • Lydia Jacoby • Emma Weyant

Perseverance Award This award is given to the athlete who came back from adversity, retirement, sickness, injury, etc., to have an outstanding performance(s) in 2021, with special emphasis on the 2020 Olympic Games.

• Annie Lazor • Erica Sullivan • Tom Shields Coach of the Year This award is given to the coach whose athlete(s) performed at the highest level throughout the year, with special emphasis on the 2020 Olympic Games.

• • • • • •

Ron Aitken Jack Bauerle Todd DeSorbo Greg Meehan Anthony Nesty Gregg Troy

Relay Performance of the Year This award is given to the best team relay performance, male or female. The performance considered must be a finals performance, with special emphasis on the 2020 Olympic Games.

Golden Goggle: Female Athlete of the Year This award is given to the top female swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2020 Olympic Games.

• • • •

Lydia Jacoby Katie Ledecky Lilly King Regan Smith

Golden Goggle: Male Athlete of the Year This award is given to the top male swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2020 Olympic Games.

• • • •

Bobby Finke Caeleb Dressel Chase Kalisz Ryan Murphy ◄

The preceding was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with USA Swimming.

• Women’s 4 x 200m Free Relay (2020 Olympic Games) • Men’s 4 x 100m Free Relay (2020 Olympic Games) • Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay (2020 Olympic Games)

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Female Race of the Year This award is given to the female swimmer with the greatest single individual race of the year, with special emphasis on the 2020 Olympic Games.

• Lydia Jacoby – 100m Breaststroke (2020 Olympic Games) • Katie Ledecky – 800m Freestyle (2020 Olympic Games) • Katie Ledecky – 1500m Freestyle (2020 Olympic Games)

Male Race of the Year This award is given to the male swimmer with the greatest single individual race of the year, with special emphasis on the 2020 Olympic Games.

• • • •

- BE SEEN - BE SAFE -

Caeleb Dressel – 100m Freestyle (2020 Olympic Games) Caeleb Dressel – 100m Butterfly (2020 Olympic Games) Bobby Finke – 800m Freestyle (2020 Olympic Games) Chase Kalisz – 400m Individual Medley (2020 Olympic Games) WWW.SAFERSWIMMER.COM or HALLOFFAMESWIMSHOP.COM

954.462.6536

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[ Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble ]

and senior swimming programs that produce elite 18 & under athletes;

USA Swimming Announces Gold, Silver, Bronze Medal Clubs in Excellence Program

BY DAN D'ADDONA

U

SA Swimming announced today 200 clubs will be recognized as Gold, Silver or Bronze medal clubs in the 2021-2022 Club Excellence Program.

Number one seated club, TAC Titans (TAC), posted 69,591 points to oust 7-year defending champion Nation’s Capital Swim Club (NCAP) club by 9,215 points. TAC’s top performers include 2020 Tokyo Olympian Claire Curzan along with Charlotte Hook and Lance Norris.

SwimMAC Carolina (MAC), Dynamo Swim Club (DYNA) and Carmel Swim Club (CSC) round out the top five for 2022.

The program recognizes USA Swimming’s highestperforming clubs in the development of athletes ages 18 years and younger on an annual basis. In a new addition to last year, eligible athlete performances include both pool and open water swims.

Eligible athlete pool performances were achieved between September 1, 2020 through August 31, 2021. Open water eligible performances were taken from the 5-kilmometer and 10-kilmometer at the 2021 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships as well as the 5 km and 7.5 km at the USA Swimming Open Water Junior National Championships.

In another addition from last year, Olympic achievements were highlighted. USA Swimming member clubs with a 2020 Olympic Games-qualifying athlete automatically qualified for Gold status (subject to meeting the minimum eligibility requirements).

Now in its 22nd year, this program recognizes USA Swimming member clubs for their commitment to athlete performance and excellence. The primary objectives of the program are to recognize and promote: •

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•

Resources to motivate and assist member clubs to achieve the highest athlete performance ideals;

•

Grant funding; and

•

The USA Swimming club development system as an integral part in achieving excellence in the sport.

USA Swimming member clubs earn points based off athlete performance scores. Each team’s ranking score is based on the FINA Points Table, a power point rating system that assigns point values to individual swimming performances based on the Gold, Silver or Bronze time standard. All program requirements, including time standards, can be viewed here.

The following USA Swimming member clubs achieved the Gold Medal ranking for 2022. Fifteen different USA Swimming Local Swimming Committees (LSCs) are represented at the Gold Medal level.

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Club Name TAC Titans Nation’s Capital Swim Club SwimMAC Carolina Dynamo Swim Club Carmel Swim Club Mission Viejo Nadadores Sarasota Sharks Sandpipers of Nevada NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc. Irvine Novaquatics SwimAtlanta Lakeside Swim Team Bluefish Swim Club Scottsdale Aquatic Club Long Island Aquatic Club Elmbrook Swim Club University of Denver Hilltoppers Bolles School Sharks Lakeside Aquatic Club Club Wolverine Arlington Aquatic Club

LSC NC PV NC GA IN CA FL CA VA CA GA KY NE AZ MR WI CO FL NT MI PV

Arlington Aquatic Club (ranked 21st) reached a Gold Medal ranking for the first time, while an additional 20 USA Swimming member clubs achieved medal recognition for the first time. Silver medal clubs Mecklenburg Swim Association (ranked 43) and Tampa Elite Aquatics (ranked 80) led the charts in new recognition status.

Out of the 200 clubs who earned Gold, Silver or Bronze recognition, Florida Swimming led all LSCs with 14 clubs recognized. ◄

[ Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL ]

fly, and in Budapest, he has won all three of those events. His third butterfly victory, in the 50-meter sprint, saw him break Caeleb Dressel’s American record in the event, a 22.04 set last year. Shields clocked 21.96, making him only the sixth man in history to break 22. Shields’ previous best was a 22.09 from the Berlin meet six days earlier.

Tom Shields Lowers Dressel’s 50 Butterfly American Record

BY DAVID RIEDER

30

-year-old American Tom Shields has recorded a very successful streak of racing in Europe over the past two months. After five weeks in Naples where he helped the LA Current secure a spot in the International Swimming League (ISL) playoffs with consistently strong performances and five individual wins, Shields has been impressive during the two stops of the FINA World Cup, in Berlin last week and now in Budapest. The latest of those efforts resulted in an American record.

In Berlin, Shields topped South Africa’s Chad le Clos in the 50 and 100 butterfly and finished a close second in the 200

And that was not all for Shields on the day. He has focused almost exclusively on butterfly for the entirety of his professional career, but during his high school days, he was a standout 200 freestyler, and during his college swimming career at Cal-Berkeley, he swam the 100-yard back — and won three individual NCAA titles in the event. With his butterfly work done for the meet, Shields revisited backstroke for a one-off and turned in a dominant performance. He swam a 50.50 to win the 100 back, more than a second ahead of runner-up Yakov Toumarkin of Israel (51.64).

After the day of racing, Shields told Swimming World, “I’m just working hard and keeping to my routine. I love swimming like this and look forward to continue to build.”

With this World Cup stop finished, Shields will have a brief break from racing before the last two World Cups, October 21-23 in Doha, Qatar, and October 28-30 in Kazan, Russia.

Then, he will head to Eindhoven for three weeks of ISL racing as the LA Current hope to secure a spot in the ISL final for the third straight year. ◄

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[ Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports ]

>> Caeleb Dressel

The Olympic ‘‘Quadrennium’’: A Look Back and a Look Ahead

BY DAVID RIEDER

F

ive years ago, the swimming world had just watched as the sport’s all-time greatest, Michael Phelps, finished his swimming career with another history-making performance.

In Rio, Phelps was not at the level of the historic Beijing Olympics in 2008 where he won eight gold medals and set seven world records, but he recaptured gold in the 200 meter butterfly, his signature event, and won his fourth straight gold medal in the 200 IM (while no other man has ever even three-peated in an Olympics). He also was critical in three American relay gold medals. With Phelps retiring, the sport would certainly have a void to fill, the role of world’s best now up for grabs.

Today, there is 25-year-old Caeleb Dressel. Dressel bristles at comparisons to Phelps, and no swimmer deserves being compared to a man who won 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold. But Dressel’s emergence as the world’s best swimmer was the No. 1 story of the last five years, the “quadrennium” that became five years because of the COVID-delayed Olympic postponement from 2020 to 2021.

The first major meet after the Rio Olympics, the 2017 World Championships, saw Dressel tie Phelps’ record with seven gold medals at one Worlds, including three on one night. Dressel benefited from some relay events added to the program, but his haul was stunning and impressive, nonetheless.

Two years later, Dressel won eight medals (six gold and two silver) at Worlds, setting the all-time record. But his biggest moment would come at the showcase of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and he delivered there, too. He won three

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individual gold medals—in the 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle—to become just the third man after Phelps and Mark Spitz to win more than two individual golds in one Olympics. He lowered his world record in the 100 fly and led two American relays to gold medals.

At least on the men’s side, Dressel is the new face of swimming. No, he is not Phelps, and he will never be—not just because he specializes in sprints while Phelps was more of a 100/200 swimmer. But like Phelps, Dressel is versatile and dominant in multiple events, and he has shown a knack for putting forth his best performances while in the brightest of spotlights.

The Women from Down Under Dominate At the end of the last Olympics, Katie Ledecky was the world’s dominant swimmer, having become just the second female swimmer ever to capture gold in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle in one Olympics, the latter two performances coming with massive world records. Over the next five years, Ledecky would never again reach that level of dominance or speed, but she has remained one of the world’s best.

In Tokyo, she swam the second-best performance of her career in the 400 free as she brought home a hard-fought silver medal, and then, just over an hour after finishing a disappointing fifth in the 200 free, she became the first-ever female gold medalist in the 1500 free. She then used a brilliant anchor leg on the 800 free relay to elevate the Americans to silver before winning her third straight gold medal in the 800

But the biggest story of the Tokyo quad for the women took longer to develop. At the past two Olympics, Australia had entered the Games with gold medal threats, particularly in 2016, only to finish with very underwhelming medal tallies. In 2021, three Australians looked like goldmedal favorites in multiple individual events, and all three of them came through.

[ Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports ]

free, becoming just the third woman (along with Dawn Fraser/100 free and Krisztina Egerszegi/200 back) to three-peat in any race.

>>Australia’s Kaylee McKeown, Chelsea Hodges, Emma McKeon & Cate Campbell (gold medal-winning 400 medley relay)

First, there was the pair of 20-yearolds. Ariarne Titmus was the swimmer who took down Ledecky in the 400 free, recording the second-fastest time in history and just missing Ledecky’s world record in the process, and she also was impressive in winning gold in the 200 free, just a month after recording history’s second-fastest time. Meanwhile, Kaylee McKeown had recorded scorching backstroke swims seemingly every time she raced since November, and she broke the 100 back world record in June. In Tokyo, she scored gold medals three times—in the 100 back, 200 back and as part of Australia’s 400 medley relay.

The Games’ star, however, was Emma McKeon, a longovershadowed sprinter who won seven medals, more than any female swimmer ever at one Olympics. She took home individual gold medals after dominant wins in the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle—approaching world records in both—and she was the best swimmer on two golden Australian relays, the 400 free and 400 medley. She also won three bronze medals. McKeon had shown talent and versatility and particular aptitude for fast relay swims time after time over her elite international career, which stretches back to 2013, but her emergence as the best swimmer in the world was less expected.

Changing of the Stars In 26 individual pool swimming events contested at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, only two of them had repeat gold medalists in 2021. That was Ledecky in the 800 free and Adam Peaty in the 100 breaststroke—in the same year when only the second swimmer ever (Arno Kamminga) joined him under 58 seconds in the 100 breast. (Peaty has gone under 58 seconds 20 times!)

Why so few repeat winners? Certainly, the five-year gap between Olympics made some impact as veterans struggled

to hold off improving young talent. On the women’s side, Lilly King was upset as a big favorite in the 100 breast, Sarah Sjostrom’s elbow fracture hampered her training for Tokyo, and Katinka Hosszu was nowhere near her record-breaking level of 2016.

For the men, a handful of the gold medalists from Rio simply never returned to their elite form, but many were still in contention, just not atop the podium. While Ryan Murphy swept the backstroke events in 2016, he ended up with a bronze and a silver this time, as Evgeny Rylov took over as the new gold-medal man in backstroke. Kyle Chalmers, the shocking teenage 100 free gold medalist in Rio, was part of one of the Games’ best showdowns, as he and Dressel battled to the wall in the 100 free, with Chalmers emerging as the silver medalist by just six hundredths.

Distance man Gregorio Paltrinieri was also a victim of life’s circumstances in Tokyo, as he dealt with mononucleosis, but he still left Tokyo with two medals, while 2016 400 free gold medalist Mack Horton swam what was at the time the world’s third-fastest 400 free, but it was not good enough to qualify for Australia’s Olympic team with two men finishing ahead of him. All of these swimmers were good, but the cycle of swimming meant that this would no longer be their turn to stand atop the podium.

Meanwhile, the men’s field has plenty of new entrants that impressed in Tokyo, and maybe with only a three-year leadup to the next Olympics in Paris, they will be better equipped to make a run at a repeat. Great Britain’s men were brilliant in Tokyo, with Tom Dean and Duncan Scott going 1-2 in the 200 free, and Scott also finishing with a silver medal in the 200 IM. Scott and James Guy each contributed to multiple relay medals.

Continued >>

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[ Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports ]

was beaten in the 100 breast for the first time in six years, although her silver medal in the 200 breast was by far her best-ever performance in that race. Regan Smith, a world record breaker in 2019, struggled in 2021 and did not even qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 back, although she did win bronze in the 100 back and swim a very impressive 200 fly to win silver.

>> Tom Dean (right) and Duncan Scott

Russia has been building for years toward an elite men’s squad, and that showed with Rylov’s two gold medals in backstroke and 21-year-old Kliment Kolesnikov earning two individual medals of his own. Another of Russia’s stars, 200 breast world record holder Anton Chupkov, was just off the podium in that event.

And how about Italy, in a twist few saw coming, winning two relay medals, silver in the 400 free and bronze in the 400 medley? In addition to Paltrinieri, Italy saw 22-year-old Nicolo Martinenghi and 19-year-old Federico Burdisso each get on the podium individually, and 20-year-old Thomas Ceccon came very close to joining them with a fourth-place finish in the 100 back.

But the biggest rising superstar among men is Kristof Milak, the 21-year-old Hungarian who was absolutely dominant in the men’s 200 butterfly, his 2.48-second margin of victory far more than any of Phelps’ golden efforts in that event. He has already beaten Phelps’ world record in the 200 fly, and in Tokyo, he went faster than Phelps ever did in the 100 fly, pushing Dressel all the way to the wall. Do not be surprised if by Paris, Milak is the world’s best swimmer.

Teenagers Propel U.S. Women Australia was the team of the Olympics for the women with eight gold medals, but the United States actually captured more medals overall (18, compared to Australia’s 13)— with a team that included 10 teenagers. It was an impressive performance, but still not a perfect one—not with the women earning just three golds. Ledecky won two of her events, and 17-year-old Alaskan Lydia Jacoby was a stunning winner in the 100 breast.

But no American women’s relays won gold for the first time since 2008. Sprint star Simone Manuel struggled in 2021 after being diagnosed with overtraining syndrome, and King 14

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But the Americans had Jacoby plus three teenagers who made the podium in the IM events, Emma Weyant, Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass. Torri Huske barely missed the podium (by one hundredth) in the 100 fly, and Erica Sullivan swam an amazing race to capture silver in the 1500 free behind Ledecky.

Katie Grimes, just 15, was fourth in the 800 free.

That’s by no means an exhaustive list of the young American talent on the women’s side, and this group has an incredibly bright future. They did not match up well as far as gold medals this year, but there could be a lot more to come—particularly with the next Games just three years away.

The Amazing Moments of the Olympics Every single Olympics produces out-of-nowhere stunners.

Remember Dmitriy Balandin winning the 200 breast at the 2016 Games? Well, there are two in particular to make note of from Tokyo, both involving swimmers from Africa.

First, Ahmed Hafnaoui in the men’s 400 free: Seeded 16th prior to the meet and barely qualifying for the final as the eighth seed, Hafnaoui hung with leader Jack McLoughlin of Australia and then sprinted past him on the last length to capture gold. Then, the world witnessed an emotional celebration as the 18-year-old became just the second Tunisian man after Ous Mellouli to win Olympic gold (or even an Olympic medal) in swimming.

Five days later, South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker captured gold in the women’s 200 breast after she already won silver and set an Olympic record in the 100 breast. South Africa has won a medal in swimming at every Olympics since 1996, and the men have won gold as recently as Cameron van der Burgh in 2012. But the last woman from the country to win gold was Penny Heyns back in 1996, and the last women’s medalist was Heyns in 2000.

And at the last Olympics in Rio, South Africa did not send a single female participant. None at all. This time, they had two in the 200 breaststroke final alone.

Unlike Hafnaoui, Schoenmaker was among the favorites, at

least in the 200 breast, but she simply blew expectations out of the water. She got herself into contention in the 100 breast, which few saw coming, and then, in her preferred event, she lowered an eight-year-old world record and became the first woman ever to break 2:19.

After that race, Schoenmaker and American medalists King and Annie Lazor came together for a celebratory hug, then Schoenmaker’s fellow South African in the final, Kaylene Corbett, joined them to create one of the most heartwarming moments in any sport of the Tokyo Games.

What’s Next After Tokyo, the swimming world is embarking on a new quadrennium, albeit a very unusual one with the Paris Games only three years away. We have questions to ask, but no answers…not yet. Those will develop in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Among those questions: •

Because of the shortened gap between Olympics, will less about the sport and its stars change before Paris arrives? The logical answer is “yes.” Young swimmers, such as that contingent from the United States, could continue to develop and improve, but we cannot know for sure.

•

Can the Australian women maintain their incredible momentum after their rebound performance in Tokyo?

Swimmers such as McKeon, Titmus and McKeown are battling history, as only one Australian woman has ever successfully defended an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming: Dawn Fraser, who won the 100 free in 1956, 1960 and 1964. Recent stars such as Stephanie Rice, Leisel Jones, Libby Trickett and Petria Thomas could never return to the top of the podium. Susie O’Neill, the only Aussie woman besides Fraser to win individual golds in multiple Olympics, came close to successfully defending her 1996 Olympic gold in the 200 fly, but American Misty Hyman got the better of her in one of the biggest upsets ever at an Olympics.

•

Can swimmers like Dressel and Peaty maintain their margins atop the world? And how about Ledecky?

She may be slightly past her incredible peak when you consider times, but she will have a chance to become the first woman to win four straight swimming gold medals in one event (and only Phelps has done so among men).

Can these all-time greats sustain their momentum for three more years?

•

What do the Canadian women have in store after two straight historic Olympic performances? Two Games in a row have seen Canadian women win individual gold (Penny Oleksiak in 2016 and Maggie MacNeil in 2021), and Canada has won four relay medals during that span.

The next budding star is 14-year-old Summer McIntosh, who did not win a medal in Tokyo, but was fourth in the 400 free and swam an incredible leadoff on Canada’s

800 free relay, which also ended up fourth. She is already one of the world’s best in the middle distance freestyle races, and she has shown potential in other events, too.

Think how good McIntosh could become.

•

And since the Olympics will be in Paris, how about France’s swimming prospects? Florent Manaudou was the country’s only medalist in Tokyo with his silver in the 50 free, marking the third straight Games when the 30-year-old has made the podium in that event. The men’s 400 free relay, medalists in 2008, 2012 and 2016, finished sixth in Tokyo following a wave of turnover. It was only nine years ago that France was, for a brief moment, leading the gold-medal count at an Olympics. In three successive races, the late Camille Muffat won gold in the 400 free, Yannick Agnel overtook Ryan Lochte for the men’s 400 free relay gold, and then, the next day, Agnel dominated the individual 200 free. Maybe this country will have some magic in store for its home Games. ***

But we don’t know what the build-up to Paris will look like, and that’s what makes the beginning of the new Olympic cycle so amazing for all those involved and watching from near and far. Whatever the next three years hold, there will undoubtedly be many fascinating and dramatic and special moments along the way, with another Olympics looming at the end. ◄

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Swimming and Athletics to Be Sole Compulsory Sports at 2026 and 2030 Commonwealth Games

BY LIZ BYRNES

S

wimming and athletics (track & field) will be the only compulsory sports at the 2026 and 2030 Commonwealth Games with hosts given greater flexibility to determine the program.

Roadmap has outlined that: •

An integrated Para sport program must remain a key, focal part of the Games

•

Future potential hosts would be encouraged to consider alternative Athlete Village solutions, rather than being required to accommodate athletes in a new build environment or on a single site

•

International Federations would be encouraged to propose new innovations and sports/disciplines to drive growth and youth engagement

•

The Federation will continue to prioritise sustainability, social purpose and legacy planning as part of discussions with potential hosts

At present there are 16 core sports but at its General Assembly on Monday the CGF announced there will be a maximum of 15 and a minimum of 10 as part of its new Strategic Roadmap.

•

Hosts would be encouraged to consider mass participation events as part of their health and well-being programs

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham a total of 24 able-bodied and para-sports will be contested.

“We are delighted to unveil our direction of travel with this new Strategic Roadmap, which I believe marks the start of an exciting new era for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Sport.

According to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), this will “allow hosts the ability to propose entirely new sports, relevant to their nation or culture, to enhance cultural showcasing and community engagement.”

Swimming and athletics will remain because of their place on the program since 1930 “and based on universality, participation, broadcasting, spectator interest, Para inclusion and gender balance.”

Hosts will be able to choose from a wider list of core sports including disciplines that have previously been listed as optional such as T20 cricket, beach volleyball and 3×3 basketball.

Co-hosting within regions or across cities, along with mass participation events making use of facilities or linked to the Games, will also be among the “innovative concepts” encouraged among bidders.

The objective is for the host to “generate maximum value, impact and legacy from staging the event” and allow a more sustainable long-term agenda, with increased awareness of how sport and culture can positively impact communities.

Amongst other approved recommendations, the Strategic 16

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CGF President Dame Louise Martin said:

“Our Games need to adapt, evolve and modernise to ensure we continue to maintain our relevance and prestige across the Commonwealth.

“After a long period of hard work and consultation, incorporating the views and opinions of our membership and experts across the world, we are excited to move forwards with this Roadmap. I would like to thank all our 72 Commonwealth Games Associations for their support.

“Our next step is to work closely with our International Federation partners to ensure they can contribute to the vision and direction of the Roadmap in order to underpin the future of the Games.” ◄

Justice for Shirley Babashoff and Others?

FINA Will Explore Doping History and Awarding Proper Medals

BY SWIMMING WORLD EDITORIAL STAFF

S

hirley Babashoff. Enith Brigitha. Sharron Davies. All three women have Olympic medals to their names, but not the gold color they deserve. Due to the systematic-doping program orchestrated by East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s, Babashoff, Brigitha and Davies were beaten to the wall by performanceenhanced opponents, their rightful place in the sport not recognized.

Now, with FINA pushing for greater transparency and reform under new president Husain Al-Musallam, the governing body for aquatics sports has indicated it will look at past performances and how doping played a role.

One possible outcome of an investigation of the past is awarding athletes the medals they would have won in Olympic competition, if not for the presence of the East Germans.

Babashoff and Brigitha finished behind East Germans in several races at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, with Babashoff long calling for the International Olympic Committee and FINA to right those wrongs by upgrading medals of those who finished behind swimmers known to have benefited from performance-enhancing drugs. As for Davies, she was the silver medalist in the 400 individual medley at the 1980 Games in Moscow, where East Germany’s Petra Schneider was the gold medalist.

In a reversal of its former approach, in which it ignored the subject, FINA has indicated it is willing to look at history and, possibly, alter it for the sake of the athletes who suffered injustices in the pool. Although FINA is willing to look at the past, it is important to note that the awarding of retroactive medals will require the approval of the IOC. If retroactive medals are awarded, it is unlikely the East German athletes will have their medals stripped. As part of the systematic-doping program that was instituted by the government, the athletes were pawns in a political system, and instructed to follow the directions of their coaches and senior officials. ◄ BIWEEKLY

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[ Photo Courtesy: Boogs Photography / Andrew McFaddenm Swimming South Africa ]

>> Matt Sates

Matt Sates Joining Hwang Sun-Woo and David Popovici as the Future in 200 Freestyle

BY DAVID RIEDER

In July, teenage swimmers took the Olympic final of the men’s 200 freestyle by storm. Hwang Sun-Woo of South Korea, 18, held the world-junior-record holder after a 1:44.62 prelims effort, and also in the field was 16-year-old Romanian David Popovici. Popovici had finished 20th in the 200 free at the European Championships two months earlier in 1:48.38, but by the time he swam at the European Junior Championships in early July, he was down to 1:45.26.

With Olympic gold on the line, Hwang took the race out unfathomably hard, his midway spit a 49.78 that had him a half-second ahead of the field and four tenths under worldrecord pace. He was on his way to either a stunning and remarkable swim or a drastic and disastrous fade — and what unfolded was the latter possibility. In first place by seven tenths at the 150-meter mark, Hwang finished in 28.70, a second-and-a-half slower than anyone else in the field. All but one of his competitors went by him.

But while Hwang was slowing, Popovici was surging. He flipped sixth at the 150 but then shifted into overdrive. This teenager closed in 26.71, and as the British duo of Tom 18

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Dean and Duncan Scott were pulling away from the field, Popovici had a real shot at a medal, only to come up just short. Fernando Scheffer took that spot in 1:44.66, followed

by Popovici in 1:44.68.

The gold medalist, Dean, is just 21, and he was competing in the individual 200 free for the first time at a major international competition. By men’s swimming standards, Dean is still very young. Of the 42 individual men’s medals awarded at the Tokyo pool, only two were won by teenagers (Ahmed Hafnaoui’s gold in the 400 free and Tomoru Honda’s bronze in the 200 fly). But two men much younger than Dean were right there in the battle for podium spots in the 200 free.

They are undoubtedly among the future stars of the event — and after what we have seen in the past two weeks, we need to add Matt Sates to that conversation as well.

At this point, we don’t know exactly what Sates can do in the long course 200 free. But his short course results have been so brilliant through the first two stops of the FINA World Cup that the potential is evident. At the Berlin meet, Sates swam a 1:40.65 in the short course 200 free, making him the sixth-

[ Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto ]

>> David Popovici

fastest performer in history and the fourth-fastest in a textile suit. Since the banning of full-body polyurethane suits in 2009, the only men to swim faster are 2012 Olympic champion Yannick Agnel, Scott and 2017 World Championships silver medalist Townley Haas.

In that race, Sates held off Kyle Chalmers, the 2016 Olympic champion in the 100 free and silver medalist this year, and Chalmers is no slouch at the 200. In Tokyo, he split 1:45.35 on Australia’s bronze-medal winning 800 free relay, the secondquickest split of that quartet. He is among the best finishers in the world at any race, and Sates held tough to beat him by 0.17. And then, in their rematch six days later in Budapest, Sates repeated the accomplishment, this time holding off the charging Aussie by just nine hundredths, 1:41.51 to 1:41.60.

What does Sates’ short course 200 free effort convert to in long course? It’s impossible to convert exactly. Short course and long course are very different beasts, and each swimmer handles to the shift from one format to another differently.

One common measure of estimation for conversation is to add one second for every lost flip turn, which would put Sates somewhere in the 1:44-high or 1:45-low range. But this is just a ballpark estimate, impossible to know for sure until he actually races at that level in the 50-meter course.

Sates also swept the IM events at both World Cup meets and won the 400 free in a world junior record in Budapest, but

the event where he looks most dangerous outside of the 200 free is the 200 IM, in which he finished 14th at the Tokyo Olympics in 1:58.75. After short course times of 1:51.45 and 1:53.43 recently, he has clearly improved since July, but again, we cannot pin down exactly how much with an applesto-oranges comparison of short course to long course.

And consider this: in the 200 IM Olympic final, the two youngest competitors (Michael Andrew and Lewis Clareburt) were 22. Among the semifinalists, Sates — again, just 18 — was the youngest by a full three years.

Of course, Sates is not the only teenage contender the 200 free, an event which Sates did not swim in Tokyo (he was only entered in the 200 IM and 100 fly) but will undoubtedly become one of his primary races moving forward after his impressive World Cup efforts. He was nowhere on the radar for the 200 free at the Olympics, but remember, neither was Hwang at the beginning of this year. Neither was Popovici as recently as July 1, and he placed fourth at the Olympics.

Let’s look forward to the day when Sates gets to show his skills in the long course 200 free and when he gets to race head-to-head with Hwang and Popovici. Those three swimmers, from South Africa, South Korea and Romania, look like the future in one of swimming’s signature races. ◄ BIWEEKLY

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[ Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick ]

University of Texas Record Holder Grace Ariola Medically Retires

BY MATTHEW DE GEORGE

U

niversity of Texas sprinter Grace Ariola announced she is retiring from swimming for medical reasons.

Ariola made the announcement on Instagram Wednesday. The Longhorns senior said in the post that it stems from a viral infection during her freshman year that has led to chronic fatigue syndrome, robbing her of the energy that made her one of the top American youth sprinters of her age group.

Ariola called the end of her swimming struggle, “an act of love” on two occasions in her post.

Finally has come peace, and finally comes the end of a career colored by incredible highs and random injuries and illnesses and events. I used to think I was unlucky for the random things that happened, but now I’ve realized the opposite is true, how lucky I was to have done what I’ve done and to have met the people I know and love. That is lucky. There is nothing unlucky about the people I met and the places I went.

Ariola thanked Texas coaches Carol Capitani and Mitch Dalton for giving her the chance to keep trying to round

SWIM MART 䜀伀䰀䐀 䴀䔀䐀䄀䰀 倀䔀刀䘀伀刀䴀䄀一䌀䔀 匀吀䄀刀吀匀 圀䤀吀䠀 刀䔀匀䤀匀吀䄀一䌀䔀 吀刀䄀䤀一䤀一䜀

一娀䌀漀爀搀稀⸀挀漀洀 㠀 ⸀㠀㠀㘀⸀㘀㘀㈀㄀

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back into form. Though Ariola didn’t swim last year, she remained on the Longhorns roster to start this season. The swimmers who commented on her farewell post – among them Olympians like Paige Madden, Regan Smith and Erica Sullivan – indicate the esteem in which she is held by fellow swimmers.

Despite the illness she endured as a freshman, Ariola persevered for a special season. She finished 16th at NCAAs in the 50 freestyle and was part of the Longhorns relay that finished fourth in the 400 free relay. She was also eighth in the 200 free relay and 12th in the 200 medley relay. Ariola won the Big 12 title in the 50 free as a freshman.

The four-time All-American finishes her career with a share of the Texas school record in the women’s 50 free at 21.73 seconds, a mark she shares with Rebecca Millard. She’s also sixth in program history in the 100 free, sixth in the 100 backstroke and holds program records on the 200 free and 400 free relays.

Internationally, Ariola won five medals at the 2017 World Junior Championships. She was second to Rikako Ikee in the 50 free, added bronze in the 50 back and garnered three relay medals. She also swam at Junior Pan Pacs and the 2019 World University Games, where she finished fifth in the 50. She qualified but did not swim at Olympic Trials last year.

“This is an act of love,” Ariola wrote. “I am so grateful for the people I loved in swimming and because of swimming.

The trips, the camps, the meets, college.

It made it worth it. You made it worth it.

Now we go on.”◄

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[ Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto ]

Kyle Chalmers Still Superb, Still Searching for Big Win Over Caeleb Dressel

BY DAVID RIEDER

W

hen Kyle Chalmers became an Olympic champion, he was just a month past his 18th birthday, the youngest man in a loaded heat of 100 freestylers. He had never swum an individual event at a major international meet, although he did make his debut on relays at the 2015 World Championships.

The young Australian flipped seventh at the halfway point, his 23.14 a full nine tenths off the lead. But Chalmers closed the gap and then finished with a flourish, coming home in 24.44 that out-split the rest of the field by four tenths. His final time of 47.58 was a world junior record, a mark he had previously broken in both prelims and semifinals.

That night in Rio de Janeiro, Chalmers became the youngest man to win an individual gold medal in swimming since Ian Thorpe did so in 2000. The only other teenage individual gold medalists during that time were Michael Phelps and Park Tae-Hwan. And if that was not going to be enough, Chalmers’ future looked incredibly bright.

Just under a year later, Chalmers was in Budapest for the World Championships, present in the Duna Arena on the night of the men’s 100 freestyle final. But he would not be aiming to back up Olympic gold with a world title. Instead, he was sitting out after surgery to address a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia, in which electrical pulses in his heart were routed through an extra circuit.

Chalmers was recovering, but he needed more time before returning to racing. In his absence, he predicted that Caeleb Dressel, two years older but never a winner of an individual medal at an international meet, would capture the world title in the blue-ribband event.

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Indeed, Dressel would dominate, crushing the field by seven tenths and laying down a new American record. His 47.17 surpassed Chalmers’ personal best from the Rio Games by four tenths. After his Olympic conquest, Chalmers now had a new standard to chase.

Four years later, we have witnessed incredible showdowns between these two sprint titans, with each one delivering their best performances in big moments. At the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, neither was at their best or under 48 seconds, and Chalmers won gold while Dressel tied for silver. But at the 2019 World Championships, Dressel opened up a big lead, only for that lead to evaporate over the final 10 meters as Chalmers closed in. Dressel won gold in 46.96, becoming only the third man to break 47 and the first ever in a textile suit, while Chalmers was 0.12 back in 47.08.

Dressel congratulated his Australian rival in the next lane and then celebrated by sitting on the lane line. But of course, this meeting settled little. True bragging rights would be earned at the Tokyo Olympics one year later — which turned into two years later, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before that, another health issue nearly derailed Chalmers in late 2020, and he underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

But he fought to be ready for Tokyo, and he indeed qualified for the Games with wins in the 200 free and 100 free at Australia’s Olympic Trials. By the time the 100 free final rolled around, Chalmers already had won two bronze medals in Tokyo on freestyle relays, including a 400 free relay where his 46.44 anchor split willed Australia past Canada for third.

With 15 meters to go, Dressel had stopped breathing and accelerated his tempo, while Chalmers stayed consistent and continued to breathe all the way into the last five meters.

Maybe that affected the outcome, maybe not. Regardless, Dressel got the job done and took over the title as gold medalist.

But Chalmers was gracious in defeat, even in an interview with Australia’s Channel 7 moments after the finish.

“It’s half a second faster than I was in Rio. You know, if it went ahead last year, I wouldn’t have been here swimming,” he said, referring to his shoulder injury. “I left everything in the pool, I gave all I could. Obviously, life’s not always about winning but it is nice, and I executed the race well, and I felt strong and felt good.”

Chalmers added, “But you know, to win gold in 2016, come back and win silver, it is great. I did everything in my absolute power to win.”

Rightly or not, Chalmers will be linked to Dressel for as long as those two are still competing. Dressel has been the consensus top swimmer in the world since the 2016 Olympics, and in Tokyo, he became just the third man (after Mark Spitz in 1972 and then Phelps in 2004 and 2008) to win three or more individual gold medals at an Olympics. Chalmers was the only man to come close to knocking off the American.

Less than two months after their Olympic-gold-medal grudge match in Tokyo, the two nearly raced again in a much lowerstakes environment. During the five-week International Swimming League (ISL) regular season in Naples, Italy, Chalmers and Dressel overlapped for a single match, the sixth, but Chalmers only swam relays at that meet and Dressel did not compete on the second day, which included the 100 free.

So their next matchup will wait a bit longer. But consider this: in the short course meters season which includes the ISL, Dressel’s top 100 free this year is 45.47 from the fourth ISL match. Chalmers swam a 45.65 in the ISL and then a 45.50 at the FINA World Cup in Budapest. Neither of those races involved any significant challengers.

[ Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports ]

In the 100 free final, Dressel and Chalmers would be two lanes apart this time, but the race unfolded as usual: Dressel got out to his signature blazing start and opened up a lead at the turn, but Chalmers was just three tenths back, and he started making up ground quickly. With 15 meters to go, Chalmers had pulled even. But somehow, Dressel maintained his razor-thin advantage. He got to the wall in 47.02, this time just six hundredths ahead of Chalmers, who again swam a 47.08. It was one of the signature moments of the Olympics.

>>Kyle Chalmers & Caeleb Dressel

Both men are chasing the SCM world record in the event, Amaury Leveaux’s 44.94 set during the polyurethane suit era in late 2008. Dressel came as close as anyone ever had during the 2020 ISL final at 45.08 while Chalmers skipped the entire 2020 ISL season, around the same time he was recovering from surgery. Can these two push each other to topple that 13-year-old record?

In the upcoming ISL playoffs in Eindhoven, Dressel’s Cali Condors and Chalmers’ London Roar are scheduled to meet once, in the fourth match November 20-21. We will probably — hopefully — see the next installment of Dressel vs.

Chalmers then.

They will have a chance at the world record in November but a much better chance at the ISL final in early January, with both the Roar and the Condors seen as heavy favorites to qualify for that meet (along with Energy Standard). Maybe both men suit up for the Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi in late December, but rosters for that meet have not been released.

Whenever they do race, Dressel vs. Chalmers is must-see TV: the best swimmer in the world against perhaps the only man capable of beating him in one of his main events. That challenger has overcome heart issues and shoulder issues to return to and surpass his best in the years following his breakthrough as a teenager.

Although the two biggest matchups of their careers have gone in Dressel’s favor, this rivalry could have a long way to go. Chalmers has been one of the world’s best since 2016, but he is still only 23, and Dressel is just 25. And after so many close finishes, it is a matter of time before Chalmers steals a big win. ◄ BIWEEKLY

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[ Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick ]

>> Keaton Jones

USA Swimming Names 43 Girls, 36 Boys to 2021-22 U.S. National Junior Team

U

SA Swimming announced 79 athletes (43 girls, 36 boys) to the 2021-22 U.S. National Junior Team.

In all, 61 clubs and 26 states are represented. Leading the way with four events is Justina Kozan, selected in the girls 200 free, 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM. Five athletes are on the team in three events each.

Nation’s Capital Swim Club and TAC Titans each have four athletes on the team, followed by three apiece from Sandpipers of Nevada and SwimMAC Carolina. Of the 72 pool swimmers, 61 competed at Wave II of U.S. Olympic Trials. Ten girls and eight boys are holdovers from the 201920 squad.

• • • • • • •

The national girls team is strongest in distance freestyle, with eight swimmers in each the 800 free and 1,500. There are 13 backstrokers and seven 200 butterfly swimmers.

•

On the boys side, an event-high five swimmers are qualified in each the 1,500 free, 100 back, 200 fly and 400 IM.

•

Girls • Juli Arzave, 10K, San Diego, Calif, Tritons Aquatics Club • Hannah Bellard, 800 free, 200 fly, Grosse Ile, Mich., Club Wolverine • Berit Berglund, 100 back, Carmel, Ind., Carmel Swim Club • Lilla Bognar, 200 back, Greensville, S .C, Team Greenville • Madelyn Christman, 200 back, Carmel, Ind., Carmel Swim Club • Jillian Cox, 800 free, Cedar Park, Texas, Austin Swim 28

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•

• • • • • • •

Club Katie Crom, 400 free, 200 fly, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., Mission Viejo Nadadores Mariah Denigan, 1,500 free, 400 IM, Walton, Ky., Lakeside Swim Team Zoe Dixon, 200 IM, 400 IM, Richmond, Va., NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc Lindsay Flynn, 50 free, Matthews, N.C., Mecklenburg Swim Association Cadence Fort, 10K, Estero, Fla., Gulf Coast Swim Team Erin Gemmell, 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, Potomac, Md., Nation’s Capital Swim Club Cavan Gormsen, 400 free, 800 free, 1,500 free, Wantagh, N.Y., Long Island Aquatic Club Leah Hayes, 200 IM, 400 IM, Sugar Grove, Ill., Fox Valley Park District Riptides Tess Howley, 200 fly, Rockaway Park, N.Y., Long Island Aquatic Club Justina Kozan, 200 free, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM, Brea, Calif., Mission Viejo Nadadores Mia Kragh, 100 fly, 200 fly, San Diego, Calif., Rancho San Dieguito Paige Kuwata, 1,500 free, 7.5K, Las Vegas, Nev., Sandpipers of Nevada Abigail McCulloh, 800 free, Lilburn, Ga., SwimAtlanta Paige McKenna, 800 free, 1,500 free, Easton, Pa., Nation’s Capital Swim Club Hayden Miller, 800 free, Houston, Texas, Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club Anna Moesch, 50 free, Green Brook, N.J., StreamLine Aquatics Club Kennedy Noble, 100 back, 200 back, Avondale, Ariz.,

YMCA Westside Silver Fins • Carly Novelline, 100 free, Wilmette, Ill., NASA Wildcat Aquatics • Teagan O’Dell, 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM, West Covina, Calif., Irvine Novaquatics • Erika Pelaez, 100 free, Miami, Fla., Eagle Aquatics • Caroline Pennington, 800 free, 1,500 free, Greenwich, Conn., TAC Titans • Julia Podkoscielny, 400 IM, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Pine Crest Swimming • Amanda Ray, 200 fly, Raleigh, N.C., New Wave Swim Team • Carlie Rose, 10K, Oviedo, Fla., Blue Dolphins • Grace Sheble, 200 fly, North Chesterfield, Va., NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc • Levenia Sim, 100 back, Montrose, Ala., TNT Swimming • Letitia Sim, 100 breast, 200 breast, Montrose, Ala., TNT Swimming • Summer Smith, 1,500 free, 200 back, 400 IM, Agawam, Mass., Bluefish Swim Club • Camille Spink, 100 free, Haymarket, Va., Nation’s Capital Swim Club • Campbell Stoll, 100 fly, Hartland, Wisc., Elmbrook Swim Club • Blair Stoneburg, 1,500 free, Jensen Beach, Fla., Treasure Coast Aquatics • Claire Tuggle, 200 free, 400 free, Mariposa, Calif., Santa Maria Swim Club • Maddie Waggoner, 1500 free, Moorestown, N.J., Jersey Wahoos • Maggie Wanezek, 100 back, 200 back, Brookfield, Wisc., Elmbrook Swim Club • Emma Weber, 100 breast, 200 breast, Boulder, Colo, Univ of Denver Hilltoppers • Claire Weinstein, 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, Port Jefferson, N.Y., Westchester Aquatic Club • Kiley Wilhelm, 100 back, 200 back, Charlotte, N.C.,Lifetime Swim Team North Carolina

Boys • Jack Aikins, 100 back, 200 back, Cumming, Ga., SwimAtlanta • Jack Alexy, 50 free, 100 free, Mendham, N.J., Greater Somerset County YMCA Storm • Alex Ayers, 10K, Charlotte, N.C., SwimMAC Carolina • Brice Barrieault, 1500 free, Las Vegas, Nev, Sandpipers of Nevada • Carl Bloebaum, 100 fly, 200 fly, Mason, Ohio, Mason Manta Rays • Joshua Brown, 10K, Winter Park, Fla., Highlander Aquatic Club • Arsenio Bustos, 100 free, 200 IM, Orange, Conn., Woodbridge Aquatic Club • Tim Connery, 100 free, Davidson, N.C., SwimMAC Carolina

• Michael Cotter, 400 free, Cary, N.C., TAC Titans • Daniel Diehl, 100 back, Cumberland, Md., YMCA of Cumberland • Alec Enyeart, 800 free, 1,500 free, Kansas City, Mo., Tsunami Swim Team of K.C. • Zhier Fan, 100 breast, 200 breast, Plano, Texas, Metroplex Aquatics • Matthew Fenlon, 200 fly, Chappaqua, N.Y., Badger Swim Club, Inc. • Landon Gentry, 200 fly, Bristow, Va., Nation’s Capital Swim Club • Jeremy Graunke, 50 free, Gilbert, Ariz., Rio Salado Swim Club • Aiden Hayes, 100 fly, 200 fly, Norman, Okla., Sooner Swim Club • Luke Hobson, 200 free, 400 free, Reno, Nev., Lakeridge Swim Team • Sam Hoover, 100 free, Chapel Hill, N.C., North Carolina Aquatic Club • Gabriel Jett, 200 free, 200 fly, Clovis, Calif., Clovis Swim Club • Keaton Jones, 200 back, Gilbert, Ariz., Swim Neptune • Cooper Lucas, 400 IM, Keller, Texas, Lakeside Aquatic Club • Josh Matheny, 100 breast, 200 breast, Pittsburgh, Pa., Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics • Daniel Matheson, 800 free, 1,500 free, Peoria, Ariz., Scottsdale Aquatic Club • Quintin McCarty, 50 free, Colorado Springs, Colo, Pikes Peak Athletics • Will Modglin, 100 back, Zionsville, Ind., Zionsville Swim Club • Chris Nagy, 1,500 free, San Diego, Calif., University of Minnesota • Baylor Nelson, 200 free, 200 IM, 400 IM, Huntersville, N.C., SwimMAC Carolina • Lance Norris, 200 back, 400 IM, Rocky Mount, N.C., TAC Titans • Josh Parent, 1,500 free, 400 IM, Wilbraham, Mass., Bluefish Swim Club • Jacob Pishko, 7.5K, Raleigh, N.C., TAC Titans/Lakeside Aquatic Club • Kyle Ponsler, 400 IM, Fishers, Ind., Fishers Area Swimming Tigers • Dare Rose, 200 free, Jersey City, N.J., Scarlet Aquatics • Nick Simons, 100 back, Lake Oswego, Ore., Sandpipers of Nevada • Nathaniel Stoffle, 100 back, Lilburn, Ga., Spartan Aquatic Club • Joey Tepper, 10K, Egg Harbor Township, N.J., University of Tennessee/EHT Seahawks • Josh Zuchowski, 200 back, Jupiter, Fla., Flood Aquatics Swim Team *Club affiliation when athlete had their 2021-22 U.S. National Junior Team qualifying swim ◄ BIWEEKLY

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SWIMMING WORLD PRESENTS

2021 PREP SCHOOL

DIRECTORY The listings on pages pages 30-37 34-41 are are paid paidadvertisements advertisements

Baylor School College Preparatory, Coed Boarding and Day Grades 6-12 • Enrollment: 1,070 171 Baylor School Rd. • Chattanooga, TN 37405 Coach: Dan Flack Phone: 423-267-8506 x 279 Email: dflack@baylorschool.org Website: www.baylorswimming.org • www.baylorschool.org Twitter: @baylorswimming • @baylorschool Facebook: www.facebook.com/BaylorSwimming Instagram: @baylorswimming Swimming World Magazine’s 2009, 2011 and 2012 Girls’ National High School Champions 2008, 2009 and 2018 Boys’ Independent School Champions

For more than 100 years, Baylor School has been one of the leading college preparatory schools in the United States.

Located on a spectacular 670-acre campus, Baylor provides a challenging curriculum, featuring small classes and 19 AP courses.

Our swimming program produced an Olympic Gold Medalist, NCAA Champions, U.S. National Junior team members, numerous country’s National Team members and High School All-Americans. Our swim teams won 50 Tennessee State Championships. Thirteen Baylor students competed in the 2011, ’13, ’15 and ’17 World Junior Championships, and alums competed in the World University Games and World Championships. Baylor graduates have gone on to attend top universities and have thrived academically.

Baylor’s state-of-the-art Aquatic Center features a 50-meter by 25-yard pool and a $1.2 million sports performance center.

Head Coach Dan Flack has been named either Tennessee Men’s or Tennessee Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year 30

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15 times since 2006, coached Team USA at the 2011 and 2017 World Junior Championships, was Head Coach of Team USA at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in 2018, and is one of a small list of high school coaches on the USA National Team Coaches list.

31.

See display ad on page 35.

The Bolles School College Preparatory, Coed Boarding and Day Grades PK-12 • Enrollment: 1,600 7400 San Jose Blvd. • Jacksonville, FL 32217 Coach: Peter Verhoef Phone: 904-256-5216 Email: verhoefp@bolles.org Website: www.bolles.org The Bolles School is an independent, coeducational day and boarding college preparatory school founded in 1933.

Bolles enrolls 1,700 students in grades Pre-K through 12 on four separate campuses. The Bolles Resident Life program enrolls students from around the world in grades 9-12.

The Bolles swimming program has a long history of outstanding success from youth through Olympic levels.

Bolles and its year-round United States Swimming program, the Bolles Sharks, have developed many nationally and world-ranked swimmers, including 63 Olympians since 1972, earning 29 medals. Bolles girls’ swimming has claimed 30 consecutive state titles and 34 titles overall, while Bolles boys’ swimming has achieved a U.S. record 33 consecutive state titles and 42 titles overall.

The program facilitates training and stroke instruction in Bolles’ 50-meter and 25-yard pools, as well as the Aquatic Center with dryland and weight training equipment.

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See display ad on page 36.

Fork Union Military Academy College Preparatory, Boys Boarding Grades 7-12/Postgraduate • Enrollment: 300 P.O. Box 278 • Fork Union, VA 23055 Director of Admissions: Jackie Montero-Sharpe Phone: 434-842-4205 Head Swim Coach: Jon B. Larson Phone: 434-842-4210 Email: LarsonJ@fuma.org Website: www.forkunion.com Fork Union Military Academy is one of the premier college preparatory schools in the country. Founded in 1898, the school has a tradition of educating young men in “Body, Mind and Spirit.”

The Academy is located in Central Virginia near the town of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. FUMA has been nationally recognized as a sports powerhouse, producing multiple Olympians, two Heisman trophy winners and over 150 professional football, basketball and baseball players.

Our Swimming & Diving program has produced athletes

2021 PREP SCHOOL DIRECTORY

who have gone on to swim at some of the nation’s best college programs. FUMA alumnus, Ali Khalafalla, competed for Egypt in both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Starting in 2016-17, Fork Union Military Academy expanded their swimming program to include postgraduates who are looking to improve academically or just get stronger and faster in the water before attending college. Like their high school program, postgraduate students participate in the One Subject Plan, where students take one subject at a time over seven-week terms throughout the year.

In addition to this, they have access to SAT/ACT prep courses and college credit courses through advanced placement (AP) courses, dual enrollment courses taught with PVCC (a local community college). This academic approach, along with the discipline and structure it provides, helps students not only achieve academically, but also athletically, helping instill self-discipline, character and time management.

From a swimming standpoint, swimmers will have access to between 9 and 11 training sessions a week, competing at USA Swimming-sanctioned meets throughout the year to include Winter Nationals, Winter Junior Nationals and Speedo Sectionals.

Their program and school have a long history of developing young men of character both in and out of the pool. Swimmers train in a state-of-the-art, multi-million-dollar, 8-lane-by25-meter indoor pool that was built in 2006. In addition to the pool, they also have access to the best in athletic training

staff and dryland equipment, whether it is on our pool deck or in one of the weight/cardio rooms.

This is the setting that they have used to help produce four high school state championships in the past seven years, over 40 High School All-Americans and countless others who have gone on to swim at national and international meets, including the World Championships as well as the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

See display ad on page 37.

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Gulliver Preparatory School Miami, Fla. College Preparatory, Coed Day Grades PK-12 • Enrollment: 2,200 (3 campuses) Upper School Campus • 6575 North Kendall Dr. • Pinecrest, FL 33156 Director of Enrollment Management: Elena Castellanos Email: admissions@gulliverprep.org Head Coach/Director of Aquatics: Christopher George Phone: 305-666-7937 x 1552 Email: cgeorge@gulliverprep.org Website: www.gulliverprep.org Gulliver Preparatory School is a 501(c)(3) private, nonprofit, independent coeducational, nonsectarian day school with the mission to create an academic community devoted

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Academics, Arts, Athletics and Activities for All. BOARDING AND STUDYING WITH STUDENTS OF ALL FAITHS, CULTURES AND BACKGROUNDS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD.

Students Discover Their Passions, Learn and Grow—All at Bolles.

Bolles.org Pre-K through Grade 12, Day & Boarding School.

2021 PREP SCHOOL DIRECTORY / Continued from 35 31

to educational excellence, with a personal touch, that fulfills each student’s potential.

Located in Miami, the school provides a challenging academic curriculum featuring a wide variety of electives, AP and Honors courses and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. A Gulliver Prep education combines the best of the traditional college preparatory curriculum with 21st century approaches to teaching and learning. From PK through senior year, students learn to be informed, engaged and critically perceptive.

Gulliver Prep’s Aquatic Center is a premier training and competition facility with a state-of-the-art Olympic-size pool.

The school’s swim teams and year-round USA Swimming program, the Gulliver Swim Club, are guided by Christopher George. Gulliver’s girls’ swim team won five straight 2A Florida State Championships from 2014-18, and the boys’ swim team captured the state title in 2016 for the first time in program history.

Home to 1984 Olympic silver medalist Michele Richardson (’87) and 2003 Pan Am Games medalist Christina Swindle (’03), Gulliver boasts aquatics graduates who have gone on to compete at respected institutions such as the University of Florida, Vanderbilt and Harvard, and alumna Kelly Fertel (’16) swam professionally for the Cali Condors.

Since 2011, the girls’ swim team has recorded 32 individual state titles, while the boys’ swim team has amassed 20 individual state championships. Established in 2011, the Gulliver Swim Club is consistently ranked as a top team in South Florida.

See display ad on page 34.

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McDonogh School College Preparatory, Coed Day and 5-Day Boarding Grades PK-12 • Enrollment: 1,450 8600 McDonogh Rd. • Owings Mills, MD 21117 Director of Enrollment Management: Steve Birdsall Phone: 443-544-7021 Email: sbirdsall@mcdonogh.org Website: www.mcdonogh.org Aquatic Director: Scott Ward Phone: 443-544-7161 Email: sward@mcdonogh.org On 800 rolling acres in a suburb north of Baltimore, McDonogh School is a vibrant, diverse, family-like academic community. Students are inspired regularly by talented, caring teachers and achievement-oriented classmates.

Opportunities abound in academics, arts, athletics and service. A five-day boarding program is an appealing option for swimmers with early morning practices.

The Henry A. Rosenberg Jr. Aquatic Center, built in 2006, includes an indoor eight-lane, 50-meter pool that is home to boys’ and girls’ swim teams and coed water polo teams. Since 2003, the girls’ squad has won 14 league championships, and the boys have won league championships in 2012, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Additionally, water polo earned a league championship in 2018.

McDonogh swimmers have risen to the top of the sport.

Fork Union Military Academy

Ali Khalafalla FUMA Class of 2014 Indiana University Class of 2018 2016 Olympics in Rio (Team Egypt) 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (Team Egypt) forkunion.com/swimming FUMA_SwimmingWorld_HalfPage_SEP2021.indd 1

Fork Union Military Academy is a top college prep school for student athletes who are serious about their sport and their studies, FUMA has produced worldclass talent for decades.

Olympians, NBA players, NFL stars (including Heisman Trophy winners Vinny Testaverde and Eddie George), and many more have chosen to prepare for college by attending FUMA. We send more than three dozen athletes to Division I college programs on scholarship each year, and have a long history of helping young men develop in body, mind, and spirit.

Come train in our $4 million aquatic center and be part of a winning team.

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Since 2000, the boys’ and girls’ teams have had 54 individual High School All-Americans, totaling 179 All-America performances. Recent graduates have contributed to top collegiate programs, including Harvard, Stanford, Arizona, Auburn, Georgia, Purdue, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and the U.S. Naval Academy. In 2009, one alum set a national high school prep record and later went on to win a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in record time. Most recently, five alumni participated in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Trials.

Upper School tuition for day students is $34,700; $46,600 for five-day boarding. In 2021, McDonogh awarded more than $6.3 million in need-based financial aid.

Mercersburg Academy College Preparatory, Coed Boarding and Day Grades 9-12/Postgraduate • Enrollment: 446 100 Academy Dr. • Mercersburg, PA 17236 Head Swim Coach: Glenn Neufeld Phone: 717-328-6368 Email: neufeldg@mercersburg.edu Phone (Admission): 717-328-6173 Email: admission@mercersburg.edu Website: www.mercersburg.edu Swimming at Mercersburg Academy has an enduring tradition of excellence. The program has fielded 31 Olympians, including five gold medalists. Head coach and former YMCA National Coach of the Year Glenn Neufeld leads a program that has produced numerous prep school All-Americans,

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and has sent countless swimmers to compete at top colleges and universities. The school’s athletic complex features the new Lloyd Aquatic Center with an Olympic-size 50-meter pool and diving area. Mercersburg also operates summer swim clinics for ages 8-17.

Founded in 1893 in southern Pennsylvania, Mercersburg Academy gives students in grades 9-12 and postgraduates the opportunity to live and learn in a diverse environment that’s home to young people from 29 states and 36 countries. With a 300-acre campus, 153 academic courses, 27 varsity sports, a robust arts program and $8 million in annual financial aid, Mercersburg is within easy reach of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

See display ad on page 35.

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Peddie School College Preparatory, Coed Boarding and Day Grades 9-12/Postgraduate • Enrollment: 550 201 South Main St. • Hightstown, NJ 08520 Director of Admission: Molly Dunne Phone: 609-944-7501 Fax: 609-944-7911 Email: admission@peddie.org Director of Competitive Swimming: Emmett Walling Email: ewalling@peddie.org Website: www.peddie.org Founded in 1864, Peddie School surrounds Peddie Lake on a beautiful 230-acre campus minutes from Princeton, midway between New York City and Philadelphia.

Known nationally for its academic excellence and strong

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SWIMMER AT

THE DAY BEGINS

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BREAKFAST Enjoy breakfast offerings like omelets made to order, hot and cold cereals, fresh fruit, and a waffle bar.

Wake up at 6:30 a.m. and head to the Lloyd Aquatic Center or the McDowell Fitness Center to work out from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m.

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MORNING CLASSES Take your pick of more than 150 courses across eight academic departments.

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HELP PERIOD Use this built-in time between morning classes to meet with your teachers or adviser group, get help with your coursework, or just relax.

AFTERNOON CLASSES After two more classes, the school day ends.

A 30-minute break gives you time to grab a snack before heading back to the pool.

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LUNCH Family-style lunch is a Mercersburg tradition, and it gives you the chance to meet new peers and faculty throughout the school year.

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PGA Swimming practice is typically held from 4 to 6 p.m. in our 50-meter Olympic-size pool and diving area.

DINNER AND FREE TIME Dinner is served family style or buffet, depending on the evening. Hang out afterward in the Simon Student Center or get a head start on homework.

QUIET HOURS AND STUDY TIME 9

9th–11th graders must sign in to their dorms by 8 p.m. but may sign out to visit the library. Final dorm sign-in for all students is 10 p.m.

mercersburg.edu/swim MERCERSBURG, PA | FOUNDED IN 1893 | GRADES 9-12 | COED BOARDING AND DAY

DEFINE YOURSELF

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sense of community, Peddie’s talented faculty is highly accessible, and its technology unsurpassed. The average class size is 12, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 6:1.

Peddie’s student body represents 24 states as well as 34 foreign countries.

A perennial national power, Peddie swimming has been represented at the Olympics in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. In addition to swimming on the world stage, Peddie School has consistently ranked at the top of Swimming World’s National High School Mythicals, with its boys placing sixth nationally in 2018 (and third among independent schools)!

Graduating swimmers have gone on to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, Kenyon, Denison and ASU, among many others.

Peddie’s substantial endowment provides need-based financial aid for roughly 40% of its students.

See display ad on page 36.

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Phillips Academy College Preparatory, Coed Boarding and Day Grades 9-12/Postgraduate • Enrollment: 1,191 Founded in 1778 180 Main St. • Andover, MA 01810

With its expansive worldview, legacy of academic excellence and commitment to equity and inclusion, Phillips Academy, known globally as “Andover,” offers extraordinary opportunities to the student-athlete.

Supported by remarkable financial resources, the school is able to admit students on a need-blind basis—without regard to a family’s ability to pay tuition. Accordingly, 47% of students receive scholarship support from an annual financial-aid budget of more than $23 million.

Andover student-athletes immerse themselves in a broad, deep and always evolving curriculum that contains more than 300 college-preparatory courses, including more than 150 electives, many of which are college-level.

Within this rigorous academic environment, Andover’s Swimming & Diving program enjoys great success on Eastern, national and international stages.

Since its first meet in 1912, Andover has produced multiple Olympians—including most recently in Tokyo, Lindi Schroeder (’20) and Andrew Wilson (’12)—as well as more than 170 All-Americans and numerous national record holders.

In just the last 10 years, Andover swimmers and divers have competed for schools such as Brown, Emory, Harvard, MIT, Penn, Princeton, Texas, USC, Williams and Yale.

See display ad on page 37.

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Boys’ Coach: David Fox Email: dfox@andover.edu Girls’ Coach: Paul Murphy Email: pmurphy@andover.edu Website: www.andover.edu

To view our Prep School Directory online, please visit our website at: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/prep-school-directory/

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Peddie swimming has produced Olympic gold medalists, national champions, National Junior Team members and numerous high school All-Americans while providing each student-athlete a first-class education.

An eight-time High School National Championship Team, Peddie swimming has been represented in six out of the last eight Olympic Games.

Recently graduated swimmers have gone on to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Stanford, The University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern.

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The End Depends On The Beginning

• Eastern and New England Team Champions • Olympians • All-Americans • National, Eastern, and New England Record Holders • Represented USA at World Schools Championships in Rio

www.andover.edu

Hall of Fame Day: When Rebecca Soni Crashed Through the 2:20 Barrier in 200 Breaststroke

BY SWIMMING WORLD ARCHIVE TEAM

As she prepares to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Swimming World takes a look back at when Rebecca Soni became the first woman to dip below 2:20 in the 200-meter breaststroke.

Kanetou with her time from Kinamoto in 2009. The time gave her a second Olympic medal this week, along with her bronze in the 100 breast.

A

“I’m so sorry I came second but I could get close to the swimmer I respected (Soni). I enjoyed that,” Suzuki said.

“My coach (Tadahiko Kanda) said I could get gold medal but I couldn’t. I performed as good as I could. I was surprised when I saw the [world record] time. I want to say congratulations. Last year I lost my weight and I got more stamina. This was good for me.”

day after she posted an astonishing world record of 2:20.00 in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke semifinals, the USA’s Rebecca Soni decided tonight was the night to break that 2:20 barrier at the 2012 London Olympics.

Soni defended her 2008 Olympic gold medal with a stunning time of 2:19.59 (32.49, 1:08.10, 1:43.95, 2:19.59). That performance bettered her world record from semis, which in turn lowered the 2009 global standard of 2:20.12 posted

by Canada’s Annamay Pierse in the semifinals of the 2009 World Championships. The win gave Soni her second gold medal, and her fifth Olympic medal overall. With the victory, she became the first swimmer to ever defend a women’s 200 breast title, and broke a tie with Germany and the assorted Russian (Soviet Union, United Team, Russian) squads for the most gold medals in the event. The U.S. now has four with Soni’s two, Beard’s 2004 triumph and Sharon Wichman’s win 1968.

“I’m so happy, I didn’t try to focus on medals or records, I just wanted to swim one more race the way I knew I could,” Soni said. “It’s my goal since I was a little kid to swim under 2:20.

When my coach told me you’re going to be the first woman to go under 2:20′, I’ve been chasing it ever since and I’m so happy. I didn’t want to look, I was watching last night’s video and I was turning while touching the wall. Tonight I just wanted my hand on the wall, I was scared to look. I can’t believe it yet.”

Japan’s Satomi Suzuki finished with silver in a scorching 2:20.72, tying the Asian record previously held by Rie

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Soni’s Trojan Swim Club training partner Yuliya Efimova of Russia snatched the bronze medal in 2:20.92, making her just the sixth member of the 2:20 club. Her performance smashed the European record of 2:21.62 held by Serbia’s Nadja Higl set during the 2009 World Championships. That’s the first Olympic medal for Efimova, who finaled in both breaststrokes in 2008.

“I know I did in a good time and I have not really expected that,” Efimova said. “I was tired at the last few metres, if there were another 10m ahead, maybe the result could be different. I swam as I planned during training, not thinking about medals at all. [Soni] is my friend and she is a pretty small thing who swims really fast. She is a superwoman. She congratulated me after the race, praising my good work. Now there is time before the Games in Rio for me to match her results.”

Denmark’s Rikke Pedersen (2:21.65), Canada’s Martha McCabe (2:23.16), USA’s Micah Lawrence (2:23.27), South Africa’s Suzaan van Biljon (2:23.72) and Australia’s Sally Foster (2:26.00) comprised the rest of the championship heat. ◄

PARTING SHOT

[ Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto ]

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