Sunday, 20 June 2021

USA Swimming Announces 8 Assistant Coaches For Tokyo Olympics | SwimSwam

By Robert Gibbs on SwimSwam

2021 U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

USA Swimming has officially named the 8 coaches who will be Team’s USA assistants for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. They’ll be working with women’s head coach Greg Meehan, men’s head coach Dave Durden, and head open water coach Catherine Kase.

This is a departure from the last several Olympics, where only 6 assistants were officially named to the roster. Even with the expanded coaching roster, there were a few surprises, including the fact that the Sandpipers of Nevada head coach Ron Aitken wasn’t named to the roster, despite the Sandpipers’ women’s impressive showing in the distance free.

There’s no set criteria for how Team USA selects the assistant coaches, but generally, the slots seem to go to coaches who put several swimmers on the team, or those whose swimmers have the best shots at taking home medals. It’s also worth noting that in some cases, it is possible that coaches may have been offered a slot on the team, but turned it down for one reason or another.

Braden Keith contributed to this report.

Bob Bowman, Arizona State

  • Hali Flickinger – 400 IM, 200 fly
  • Allison Schmitt – 200 free

Bowman’s no stranger to the USA coaching rankings, having been on staff at the last four Olympics, but will be his first Olympic coaching assignment without Michael Phelps as one of the US swimmers. This time around, he’s coached a pair of post-grad women, Hali Flickinger and Allison Schmitt, to the team. But it’ll bet a familiar event lineup for Bowman, as Flickinger qualified in the 400 IM and 200 fly, and Schmitt in the 200 free, all events in which Phelps made the Olympic team multiple times.

Todd Desorbo, University of Virginia

  • Paige Madden – 400 free, 4×200 free relay 
  • Alex Walsh – 200 IM
  • Kate Douglass – 200 IM
  • Catie DeLoof – 4×100 free relay

After leading the Virginia women to their first-ever NCAA title last season, Desorbo’s Cavaliers were on-fire at the Olympic Trials as well. Madden, for example, won 3 NCAA titles. Walsh came to Virginia as a National Teamer already, but didn’t show any signs of slowing down in her first season in Charlottesville. Douglass came to the Cavaliers with sprint accolades, but blossomed into one of the most versatile swimmers in the country in her 2 seasons under Desorbo. We knew the Cavaliers were talented, but this group has done very well translating short course into long course. DeLoof joined Cavalier Aquatics last summer as one of just a handful of post-grads training who have trained at UVA under DeSorbo, and she’ll head to Tokyo as a member of the 4×100 free relay team after finishing 5th in the 100 free. 

Ray Looze, Indiana

  • Lilly King – 100 breast, 200 breast
  • Annie Lazor – 200 breast
  • Zach Apple – 100 free, 4×100 free relay, 4×200 free relay
  • Michel Brinegar – 800 free, 1500 free
  • Blake Pieroni – 4×100 free relay

Looze has been a fixture on US teams over the last few years, and it’s no surprise to see him here after putting two women and two men on the team, all-post grads. Annie Lazor and Lilly King went 1-2 in the 200 breast, and King won the 100 breast, the event in which she’s the world-record holder. Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni have been the backbone of the US free relays since Rio, and Pieroni will make his 2nd-straight Olympic team in the 4×100 free, while Apple will get an individual swim after finishing 2nd in the 100 free. Michael Brinegar represented Mission Viejo and apparently has been training with them, but he swims for Indiana collegiately

Terri McKeever – California

  • Abbey Weitzeil – 50 free, 100 free
  • Katie McLaughlin – 4×200 free relay

McKeever has been another fixture in the US coaching ranks, having served as the women’s head coach in 2012 and on numerous other international teams before and after then.  Abbey Weitzeil won the 100 free for the 2nd-straight Trials and missed winning the 50 free again by a mere 0.01s, while Katie McLaughlin made the team in the 4×200, an event in which she’s been a familiar face over the last 6 years.

Peter Andrew, Michael Andrew Swim Academy

  • Michael Andrew – 100 breast, 200 IM, 50 free

This was the one that everyone was talking about all season. It would have been almost-unprecedented to leave the coach of an athlete who qualifies in 3 individual events off the American Olympic staff. But at the same time, we know that Peter Andrew, while he has done an incredible job of tinkering and tweaking the USRPT methodology with his son Michael, has the least experience of those on the staff in working with a diverse group of athletes, something that Olympic coaches are often called on to do. But, Peter is the coach of a swimmer who is now authentically an American star. He’s a guy that’s easy to get along with. And, frankly, more-and-more coaches are doing things that resemble USRPT, so Peter will have plenty of athletes to work with in his wheelhouse.

Jack Bauerle, University of Georgia / Athens Bulldogs

  •  Chase Kalisz – 200 IM, 400 IM
  • Jay Litherland – 400 IM
  • Andrew Wilson – 100 Breast, 200 Breast
  • Nic Fink – 200 Breast 
  • Olivia Smoliga – 4×100 free relay
  • Natalie Hinds – 4×100 free relay

The Georgia post-grad group had a stellar meet, as six swimmers qualified for the Olympic Team. The four men come through in a very specialized set of events – Kalisz and Litherland in the IMs, plus Nic Fink and Andrew Wilson in the breaststrokes. Smoliga and Hinds qualified for the women’s 4×100 free relay after 3rd and 4th place finishes in the 100 free. Additionally, Georgia alums Allison Schmitt, Hali Flickinger and Gunnar Bentz made the team, although all currently train elsewhere. Bauerle brings a wealth of experience to the staff, and over the last 20 years has also proven to be one of America’s best women’s freestyle coaches as well. Bauerle has been on U.S. Olympic Team staffs in 2000 (women’s assistant), 2016 (men’s assistant), and 2008 (women’s head coach).

Anthony Nesty, Florida

  • Kieran Smith – 200 free, 400 free
  • Bobby Finke – 800 free, 1500 free

The Gator long course tradition hasn’t missed a beat under Nesty since Gregg Troy retired from coaching at the University of Florida to focus on post-grads.  Smith and Finke are both American record holders in yards who’ve also been able to get it done in the big pool, as between the two of them they swept the longer four freestyle events.

Gregg Troy, Gator Swim Club

  • Caeleb Dressel – 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly

Like Peter Andrew, Troy only has one athlete on the team, but again, it’s someone who has qualified in 3 events, and that’s Caeleb Dressel. Besides coaching one of the biggest stars in the world of swimming, Troy brings plenty of experience to the table, having previously served on three U.S. Olympic teams and was the men’s head coach in 2012.

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