Swimming World's Weekly Splash💦

USA Swimming today announced the names of the 104 athletes selected for the 2023 National Select Camp, held October 12-15 (boys) and October 26-29 (girls) at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“We are excited to welcome this well deserving group of athletes, coaches and staff to the Olympic Training Center here in Colorado Springs,” USA Swimming Senior Director of Team Services, Coach and Athlete Development Mariejo Truex said. “Being able to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for athletes to develop both on and off the pool deck has always been a top priority of this camp, and we look forward to engaging with the athletes from across the United States. This year, we are excited to offer a home coaches track, which will provide additional opportunities for coaches across the country.”

Numerous National Team athletes and Olympians have previously attended the National Select Camps, including Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, Lilly King, Michael Andrew, Hali Flickinger, and Kieran Smith.

As a freshman, it took only one year for Teagan O’Dell to prove she was one of the best high school swimmers in the country.

It took only one more year to prove she was the best!

O’Dell, a sophomore from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.—and coached by Ron and Rich Blanc—broke a national high school record and was selected as Swimming World’s High School Female Swimmer of the Year, leading her team to the state championship.

“It was honestly such a fun season for the whole team,” O’Dell said. “I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself.”

O’Dell was the top performer in the country in the 200 yard individual medley (1:53.38), breaking the national record in the event set by Torri Huske in 2021 (1:53.73).

It happened at the California state finals.

“Going into the section meet, my best time was a 1:55.1 from my freshman year state. At the section meet, in state prelims, I popped a 1:54.0, dropping a whole second. Then at state in prelims, I was 1:55.0, then finals 1:53.38,” O’Dell said. “I wasn’t not expecting it because I knew I could do it. But I also knew it would take a (near-perfect) race to do it.

Long-time Texas coach Eddie Reese announced on Friday his intent to retire following the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

He will serve his 46th and final season at Texas in 2023-24, at which point a national search for his successor will commence. Reese will stay on with Longhorn Aquatics through late June, one the U.S. team for the 2024 Olympics is set.

“Where we are today and where I am today is made possible by everyone who has swum here before and is swimming here now,” Reese said in a university release. “They are the reasons behind the success of this program. When people get together with the mindset of accomplishing something, even though it is tough during that year in time, it adds up to something truly amazing. I want to thank those guys who trusted me, did all the hard workouts and made the sacrifices in and out of the water.

“Working with swimmers has been one of the true joys of my life. In my life, I’ve discovered that the most important thing for us to do in this world is help others, whether it be for something simple or complex. It has been an honor for me to be a part of this program.”

Due to the sport’s all-consuming nature, swimming inevitably becomes a family affair. And once your family becomes a swimming family, the sport will affect your home life in more ways than you could have ever imagined! Here are 15 ways to tell you come from a swimming family.
1. Somewhere In Your House Is A Dedicated Gear Area.
This place is full of mesh bags, old see-through swimsuits, goggles, caps, and has a distinct smell of chlorine.
2. There Is Also Probably A Bucket Of Old Medals And Ribbons.
After many years of meets, what was once so precious now just seems to pile up.
3. Chlorine-Fried Hair In Family Photos
No need to pay for haircuts when it just breaks off, and who doesn’t love that nice green tint?
4. Unending Amounts Of Moisturizer
In swimming families, dry skin becomes a family-wide epidemic due to constant immersion in large bodies of chlorinated water. Moisturizer becomes an intimate family friend, as you probably have bottles of moisturizer in your car, shower, bag, and basically any other place you can think of.