After World Championships, Questions Remain for United States Men as Road to Los Angeles Olympics Shortens
Despite feeling the effects of a team-wide stomach illness throughout the week, the American women overcame adversity at the World Championships to win a medal in almost every event, the streak of podium perfection lasting until the meet’s final day.
Katie Ledecky and Gretchen Walsh won two individual golds apiece. Kate Douglass had one, and Regan Smith was a four-time silver medalist. Multi-event star Torri Huske was among the swimmers most affected, but she still managed to win 100 freestyle bronze and played an important relay role while demonstrating grit.
The team flexed its muscle in the last race in Singapore by dominating the 400 medley relay and breaking the world record in the process. The team’s performance was not perfect — the illness surely robbed the Americans chances at more gold medals, including in a pair of extremely tight freestyle relays — but commendable nonetheless.
Jack Alexy has become a force in the sprint freestyle events — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
For the men’s team, meanwhile, the final results were rough. Highlights, yes, such as Luca Urlando winning gold in the 200 butterfly, freestyle silvers by Luke Hobson and Jack Alexy, plus a historic 200 IM from Shaine Casas. But the men collectively won only six individual medals. No Americans reached the finals in the 100 or 200 backstroke, and in the 50-meter events just added to the Olympic program, the U.S. had one swimmer out of six reach a final.
The relays were not great, either. The team won bronze medals in the 400 free relay after entering as gold-medal favorites, and then they finished off the podium in the 800 free relay. Only the 400 medley relay was an over-performance as Alexy fired off a 45.95 anchor split to secure an unexpected bronze. Still, that was quite the contrast from the show the women put on in their medley moments later.
Of course, the team getting sick was a contributing factor in the struggles. Few could have envisioned Bobby Finke not having his signature closing burst as he fell to fourth place in the 800 free before toughing it out for bronze in the mile. But the bottom line is that the team did not accomplish its goals in Singapore.
No one should blame the swimmers who fought through physical and mental challenges just to make it to the starting blocks. Suggesting that anyone on the team did not give sufficient effort would be disingenuous. Rather, blame should fall upon the architects of the process that yielded these disappointing results.
The goal of U.S. international teams is always to maximize the talent available on the roster. That requires keeping swimmers healthy, focusing on finishing races well, matching or improving upon times from the selection meet and emphasizing strong performance on relays. Capturing as many medals as possible is always a priority, with gold medals in the relays carrying extra importance.
That did not happen for the men this year. If most swimmers had matched their times from Nationals, the American medal count would have been larger. The health issues exacerbated the woes, but the trends were similar at the 2023 World Championships and the Paris Olympics. It’s no coincidence that following the Games, USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey and then-national team director Lindsay Mintenko were gone from the organization within a month.
New national team director Greg Meehan only joined USA Swimming four months ago. His job remit is for the entire Olympic cycle, far more than just one World Championships. He has yet to fully implement his designs for the group. The selection of Phuket, Thailand, for the team’s pre-meet training camp has come under criticism since that’s where swimmers first contracted the acute gastroenteritis, but the decision to hold camp there was made long before Meehan’s arrival. He deserves a full runway to implement his vision.
Within the national team, the collection of versatile, experienced female performers is well on the way to dominating this quadrennium; there are no concerns there. The primary challenge facing Meehan and his staff is figuring out how to maximize the potential of the men’s team. The cupboard is not bare, with a significant influx of talent compared to the Paris team.
There is no Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte or Caeleb Dressel to cover up gaps within the team as for the majority of the last 20 years. The closest approximation to a star on the team is Finke, and his medal-potential is limited as a distance specialist. Urlando, Hobson, Alexy and Casas took significant steps in Singapore, and Carson Foster remains a leader of the program despite an injury in Singapore.
Alexy, already an established lynchpin for Team USA, took another step forward on the big stage. He medaled in both sprint freestyles, and his relay splits were sensational, punctuated by the sub-46 marker he fired on the last day of the meet.
Of the young male swimmers who took advantage of significant time drops at Nationals to reach the global level, the majority were unable to back up their performances at Worlds. With the health challenges, swimmers like Jack Aikins, Rex Maurer, Campbell McKean and Luka Mijatovic lost out on the seasoning they could have received in high-stakes races if fully healthy. Their futures remain bright even if their first Worlds was not ideal.
Patrick Sammon made an immediate impact for the U.S. men — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
In contrast, Gabriel Jett, Quintin McCarty, AJ Pouch and Patrick Sammon reached individual finals, and they could be better positioned to build on their results next year.
Except for backstroker Tommy Janton, the remaining 25 men on the Worlds team are currently in position to qualify for next year’s Pan Pacific Championships, with the results from the upcoming TYR Pro Championships and World Junior Championships still pending. Perhaps the less-intense Pan Pacs (only four days and no semifinals) will help this new generation ease into the realities of international competition.
These men should be better prepared to contend when their next chance at global long course competition comes in 2027. The World Championships in two years will return to Budapest, a city that has hosted American successes at Worlds in 2017 and 2022.
The onus is on USA Swimming, including Meehan and the organization’s still-to-be-hired CEO, to ensure this group is ready. This emerging core deserves support to ensure they are healthy, ready to implement their race strategies successfully, ready to swim best times and ready to contend for gold in every relay.
No magic elixir is required. The American men needed an infusion of talent after Paris, and almost a dozen swimmers answered that call by qualifying for Singapore. The talent is there. The need is to keep building.
If that happens, the medal count will take care of itself in 2027 and 2028. The U.S. women, fresh off a dominant World Championships despite extensive obstacles, are proof.
