Mixed Relays Present Challenges For David Marsh And Ray Looze At Short Course Worlds

CHARLOTTE/BLOOMINGTON – David Marsh might be up all night trying to pick the best athletes to represent Team USA in the mixed relays next month at the short course world championships.

“I’m still trying to figure out how these mixed relays work,” Marsh told the media in a conference call Tuesday. It’s hard to decipher if Marsh was joking about the task of picking the right two men and two women for the mixed relays in Doha, or if he really will lose sleep over it.

Next month’s meet will mark the first time the 4×50 mixed freestyle relay and the 4×50 mixed medley relay will be contested at a world championships. FINA approved those events for world record purposes in 2014, paving the way for numerous teams to put up times and call themselves world record holders.

Ray Looze’s squad at Indiana University was one of the first to post an official time for mixed relays last year, so he can give Marsh some help. The two are the head coaches for Team USA in Doha next month, with Marsh guiding the men’s team and Looze working with the women’s team. Both will have a few of their personal swimmers on the team (seven for Marsh, two for Looze), but spoke of the humbling task of being selected to lead a talented group that includes Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin, Tyler Clary and Elizabeth Beisel.

“There’s plenty of potential to have a great team meet,” Marsh said, adding that though short course meters is a fairly foreign racing format for Americans, “it allows the athletes to give their best aggressive effort.”

And they’ll need to be at their best, with three of the sport’s biggest stars – Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin – not on the roster for various reasons. Japan is sending its top athletes, as are several European countries. Marsh is a veteran of dealing with athletes on the international stage, having worked as a head or assistant coach for Team USA for more than 20 years.

Looze, on the other hand, has fewer international coaching gigs under his belt despite an illustrious career at Indiana. This year has been a big step forward for Looze and his athletes, with Cody Miller winning the long course national title in the 100 breast and three of his athletes gaining spots on USA international rosters.

“It’s part of our plans to winning a national title at IU like they did in the 1970s,” Looze said, adding that he has confidence that his assistant coaching staff will be able to handle duties well while he’s in Qatar.

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