Penn State’s Shane Ryan Accepts Invite to Swim for USA in Duel in the Pool

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, September 30. THE Penn State swimming and diving team is starting a new era under head coach Tim Murphy, and it will get a big boost on an international scale when sophomore Shane Ryan competes for Team USA at the Duel in the Pool.

Ryan’s invitation was confirmed today by Penn State University, and marks the second male member added to the American list after Conor Dwyer. Ryan got the invite on the basis of his fourth-place finish at the USA Swimming nationals in the 100 backstroke, his highest placing at a national championships in an Olympic event. He was also third in the 50 backstroke with a 24.89.

The short course meters Duel in the Pool will mark Ryan’s first major international competition, though he was a part of the USA Swimming junior national team for two years. With short course meters racing rarely available in the United States, it’s no surprise that Ryan does not have any SCM times in the USA Swimming times database.

“I am so honored that they picked me to go against Team Europe this year,” Ryan said through Penn State’s press release. “This will be a great experience as well for me to show that Penn State has a great swimming program.”

Ryan’s selection to the team continues to leave the question open about the participation of some of the top Americans at the Duel in the Pool. According to USA Swimming selection guidelines, invitations are sent to the top swimmers in each event, which meant David Plummer, Matt Grevers and Ryan Murphy likely turned down an invitation — at least to swim the 100 backstroke.

More confirmation announcements are bound to surface as we get closer to USA Swimming’s official release of the roster.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use