How Michael Phelps’ Withdrawal From World Championships Could Affect Roster

Photo by JD Lasica

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 6. THE joint decision by Michael Phelps and USA Swimming to remove Phelps from the yet-to-be-announced roster for next year’s world championships will cause only mild changes to the list of athletes who will represent Team USA in Kazan, Russia, next summer.

Phelps was set to swim the 100 free, 100 fly and 200 IM in Kazan next year, based on his performances at the Pan Pacific championships. That meet, along with the summer nationals, were used to determine the athletes who would attend worlds next year. He would have also been a strong choice for all three relay events. He was tied for the fastest time in the 100 fly with Tom Shields (51.29) and second behind Nathan Adrian in the 100 free with a 48.45. He’s just a couple of hundredths of a second behind Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM with a 1:56.04 from the Pan Pacific championships.

If USA Swimming sticks with the posted selection procedures, only one new swimmer would be getting the call to join the world championship team. Tim Phillips would be the logical replacement for Phelps in the 100 fly after finishing the long course season third in the national rankings.

Ryan Lochte moves into the 100 free individual event. Not only is he the third-fastest American in the event this year, but he’s already on the team in the 200 IM and 200 freestyle. USA Swimming has special procedures for replacing athletes in the 100 and 200 freestyle events, noting that the replacement must be “the next highest Available Swimmer already on the team.” That’s logical, since that swimmer would already be swimming in the freestyle relay.

Tyler Clary, already on the team in the 200 fly, 200 back and 400 IM, is likely to add the 200 IM to his schedule. With the shift in the 100 freestyle, a sixth person might be needed for 400 free relay purposes. That could put Matt Grevers in an alternate spot for the relay. Grevers is already expected to swim the 50 fly and 100 back at world championships.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Conor Dwyer was set to swim the 200 IM. His year’s best of 1:57.41 in the 200 IM was done in prelims, which is not used to select team members.

USA SWIMMING SELECTION PROCEDURES FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

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GMR2000

9 years ago

Why would Dwyer be ahead of Clary in the 200 IM? Aren’t the replacements also based on the fastest times from finals from both Nationals and Pan Pacs? Didn’t Clary finish ahead of Dwyer in both of those? Now, if Clary was to decline the spot in the 200 IM because of an already-full schedule, that’d make sense. But he should have first “dibs.”

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Jeff Commings

9 years ago

Reply to GMR2000

You are right. The time of 1:57.41 that Dwyer swam to rank ahead of Clary was done in prelims. Selection is based on time, not place, and USA Swimming will not be using prelims swims as primary factors in making roster picks. The article has been amended.