The Righties and Lefties of Team USA

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During the 2021 USA Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, each athlete signed a drum to signify becoming an official member of the Tokyo Olympic Team. While watching this monumental moment, some may have just considered this a right of passage. But Swimming World was curious to investigate:  How many righties and lefties are there on Team USA?

Well, there are 45 “righties” and 7 “lefties” – 3 of those 52 athletes consider themselves ambidextrous! Here is the breakdown:

Righties (Men)

  1. Michael Andrew
  2. Zach Apple
  3. Bowe Becker
  4. Gunnar Bentz
  5. Michael Brinegar
  6. Patrick Callan
  7. Caeleb Dressel
  8. Nic Fink
  9. Bobby Finke
  10. Townley Haas
  11. Zach Harting
  12. Chase Kalisz
  13. Drew Kibler
  14. Jay Litherland
  15. Bryce Mefford
  16. Jake Mitchell
  17. Blake Pieroni 
  18. Tom Shields
  19. Jordan Wilimovsky
  20. Andrew Wilson

Righties (Women)

  1. Haley Anderson**
  2. Phoebe Bacon**
  3. Erika Brown
  4. Claire Curzan
  5. Catie DeLoof
  6. Kate Douglass
  7. Hali Flickinger
  8. Brooke Forde
  9. Katie Grimes
  10. Natalie Hinds
  11. Torri Huske
  12. Lydia Jacoby
  13. Lilly King
  14. Katie Ledecky
  15. Paige Madden
  16. Simone Manuel
  17. Katie McLaughlin
  18. Allison Schmitt
  19. Bella Sims
  20. Olivia Smoliga
  21. Ashley Twichell
  22. Alex Walsh
  23. Abbey Weitzeil
  24. Emma Weyant
  25. Rhyan White

Lefties (Men)

  1. Hunter Armstrong
  2. Brooks Curry
  3. Ryan Murphy**
  4. Kieran Smith

Lefties (Women)

  1. Annie Lazor
  2. Regan Smith
  3. Erica Sullivan

Ambidextrous

Someone who is ambidextrous is able to use both their right and left hand equally as well.

•Phoebe Bacon

“I usually write with my right hand but I’m ambidextrous!”

•Haley Anderson

“I write with my right and do most things with my right, but throw and do sports stuff with my left.”
As Tom Shields noted, Haley is “crazy talented like that. Ambidextrous in sport, too.” Haley earned a spot on Team USA in open water but also swam at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, placing 4th in both the 1500 and 400 freestyle and 3rd in the 800.

•Ryan Murphy

“It depends what I’m doing, but I write lefty! I basically throw, write, kick with left. But if I’m holding something, I’m a righty. So I golf and bat right.”

Note: All findings are from watching the drum signing and/or confirmed by the athletes themselves. Whether Team USA Tokyo Olympian Andrew Seliskar is a righty or lefty is unknown.

~Are you right-handed, left-handed, or ambidextrous?~
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