The Unique Quirks of the USA College Challenge

usa college challenge, katie ledecky, dylan carter, ryan murphy, melanie margalis
Clockwise, from top left: Dylan Carter, Ryan Murphy, Melanie Margalis & Katie Ledecky

By David Rieder.

Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel and Kathleen Baker competing against the United States? Sounds weird, doesn’t it?

The fact is, that trio has been at the center of the U.S. women’s dominant efforts at both the 2016 Olympics and at the 2017 World Championships. Ledecky’s excellence is nothing new, while Manuel has developed into one of the world’s premier sprinters and Baker into an elite backstroker.

And this weekend, in one of the year’s most unique swim meets, the USA College Challenge in Los Angeles, those three lead a squad of Pac-12 all-stars into a dual meet against an American team that won’t be nearly as much of a mismatch as the concept suggests.

The top swimmers from one conference against the best of the rest of the country? No contest, right? It wasn’t last November, when an American team crushed the Big Ten All-Stars in Indianapolis, 349 to 247.

But many of the country’s best swimmers currently compete in the Pac-12 and will compete for the conference this weekend in LA. Aside from the aforementioned trio of Olympic medalists, sprinters Abbey Weitzeil and Katrina Konopka, butterflyers Katie McLaughlin and Louise Hansson and IMers Ella Eastin and Brooke Forde highlight the squad.

brooke-forde-

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Of the entire Pac-12 roster, Forde is the only College Challenge veteran. She actually had a breakout meet at the 2016 edition, winning the 400 IM in 4:02.67—a time which would have been good enough for fifth a few months later at the NCAA championships.

Graduates of Pac-12 schools are not eligible for the conference team, so Ryan Murphy, Jacob Pebley and Josh Prenot will all compete for the American team—against their coach, Dave Durden, who leads the conference squad.

That Pac-12 men’s team doesn’t have quite the name-brand recognition of the female squad, but Stanford’s True Sweetser and Abrahm DeVine both swam at the World Championships this summer, and Grant Shoults, Dylan Carter, Cameron Craig and Andrew Seliskar all scored individual points at the 2017 NCAA championships.

That group is representing an entity—their conference—they never have before and likely never will again. Conference pride will replace intra-conference rivalries, at least for one weekend.

And that Pac-12 squad, representing the best top-end conference in NCAA swimming, has a real chance at scoring a victory against the U.S. National team.

Well, those from the National team that agreed to participate. Of the 29 named to represent the United States in LA, 14 of them are holdovers from this summer’s World Championships squad. That might not sound like a great percentage, but only six 2016 Olympians swam at last year’s version of the College Challenge.

The American roster is an interesting mix of professionals and high schoolers, with none of the 29 currently swimming in the NCAA. The women’s team is split down the middle, with seven postgrads and seven high schoolers, while the men’s team sees Kieran Smith, Daniel Krueger and 18-year-old pro Michael Andrew mixing with 12 postgrads.

matt-grevers-

Matt Grevers — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

It’s impossible to predict the final score of any dual meet, especially one in October, when most swimmers have started to buckle down in training. But a quick roster analysis shows a superior Pac-12 women’s team and an American team that, despite its holes, should out-score the college squad with Murphy, Prenot, Matt Grevers, Tom Shields, Jack Conger and others scoring big.

Looking for storylines and anticipated races, there should be a few. Certainly, it’s always exciting to watch Ledecky any time she’s in the pool, and Grevers and Murphy should provide some excitement in the men’s backstrokes.

The women’s IMs should be exciting, with Eastin clashing with Melanie Margalis and Madisyn Cox—the same two women who beat her out for World Championships spots in the 200 IM this summer.

For the men, how about the 200 free, which could feature Conger, Clark Smith and former Italian Olympian Mitch D’Arrigo for the United States against Carter and Craig? Sean Grieshop and Kieran Smith aren’t quite household names yet, but watching them compete against Prenot and DeVine in the IMs should be exciting.

All in all, some interesting racing—and a potentially compelling team race—at a point in the swimming calendar that typically lacks any meets of national significance. Even if none of the athletes will be in peak racing form, dual meets are fun.

It’s not a high bar to clear, but this year’s College Challenge the best national meet held in the month of October in a long time. If nothing else, watching Katie Ledecky compete against the U.S. for the first and likely last time in her career should be worth a chuckle.

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Cecilia Mancin
6 years ago

See you in LA Katie!!! So excited for this amazing weekend!!! I can’t wait to see you!!!♡☆

Trudy York Miller
6 years ago

My girl swimming 🙂

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