The Week That Was: Caeleb Dressel, Lilly King Among Five U.S. Captains for World Championships

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The Week That Was featured the US captains for World Championships, World Championship previews, and more.

The Week That Was #1: Caeleb Dressel, Lilly King Among Five U.S. Captains for World Championships

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The U.S. team set to compete at the FINA World Championships in Budapest beginning next Saturday (June 18) is currently assembled at a training camp in Rijeka, Croatia, and the group has named the five swimmers who will act as captains for this year’s group: Ryan Murphy, Lilly King, Leah Smith, Natalie Hinds and Caeleb Dressel.

The men’s captains are the same veteran swimmers who led the U.S. Olympic team last year. Murphy, 26, will be competing at his fourth World Championships in the 100 and 200 backstroke, while Dressel, 25, is racing at his third Worlds with the 50 and 100 freestyle and 50 and 100 butterfly (plus relays) on his schedule.

The Week That Was #2: Pre-World Championships Rankings: The Top 25 Female Swimmers in the World

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia

by David Rieder

With the next edition of the FINA World Championships approaching, it’s time to consider who are the best swimmers in the world. Certainly, ranking swimmers across different events is a highly subjective exercise, and we must choose whether to view consistency or best times or performances at major championship meets as more important.

This set of rankings will judge the 25 best swimmers in the world, with long course performances and abilities weighed most heavily. We are trying to see what swimmers are the best right now, a week-and-a-half out from the start of the Budapest Worlds, but given that many top swimmers have yet to compete at peak form this year, results from the Tokyo Olympics and other major meets will be weighed heavily as well. And even though many big names are skipping Worlds, they were still considered here because of their recent success and the likelihood that they will once again impact major international competition in the future, some even this year.

The Week That Was #3: Pre-World Championships Rankings: The 25 Best Male Swimmers in the World Right Now

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

by David Rieder

Since Michael Phelps walked away from swimming for good after the 2016 Olympics, one individual has held the title of “world’s best male swimmer” for almost six years. Regular readers of this website will have no trouble determining that swimmer’s identity. But stacking up the swimmers behind him presented some challenges in determining what accomplishments and performances matter the most.

This set of rankings will judge the 25 best swimmers in the world, with long course abilities weighed most heavily. We are trying to determine what swimmers are the best right now, a week out from the start of the Budapest Worlds, but given that many top swimmers have yet to compete at peak form this year, results from the Tokyo Olympics and other major meets will be weighed heavily as well. And even though many big names are skipping Worlds, they were still considered here because of their recent success and the likelihood that they will once again impact major international competition in the future, some even this year.

The Week That Was #4: Jack Bauerle Retiring After 44 Seasons as Georgia Coach; Neil Versfeld and Stephanie Williams Moreno to Head Programs

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

by David Rieder

Since 1978, Jack Bauerle has led the women’s swimming program at the University of Georgia, and he added head coaching duties for the men’s team in 1983. Now, the 70-year-old Bauerle will be stepping down.

He announced his retirement Tuesday. “It’s time for me, for my family, and for my team,” Bauerle said in a statement released by the team.

During his run with the Bulldogs, Bauerle led the Georgia women to 12 SEC team titles and seven national championships, the most recent coming in 2016. That final title tied Bauerle with Richard Quick with a record seven women’s national titles at one school.

The Week That Was #5: ASCA Announces 2022 Top 100 Age Group Teams

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Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold/Aringo

by Ashleigh Shay

Congratulations to the clubs that have earned the prestigious status as a 2022 ASCA Top 100 Age Group Team. The results were compiled using USA Swimming results of top-ranked swimmers in the 10&U and 11-12 age groups for the 2021 Long Course season and 2021-22 Short Course season. Swimmers were scored for 1st through 20th place in individual events only; relays were not included.

Teams from Lakeside Aquatic Club, Irvine Novaquatics, and DART Swimming earned top spots.

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