USA Swimming appointed the team for Fukuoka: Ledecky will seek to grow her legend and get closer to Phelps’s record

With the presence of more than 30 Olympic medalists, the United States National Swimming Championships were held in Indianapolis and defined the delegation that will participate in the World Cup in Fukuoka, Japan, which will be held from July 14 to 30.

With Katie Ledecky as a prominent presence and without Caeleb Dressel, USA Swimming appointed the team that will seek to overcome the 45 medals (17 gold, 12 silver and 16 bronze) that allowed it to dominate the 2022 World Cup in Budapest ahead of Australia and Italy.

With 19 gold medals in World Cups, second only to Michael Phelps (26), Ledecky will try to grow her legend in Fukuoka. The seven-time Olympic champion will participate in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle, while she decided not to be part of the 200 freestyle event, which was held in Indianapolis by Claire Weinstein.

Ledecky’s highlight in the National Championship came in the 1500′s, which she won with a time of 15:29.64, the sixth fastest in history. “I think this is the first time I’ve been below 15:30 since the pandemic, so I’m very happy with that,” said the Washington-born, who owns the 15 best times in this distance.

In addition to Ledecky, the swimmers who will participate in several competitions at the Fukuoka World Cup include Regan Smith, Lilly King, Kate Douglass, Torri Huske, Gretchen Walsh and Abbey Weitzeil.

Meanwhile, Katie Grimes is the only one in the entire delegation counting men and women who will participate in the pool (400 medley and 1500 free) and in the open water test, in which she will be accompanied by Mariah Denigan.

Among men, Carson Foster, triple medalist last year in Budapest, is the only one who will participate in three competitions: 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 medley. Olympic champions Hunter Armstrong, Bobby Finke, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Held and Chase Kalisz (together with Katie Ledecky, he will reach the record of six World Cups held by Nathan Adrian, Elizabeth Beisel, Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin), will be other important names in Fukuoka.

The one who will not finally be in Japan is Caeleb Dressel, who returned to swimming in the recent Atlanta Classic after missing 11 months from competition after leaving the World Cup in Budapest last year. The seven-time Olympic champion participated in the National Championship and his most outstanding performance was third place in the Butterfly 50. Precisely, in this event (it is not held in the Olympic Games) the winner was Michael Andrew and he was also left out of Fukuoka due to classification criteria.

“I’m proud of myself for the results, believe it or not. I know it’s shocking. I’m not used to swimming in the C finals, so it’s definitely something different. But nothing would have changed this year. I haven’t enjoyed it so much for a while, so it was nice to be back,” said Dressel, who started a new process in swimming after leaving the activity due to mental health problems. “If I can have the mentality I had in this competition for next year and the years after, I have a very long and successful rest of my career ahead of me,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the sensations in Indianapolis was Thomas Heilman, who qualified for the 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly events and at just 16 years old will be the youngest American to participate in a World Cup since Michael Phelps in 2001.

The United States women’s delegation for the 2023 Fukuoka World Cup

• Katharine Berkoff — 50 backstroke, 100 backstroke
  
• Jillian Cox — 800 free
  
• Mariah Denigan — open water
  
• Kate Douglass — 100 free, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM
  
• Erin Gemmell — 4×200 free
  
• Katie Grimes — 400 IM, 1500 free, open water
  
• Huske Towers — 100 butterfly, 4×100 free, 50 butterfly
  
• Lydia Jacoby — 100 breaststroke, 50 breaststroke
  
• Lilly King - 200, 50, 100 breaststroke
  
• Katie Ledecky — 800, 400, 1500 free
  
• Lindsay Looney — 200 butterfly
  
• Maxine Parker — 4×100 free
  
• Anna Peplowski — 4×200 free
  
• Alex Shackell — 4×200 free
  
• Bella Sims — 200 free, 400 free
  
• Regan Smith — 200 butterfly, 200, 100, 50 backstroke
  
• Olivia Smoliga — 4×100 free
  
• Leah Smith — 4×200 free
  
• Rhyan White — 200 backstroke
  
• Alex Walsh — 400 IM, 200 IM
  
• Gretchen Walsh — 4×100 free, 50, 100 butterfly, 50 free
  
• Claire Weinstein — 200 free
  
• Abbey Weitzeil — 100 free, 50 free
  

The United States men’s delegation for the 2023 Fukuoka World Cup

• Jack Alexy — 100, 50 free
  
• Hunter Armstrong — 100, 50 backstroke
  
• Shaine Homes — 200 MI
  
• Charlie Clark — 1500 free
  
• Ross Dant — 800 free
  
• Matt Fallon — 200 breaststroke
  
• Nic Fink — 50, 100 breaststroke
  
• Bobby Finke — 1500, 800 free
  
• Carson Foster — 200 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 IM
  
• Brennan Gravley — open water
  
• Chris Guiliano — 100 free
  
• Ryan Held — 4×100 free, 50 free
  
• Thomas Heilman — 200, 100 butterfly
  
• Luke Hobson — 200 free
  
• David Johnston — 400 free
  
• Chase Kalisz — 400 IM
  
• Drew Kibler — 4×200 free
  
• Matt King — 4×100 free
  
• Destin Lasco — 4×100 free, 200 backstroke
  
• Josh Matheny — 200, 100 breaststroke
  
• Henry McFadden — 4×200 free
  
• Jake Mitchell — 4×200 free
  
• Ryan Murphy — 200, 100 backstroke
  
• Baylor Nelson — 4×200 free
  
• Justin Ress — 4×100 free, 50 backstroke
  
• Dare Rose — 100, 50 butterfly
  
• Kieran Smith — 200, 400 free
  
• Joey Tepper — open water
  
• Dylan Gravley — open water