US team unveiled for swimming Worlds
01.04.2015A 25-strong contingent of Paralympians and new talent will compete at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain.
Jessica Long competes in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke - SB7 Heat on London Games 2012
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“The team has a great mix of veteran athletes, as well as some real up and comers, which will undoubtedly result in some outstanding performances in Glasgow.”
US Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, announced on Monday (30 March) the 25 athletes who will represent the US at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, from 13-19 July, in Glasgow, Great Britain.
The World Championships will bring together around 650 swimmers from 50 countries to compete at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre. The event will be the largest international competition before the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
“We are excited about the US team that will be competing at Worlds,” said Queenie Nichols, High Performance Director for US Paralympics swimming. “The team has a great mix of veteran athletes, as well as some real up and comers, which will undoubtedly result in some outstanding performances in Glasgow.”
The roster features nine female and seven male Paralympians with swimmers competing at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and London 2012 Paralympic Games. Three-time Paralympian Jessica Long leads a talented group with 17 Paralympic medals, including 12 gold, and will be defending three world titles in Glasgow. On the men’s side, Roy Perkins collected six medals in his two Paralympic Games, as well as four medals at the Worlds in 2013, to build a strong foundation for the team.
In addition to Paralympic representation, the US returns a core group of 16 athletes from the 2013 World Championships team. Ten female and six male returning swimmers competed at the event in Montreal, Canada, where the US finished fifth in the medal count with 33 total medals - 11 gold, 13 silver and 9 bronze.
Full roster
*Denotes US Paralympian
Women
Jessica Long*, S8/SB7/SM8
Letticia Martinez*, S11/SB11/SM11
Rebecca Meyers*, S13/SB13/SM13
Colleen Young *, S13/SB13/SM13
Men
Rudy Garcia-Tolson*, S8/SB7/SM7
Dalton Herendeen*, S10/SB8/SM10
The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships represent one of the major qualification opportunities for Rio 2016, and will take place in the same pool that hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster from as little as 10/15 GBP for adults for heats/finals.
