Long headlines USA’s Rio 2016 swim team

US Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, announced its 31-strong Rio 2016 Paralympics Games swimming team on Sunday (3 July) after three days of intense racing at the Paralympic trials in North Carolina.

Seventeen athletes heading to Rio 2016 have Paralympic Games experience, whilst 14 fresh faces are looking to turn heads in the sport’s ultimate competition. The team will also feature two US military service members, one a retired Navy veteran and one active duty member currently serving in the United States Army.

Twelve-time Paralympic gold medallist Jessica Long, Rudy Garcia-Tolson and Cody Bureau are the only swimmers on the team able to say their Paralympic Games career stretches back to the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. All three have been named to their fourth team with the trio all having competed in 2012, 2008 and 2004.

Cortney Jordan, Noga Nir-Kistler, Tucker Dupree and Roy Perkins will all be representing Team USA for the third time, having seen action in both London and Beijing.

Brickelle Bro, McKenzie Coan, Alyssa Gialamas, Letticia Martinez, Rebecca Meyers, Mallory Weggemann, Colleen Young, Evan Austin, Dalton Herendeen and retired Navy veteran Brad Snyder will all return for their second Games.

Athletes making their Games debut include Hannah Aspden, Haley Bernabaum, Reilly Boyt, Cailin Currie, McClain Hermes, Sophia Herzog, Michelle Konkoly, US Army Sgt. Elizabeth Marks, Marth Ruether, Natalie Sims, Elizabeth Smith, Tharon Drake, Tye Dutcher and Robert Griswold.

There are a combined 19 gold, eight silver and 12 bronze Paralympic Games medals among the 31 athletes, with Long pacing the field at 12 golds. Her 14 world records, long course and short course, also lead all swimmers. As a whole, the group owns a combined 39 world records factoring in both long course and short course distances.

Twenty-five athletes on the roster are currently ranked in the top 10 in the world across 89 events with six swimmers being in the top 10 on the planet in five or more events.

The United States Resident Team based at the Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, Colorado will have nine representatives heading to Rio, including five women (Beranbaum, Herzog, Marks, Martinez and Ruether) and four men (Austin, Drake, Dutcher and Garcia-Tolson).

Aspden, Sims and Dutcher are three members of the 2016 emerging team to qualify for Rio.

Full roster

Women

Hannah Aspden, S9, SB8, SM9

Haley Beranbaum, S5, SB5, SM5

Reilly Boyt, S6, SB6, SM6

Brickelle Bro, S8, SB7, SM8

McKenzie Coan, S7, SB7, SM7

Cailin Currie, S13, SB13, SM13

Alyssa Gialamas, S5, SB5, SM5

McClain Hermes, S12, SB12, SM12

Sophia Herzog, S6, SB6, SM6

Cortney Jordan, S7, SB7, SM7

Michelle Konkoly, S9, SB9, SM9

Jessica Long, S8, SB7, SM8

Elizabeth Marks, S8, SB7, SM8

Letticia Martinez, S11, SB11, SM11

Rebecca Meyers, S13, SB13, SM13

Noga Nir-Kistler, S6, SB5, SM6

Martha Ruether, S13, SB13, SM13

Natalie Sims, S9, SB9, SM9

Elizabeth Smith, S9, SB9, SM9

Mallory Weggemann, S8, SB7, SM8

Colleen Young, S13, SB13, SM13

Men

Evan Austin, S8, SB7, SM8

Cody Bureau, S9, SB9, SM9

Tharon Drake, S11, SB11, SM11

Tucker Dupree, S12, SB12, SM12

Tye Dutcher, S10, SB9, SM10

Rudy Garcia-Tolson, S8, SB7, SM7

Robert Griswold, S8, SB7, SM8

Dalton Herendeen, S10, SB8, SM10

Roy Perkins, S5, SB4, SM5

Bradley Snyder, S11, SB11, SM11

All qualifications and nominations to the US Paralympic Swimming Team are pending approval by the US Olympic Committee.