As the Baltimore and Washington areas have grown into swimming hotbeds, so have the number of local representatives in the Olympics.
All eyes may be on Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps, but they aren’t the only swimmers from the Washington-Baltimore area who are headed to Rio representing Team USA.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Jack Conger (4 x 200 free relay)
Rockville, Md.
Nations Capital Swim Club/University of Texas
Conger missed making the 200 fly by six tenths of a second (finishing third), the 200 free by one tenth (also finishing third), and the 100 fly by 6 hundredths (finishing fourth). Thankfully, he’ll still get to Rio on the relay team.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
AP Photo/Eric Gay
Chase Kalisz (400 IM)
Bel Air, Maryland
North Baltimore Aquatic Club
Kalisz won the 400 IM by a second and a half over the next closest competitor. He also finished fifth in the 200 butterfly, eight tenths of a second behind the second-place finisher.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Katie Ledecky (200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 4 x 200 free relay)
Washington, D.C.
Nation’s Capital Swim Club
Ledecky won the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle races, setting a meet record (8:10.32) in the latter. She missed qualifying for the 100 free, but will still have four races in Rio.
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
AP Photo/Michael Sohn
Townley Haas (200 free, 4 x 200 free relay)
Richmond, Va.
University of Texas (Benedictine High School)
Haas out-touched Connor Dwyer by .01 seconds to win the 200 freestyle but was edged by Dwyer in the 400, finishing third.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Michael Phelps (100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM)
Towson, Md.
North Baltimore Aquatic Club
Phelps shook off some underwhelming qualifiers to win the 100 butterfly and dominated throughout in the 200 fly. He also took down longtime rival Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM, though both advanced to race in Rio.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Cierra Runge (4 x 200 relay)
West Chester, Pa.
North Baltimore Aquatic Club/UC Berkeley
Runge was less than a second out of qualifying for the 200 free and finished third behind Ledecky and Smith in the 400 free, but made it to Rio as part of the relay team.
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
AP Photo/Rick Rycroft
Allison Schmitt (4 x 200 relay, 4 x 100 relay)
Pittsburgh, Pa.
North Baltimore Aquatic Club
A three-time gold medalist from London, Schmitt is still the American Record holder in the 200 free, which she will swim in the relay. She finished in the top five in the 100, 200 and 400 free at trials.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Leah Smith (400 free, 800 free, 4 x 200 free relay)
Pittsburgh, Pa.
University of Virginia
Smith finished a disappointing third in the 200 free (still making the relay), but was right on Ledecky’s heels in the 400, also finishing second to her in the 800.
(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
WASHINGTON — Based on what’s happened at the past couple Summer Olympics, you probably already know that the Washington-Baltimore area has had some swimming success.
Michael Phelps started the medal count 12 years ago, and Katie Ledecky began adding to it in London in 2012. Both are headed to Rio in August, but they aren’t the only locals who will be representing Team USA.
Between Richmond and Baltimore, there will be six other local swimmers going for gold in Brazil.
“The United States being the most elite swimming program in the world, it’s probably the most challenging team to make,” said Jeremy Linn, a coach at Nation’s Capital Swim Club in Bethesda, Maryland, where Ledecky grew up.
“You break through and you make that U.S. Olympic team, you’re in contention for a medal right away.”
Linn would know. He snagged an individual silver in the 100-meter breaststroke and a team gold in the 400 medley relay at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he has watched the programs in the Washington and Baltimore region grow into the strongest not just in the country, but perhaps the entire world.
“North Baltimore and Nation’s Capital Swim Club are the two clubs that have, throughout the last 35 years, produced to that elite level,” he said, noting that more than 100 of the 1,500 swimmers competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials came from in and around the area.
“As far as participation in the sports of swimming is concerned, I would say the greater Washington D.C. area is the capital of the world. I think there’s more people here in this sport than any other place in the world,” Linn added.
See the full list of the eight local swimmers that will compete in Rio in the gallery above.
