In Manchester U.S. Swimmers To Seek World Titles While Sizing Up The Competition For Paris

At this time two years ago, the five-year “quad” was reaching an end with the arrival of the Covid-delayed Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Now, athletes are entering the final year of the shortened three-year “quad” as they begin the final push toward the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. For Para swimmers, the Para Swimming World Championships beginning Monday in Manchester, England, will be a chance to measure themselves against the rest of the world one year out from the big event.

“This is a great meet to get a pulse on where you’re at,” U.S. Paralympics Swimming director Erin Popovich said. “We know that things can change in terms of athletes rising in the rankings and getting faster and that a lot can happen in a year, but it really is one of the best indicators of where the competition will be in Paris. It gives athletes a better understanding of where they need to be, perhaps what shifts in training need to happen to get to the next level.”

The U.S. is sending 15 women and six men to Manchester, with veterans including Jessica Long and Leanne Smith leading the way. They’ll be looking to add to their considerable career medal hauls alongside first-timers including Olivia Chambers and Hannah Nelson.

Long will be making her eighth world championship appearance. She has an astounding 52 medals in the seven previous meets, including 35 golds. Smith, who is still working back into top form after an illness, had an incredible world meet last year, going seven-for-seven in her races to give her a total of 10 world titles in her career.

Their leadership will be invaluable for those athletes who’ve never competed on such a big stage before.

“Our veteran athletes are able to share with our first-timers what goes into a world championship, how to prepare, how to execute and how to get that experience, and it gives the first-timers a chance to get really high-level experience at a very tough competition prior to the Games,” Popovich said. “It’s an opportunity and an indicator not only of where you’re at as a swimmer but also where everyone else is at. You tend to see more nations at this one than you see during the first two years of the quad.”

Paralympic gold medalists Morgan Stickney (400-meter freestyle) and Elizabeth Marks (50-meter butterfly) will be back to defend their individual world titles, and they’ll be joined by Paralympic medalists and world championships veterans including Hannah Aspden, Lizzi Smith, Colleen Young, Julia Gaffney and Ahalya Lettenberger on the women’s side.

On the men’s side, Paralympic bronze medalists Matthew Torres and Jamal Hill will be competing at the world championships for the second time. Both won silver medals in 2022, as did Morgan Ray, who will also be going to his second world championships. Paralympian Lawrence Sapp will be competing at the world championships for the third time.

In addition to Chambers and Nelson, three other athletes will compete at the world championships for the first time: Christie Raleigh Crossley, David Abrahams and Noah Jaffe.

For first-timers, Popovich said, it’s important to just take everything in.

“It can be daunting competing for the first time at this level of the world stage, but it’s about having all the experiences and also leaning on the veterans,” Popovich said. “There’s so much learning that can happen at worlds that sometimes it feels more stressful than the Games because it’s your first time seeing where you’re at with the best of the best.”

Team USA will be without some notable names. Seventeen-time world championships medalist Mallory Weggemann gave birth to her daughter this spring and has not yet returned to international competition, while McKenzie Coan, who swept her three individual events in Madeira last summer and has 16 total world championship medals, recently withdrew from the meet for medical reasons. Anastasia Pagonis, who won three world titles in her debut last summer, is also recovering from an injury.

While medals are always the goal in any sport, and team personnel will be evaluating each athlete’s performance, they’ll also be looking to see how they handle different stresses, Popovich said.

“Right now, the coaches are learning about the athletes and the athletes are learning about the coaching staff and we’re all learning about all the different things that might pop up,” she said. “What we want to see is athletes who are able to navigate through the ups and downs, the challenges, the wins and losses as well as things that happen outside of their control and their comfort zone so when we go to Paris we have it dialed in.”

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.