Staff Reports
Michael Brinegar has been named to the USA Swimming National team roster for the third consecutive year.
The Columbus resident and Indiana University sophomore made the team in both open water and pool events for the second straight year. He was selected for the Open Water (10K), the 800-meter freestyle and 1,500 freestyle.
USA Swimming announced the 2019-20 U.S. National Team Roster of 60 men and 55 women on Wednesday. The team features the top six athletes with the highest World Rankings in individual Olympic Events. Qualifying times come from USA Swimming or FINA sanctioned meets from Jan. 1 through Aug. 25.
So far in 2019, Brineger finished as the third American and sixth overall in the US Open Water Nationals 5K and as the third American and fifth overall in the US Open Water Nationals 10K.
At the USA Swimming National Championship, Brinegar finished third in both the the 800 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle with times that ranked 37th and 25th in the world.
This summer, Brinegar finished as the first American and 12th overall in the FINA Open Water World Championship 5K. He also anchored the US 5K Mixed Relay team to a third-place finish.
Eight swimmers with ties to IU and seven swimmers with ties to the Mission Viejo Nadadores (where Brinegar trained for the summer) were named to the national team. All three of Brinegar’s coaches — Mark Schubert (Mission Viejo), Ray Looze (IU) and Mike Westphal (IU) — were named national team coaches.
