Michael Brinegar
Michael Brinegar has been named to the USA Swimming National Team for the sixth consecutive year.
Brinegar earned this year’s honor by finishing as the fourth American an fifth overall in the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals in early April. He is one of 54 men and 46 women on the national team.
Following the Open Water Nationals, Brinegear opted to forego his college eligibility at Indiana University and turned pro. But he has run into a string of bad luck prior to or at each of his four scheduled races since then.
In May, Brinegar was stung on the top of his left foot by a stingray at the end of his final open water practice in California prior to his flight to Portugal for the FINA Marathon Swimming (open water) World Series season opener. Despite pain and swelling in his foot, Brinegar finished 15th overall and as the second American, earning a spot on Team USA for the Open Water World Championships the final week of June in Budapest, Hungary.
Two days after returning to California from Portugal, Brinegar tested positive for COVID. Although he experienced symptoms for only 24 hours, the time he had to spend away from the pool because of the positive test led him to withdraw from the World Championships.
With their coach, Mark Schubert, coaching in China for six months, Brinegar and Columbus East senior Brady Beyer returned to Columbus to train with Brinegar’s mother Jennifer and her Club Olympia team.
On Aug. 27, Michael Brinegar competed in a FINA Marathon World Series 10K event in Lac Megantic, Canada. He was among five swimmers in the lead pack midway through the third of five laps when his timing chip got caught in the netting around the base of a turn buoy. He developed a leg cramp trying to free himself, and by the time he was able to free himself, he had lost contact with the lead pack and ended up finishing 19th.
In his most recent episode of bad luck, Brinegar was set to compete in a FINA Marathon World Series Race Oct. 7 in Puerto Rico, but that event was canceled.
Brinegar now is training for the final FINA Marathon World Series event of the season, a Nov. 11 race in the Red Sea in Eilat, Israel. That was the site of Brinegar’s 2018 Junior Open Water World Championship 10K.
