SwimSwam Dressel, Marchand Return To The Pool At Stacked Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series

Stars Head To Fort Lauderdale: The final Pro Swim Series event of the year promises to be an exciting one, with some of the sport's biggest stars lining up in Fort Lauderdale this week.

Also: Yuri Suguiyama takes on a new role at USA Swimming, Judge Wilken pauses final approval on the House settlement, and the Trump Administration orders Penn to erase Lia Thomas' swimming records.

Dressel, Marchand, Ledecky & McIntosh Headline Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim

Four of swimming's biggest superstars will compete at this week's Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale, the final PSS of the season before the U.S. National Championships in June, when the World Championship team will be decided.

Headlining the psych sheets on the men's side is Caeleb Dressel, who will race for the first time since the Paris Olympics, and Leon Marchand, who will hit the water for the first time in 2025, coming off his training trip to Australia.

Paris Olympic champions Bobby Finke and Hubert Kos will also feature in a loaded men's lineup, with other notable names including Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, Ilya Kharun and Shaine Casas.

The women's field includes reigning individual Olympic gold medalists Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky and Kate Douglass, along with the star sister duo of Alex and Gretchen Walsh and eight-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith.

Find all the links you need below:

• SwimSwam Event Page
• Meet Central
• Meet Information
• Pre-Scratch Timeline
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

The competition will kick off with a timed finals session on Wednesday, April 30, and then there will be three full days of racing concluding on Saturday, May 3.

Prelims will run at 9 am and finals will be at 6 pm (ET), with Wednesday's timed final session at 5 pm.

Yuri Suguiyama Named National Team Senior Director and Coach at USA Swimming

Longtime University of Wisconsin head coach Yuri Suguiyama has been announced as USA Swimming’s new National Team Senior Director and Coach, marking the second significant hire for the national governing body out of the NCAA coaching sphere in April.

Suguiyama joins USA Swimming after seven seasons as the head coach of the Badgers, aligning with former Stanford head coach Greg Meehan, who was announced as USA Swimming's National Team Director earlier this month.

Suguiyama's new role is a coaching/senior director hybrid position, where he'll work with the athletes and mentor other coaches while also aiding USA Swimming's National Team Division in areas such as strategic planning, international competition, designing domestic race schedules, and selection procedures.

“Yuri has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and a deep commitment to athlete development in all levels of the sport,” said Meehan. “His vision and experience helping club, collegiate, and professional swimmers make U.S. Olympic teams make him an outstanding choice to coach and support our team.”

• Read More: Suguiyama Addition Gives USA Swimming Cautious Momentum Going Into CEO Hiring

Suguiyama was incredibly successful during his seven seasons at Wisconsin, coaching three swimmers to a total of six individual NCAA titles while leading his athletes to 29 Big Ten titles and 66 All-America honors.

“It is an honor to be joining USA Swimming in this role and I’m thrilled to be working with Greg Meehan,” said Suiguiyama, who will relocate to Colorado Springs. “My experiences with the U.S. National Team have been the highlights of my career and I’m ready to work and help our nation’s top athletes prepare for the competitions ahead.”

With Meehan and Suguiyama in place, USA Swimming continues its search for its next CEO. Chrissi Rawak was named to the role in February before withdrawing shortly thereafter, after a SafeSport complaint against her surfaced.

Read more here.

Judge Wilken Demands Change To Roster Limit Proposal In House Settlement

The expected final approval from Judge Claudia Wilken in the House v. NCAA case is on hold after she called on attorneys to make changes to the proposed roster limits in the settlement.

Wilken gave attorneys 14 days to adjust the settlement’s language to include a “grandfathering” clause to roster limits that would protect athletes already on a school’s roster.

“The Court will delay denial of final approval to permit the parties to attempt to modify the settlement agreement, so that members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class will not be harmed by the immediate implementation of the roster limits provision," Wilken wrote.

This news came shortly after the NCAA eliminated over 150 rules in anticipation of the settlement's final approval, primarily related to allowing college athletes to receive direct payments from their school.

Initially, after Wilken raised a few concerns with the terms coming out of the final approval hearing, including roster limits, attorneys "effectively doubled down" on their prior position regarding roster limits, arguing that implementing them was "fair and reasonable" in the context of the overall settlement compromise.

However, on Tuesday, Yahoo Sports reported that a new proposal that includes phasing in roster limits has emerged, though nothing has been finalized as of yet.

Trump Administration Orders Penn To Erase Lia Thomas' Swimming Records

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights ruled Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated sex discrimination laws when allowing a transgender woman, Lia Thomas, to compete on its women's swim team.

Penn was found to have “violated Title IX by denying women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

Thomas, who wasn't named by the government, competed for Penn as a transgender woman during the 2021-22 season, winning the 2022 NCAA title in the women's 500 freestyle.

Penn has been given 10 days to “voluntarily resolve these violations or risk a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for enforcement proceedings.”

The Department of Education proposed a Resolution Agreement calling on Penn to do the following:

1. Issue a statement to the University community stating that the University will comply with Title IX in all of its athletic programs;
2. Restore to all female athletes all individual athletic records, titles, honors, awards or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions misappropriated by male athletes competing in female categories; and
3. Send a letter to each female athlete whose individual recognition is restored expressing an apology on behalf of the University for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination.

Most notably, the agreement would see all of Thomas' accolades from the 2021-22 season erased, including her NCAA title victory, which would be given to Emma Weyant if it goes through.

“UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn’s federal funding at risk," said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.

In March, the Trump Administration suspended $175 million in federal funding for Penn over its decision to allow Thomas to compete in the 2021-22 season.

One month prior to that, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.

Read more here.

Quick Hits

• Massachusetts state champion diver Maisey O'Donnell was one of three Concord-Carlisle High School students killed in a car crash last Monday in Florida.
• Brazilian Gui Caribe was on fire at the Maria Lenk Trophy in Rio de Janeiro, moving to #10 all-time in the men's 100 freestyle in a time of 47.10 before following up with a massive PB of 21.46 in the 50 free. He now ranks #1 in the world this season in the 100 free and #2 in the 50 free behind Russian Egor Kornev (21.43).
• Thomas Ceccon and Mollie O'Callaghan closed out the Australian Open with victories on the final day of racing in Brisbane, with O'Callaghan posting the world's 2nd-fastest time this season in the women's 200 free (1:55.71).
• Cameron McEvoy clocked 21.48 in the men's 50 free at the competition, good for #3 in the world, but notably shared race data that shows his first 15 meters was his fastest ever, leading to speculation he could challenge the world record later this year.
• Kaylee McKeown withdrew from the women's 200 back on the final day of the Aussie Open before announcing she's moving to train with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) Spartans after spending the last three years at Griffith University.
• Swimming Australia has announced a roster of 30 swimmers who will compete at the 2025 World Junior Swimming Championships this coming August in Otopeni, Romania.
• Aquatics GB has revealed its swimming roster for the 2025 World Championships, with 28 athletes selected.
• The structure of the bracket-style dual meet tournament scheduled for October at Georgia Tech has been revealed.
• Belarusian Ilya Shymanovich blasted a time of 26.37 in the men's 50 breast at the Dubai International Aquatics Championships, ranking him #1 in the world for the season while coming within nine one-hundredths of his National Record. He also topped the 100 breast in 59.45, good for #5 in the world in 2024-25.
• Former SEC champion Andrew Taylor has announced he's transferring from the University of Florida to Arizona State after an injury-plagued sophomore season with the Gators.
• The 2025 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championships ran last week in San Antonio, with a number of national records falling by the wayside. See full meet coverage here.
• U.S. Olympic gold medalist Michael Andrew has been added to the Team Triumph Swim Club coaching staff, where he'll take monthly trips to the Missouri-based club to work with the athletes.

Dressel, Ledecky, McIntosh & Marchand Headline Loaded Fort Lauderdale PSS Psych Sheets

Judge Wilken Delays House Settlement Final Approval Over Roster Limits

Gui Caribe Rips World-Leading 47.10 LCM 100 FR, Now 10th-Fastest Swimmer in History (Video)

USA Swimming Announces Yuri Suguiyama As National Team Senior Director and Coach

Trump Administration Orders Penn To Erase Lia Thomas’ Records, Claims School Violated Title IX

Olympic Champion Kaylee McKeown Will Move Back to USC Spartans