Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Quintin McCarty Details Junior Team Trip to FINA Swimming World Cup
Photo of Nick Simons (left) and Quintin McCarty (right) during the 100-meter backstroke at the Budapest leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup
The FINA Swimming World Cup is typically a series of five or six swim meets at different sites and dates throughout a calendar year, similar to a TYR Pro Swim Series format. Yet, swim meet formats have been anything but typical since COVID-19 entered the picture.
After this summer's FINA World Junior Championships were postponed, USA Swimming still wanted to provide an international opportunity to its junior athletes, so they chose two legs of the World Cup for the team trip — Berlin, Germany and Budapest, Hungary.
During Olympics Trials, the qualifying meet for junior athletes to punch a ticket to Europe, there were still questions around the World Cup and the logistics of it due to the pandemic. Still, most junior swimmers knew that even if they couldn’t qualify for the Olympic Team, there might be an opportunity to qualify for a selection team, and regardless of the uncertainty for future meets, it was imperative to drive on.
Sure enough, after Trials, notice was given that the World Cup was in the planning stages, and barring any blocks, would indeed take place this year.
From there, 43 U.S. junior athletes were selected from their Trials results to make the trip to Europe for the Berlin and Budapest legs of the World Cup. These athletes, almost all of whom still in high school, would take the blocks alongside eventual Olympic medalists like Emma McKeon, Kyle Chalmers and Florian Wellbrock, among others.
Quintin McCarty, of Pikes Peak Athletics (PPA) in Colorado Springs — who recently was named to the 2021-2022 National Junior Team — received an email late one evening congratulating him to the World Cup Team.
“I knew I placed well at Trials in the 50 free for the 18-and-under age group, but still didn’t know if there’d be a select team,” says McCarty. “I was shocked to get that email and just super excited to make the team.”
McCarty and the selected others needed to train as though they were headed to Berlin, knowing that there was a high possibility the meet could get canceled. “We still did all the preparations, the training, the sizing charts for all the cool gear, the passports,” says McCarty. “In our minds, we were going.”
About three weeks prior to the meet, the swimmers received official confirmation that the short-course meter competition was on. McCarty would eventually take down the world junior record in the mixed 4x50-meter medley relay in Berlin, with teammates Zhier Fan, Tess Howley and Kristina Paegle.
Additionally, McCarty became the only man to lower one of the U.S. junior records during the 50m backstroke final with a 23.64 (scm) for the bronze medal. Finally, McCarty, along with Paegle, Daniel Diehl and Carly Novelline crushed the world junior record in the mixed 4x50m relay. “Trials set me up well to compete out of country,” says McCarty. “I now understand how to manage nerves better.”
McCarty said the World Cup was the experience of a lifetime.
“You see it on TV - the black cap. But when you qualify for finals, and actually get to wear the black cap, it sort of becomes surreal. I absolutely loved wearing it and representing USA. Especially in Budapest, they allowed fans and it got crazy loud. The USA crowd was definitely the most vocal and made it such a fun environment,” he said. “In my first finals race, it felt like 10 seconds between the “take your mark’ and the start. I could feel every pulse and heart beat. I just thought about all the work I’ve put in and how cool it was to represent PPA and my country. That cap has a meaning. It's pretty sweet.”
McCarty’s next stop for Team USA is the high-altitude training camp at the Olympic Training Center, then the Phillips 66 International Team Trials in April. “I’m gonna put my head down for the next three years prepping for 2024. You have got to show up, do it again, but better. Results will come.”
If you want to be a top sprinter, McCarty advises to stick to your race plan regardless of how big the stage is: “At Trials, I went up instead of out on my start. I didn’t think I could win my heat after that. But you have to stay calm and continue your race. Stick to what you’ve trained for."
McCarty credits his success to the coaching expertise and loving guidance from his club team Pikes Peak Athletics (PPA), in Colorado Springs. His coach George Heidinger has coached McCarty since PPA first started with just a few kids on the team. Now a booming USA Swimming Bronze Medal Club, McCarty says Heidinger’s program is a true team atmosphere built on love. “It’s the same thing that attracted me most to NC State, I feel like I’m continuing on that same team spirit. It’s not based on how fast we swim, it's about passion and love for our sport.”
McCarty’s advice gained from making the World Cup team is to be yourself. “I didn’t get to this point being someone I’m not. I stay true to myself, my work, my ethic. You can get to that point of making the team by working hard.”
The FINA Swimming World Cup is typically a series of five or six swim meets at different sites and dates throughout a calendar year, similar to a TYR Pro Swim Series format. Yet, swim meet formats have been anything but typical since COVID-19 entered the picture.
After this summer's FINA World Junior Championships were postponed, USA Swimming still wanted to provide an international opportunity to its junior athletes, so they chose two legs of the World Cup for the team trip — Berlin, Germany and Budapest, Hungary.
During Olympics Trials, the qualifying meet for junior athletes to punch a ticket to Europe, there were still questions around the World Cup and the logistics of it due to the pandemic. Still, most junior swimmers knew that even if they couldn’t qualify for the Olympic Team, there might be an opportunity to qualify for a selection team, and regardless of the uncertainty for future meets, it was imperative to drive on.
Sure enough, after Trials, notice was given that the World Cup was in the planning stages, and barring any blocks, would indeed take place this year.
From there, 43 U.S. junior athletes were selected from their Trials results to make the trip to Europe for the Berlin and Budapest legs of the World Cup. These athletes, almost all of whom still in high school, would take the blocks alongside eventual Olympic medalists like Emma McKeon, Kyle Chalmers and Florian Wellbrock, among others.
Quintin McCarty, of Pikes Peak Athletics (PPA) in Colorado Springs — who recently was named to the 2021-2022 National Junior Team — received an email late one evening congratulating him to the World Cup Team.
“I knew I placed well at Trials in the 50 free for the 18-and-under age group, but still didn’t know if there’d be a select team,” says McCarty. “I was shocked to get that email and just super excited to make the team.”
McCarty and the selected others needed to train as though they were headed to Berlin, knowing that there was a high possibility the meet could get canceled. “We still did all the preparations, the training, the sizing charts for all the cool gear, the passports,” says McCarty. “In our minds, we were going.”
About three weeks prior to the meet, the swimmers received official confirmation that the short-course meter competition was on. McCarty would eventually take down the world junior record in the mixed 4x50-meter medley relay in Berlin, with teammates Zhier Fan, Tess Howley and Kristina Paegle.
Additionally, McCarty became the only man to lower one of the U.S. junior records during the 50m backstroke final with a 23.64 (scm) for the bronze medal. Finally, McCarty, along with Paegle, Daniel Diehl and Carly Novelline crushed the world junior record in the mixed 4x50m relay. “Trials set me up well to compete out of country,” says McCarty. “I now understand how to manage nerves better.”
McCarty said the World Cup was the experience of a lifetime.
“You see it on TV - the black cap. But when you qualify for finals, and actually get to wear the black cap, it sort of becomes surreal. I absolutely loved wearing it and representing USA. Especially in Budapest, they allowed fans and it got crazy loud. The USA crowd was definitely the most vocal and made it such a fun environment,” he said. “In my first finals race, it felt like 10 seconds between the “take your mark’ and the start. I could feel every pulse and heart beat. I just thought about all the work I’ve put in and how cool it was to represent PPA and my country. That cap has a meaning. It's pretty sweet.”
McCarty’s next stop for Team USA is the high-altitude training camp at the Olympic Training Center, then the Phillips 66 International Team Trials in April. “I’m gonna put my head down for the next three years prepping for 2024. You have got to show up, do it again, but better. Results will come.”
If you want to be a top sprinter, McCarty advises to stick to your race plan regardless of how big the stage is: “At Trials, I went up instead of out on my start. I didn’t think I could win my heat after that. But you have to stay calm and continue your race. Stick to what you’ve trained for."
McCarty credits his success to the coaching expertise and loving guidance from his club team Pikes Peak Athletics (PPA), in Colorado Springs. His coach George Heidinger has coached McCarty since PPA first started with just a few kids on the team. Now a booming USA Swimming Bronze Medal Club, McCarty says Heidinger’s program is a true team atmosphere built on love. “It’s the same thing that attracted me most to NC State, I feel like I’m continuing on that same team spirit. It’s not based on how fast we swim, it's about passion and love for our sport.”
McCarty’s advice gained from making the World Cup team is to be yourself. “I didn’t get to this point being someone I’m not. I stay true to myself, my work, my ethic. You can get to that point of making the team by working hard.”