U.S. Deaf Swim Teams Training for World Deaf Swim Championships at Gallaudet University

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States of America deaf men’s and women’s swimming teams are training for the upcoming World Deaf Swim Championships this week at Gallaudet University. The USA squad started training on August 1 and will go until Thursday, August 4, before they depart for Portugal the site of the world championships that will run from August 7-13.

The USA deaf men’s and women’s swimming teams are coached by Gallaudet University swim coach Bill Snape. The men’s team also has two current Gallaudet swimmers on its rosters in rising senior Brian Bennett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore DJ Everton-Lovell (Norfolk, Va.). The men’s team is led by former Division I All-American Marcus Titus from the University of Arizona. Titus finished third yesterday (August 2) in the 100 breaststroke at the 2011 USA Swimming Long Course Nationals in Palo Alto, Calif. He is joining the USA deaf swimming team this week before they leave for the world championships.

‘I am quite honored and very excited to be leading this diverse and talented national team,’ said Snape, who was also the deaf national head coach in 2007. ‘It has been a few years since deaf American swimmers have made a major impact on the international scene, and this meet could be a break-through.’

The women’s team will be led by rising junior Kristin Ates from Tulane University. She won a gold medal in the 2007 World Deaf Swim Championships. Peggy Liang, an incoming freshman at the University of Hawaii, was a member of Team USA at the 2009 Deaflympics.

View the complete Team USA roster.

The training camp and preparation for the world championships are being sponsored by U.S. Deaf Swimming, whose Director is Dale Parker, a former Division III All-American at University of Mary Washington. The team’s treasurer and manager is Dana Elam.

You can follow the 2011 World Deaf Swim Championships by logging onto www.unitedstatesdeafswimming.org.