Dover grad Hunter Armstrong officially named to U.S. Olympic swim team

By Mitch Spinell

DOVER, Ohio - Former Dover High School grad Hunter Armstrong has been officially named to the United States Olympic Swimming Team.

Armstrong, who is currently a junior at The Ohio State University, made the team in the 100-meter backstroke with a terrific personal-best swim of 52.48 in the finals Tuesday evening to finish second to 2016 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke gold medalist and world-record holder Ryan Murphy, who won with a time of 52.33.

Armstrong, 20, qualified second for the finals the day prior with a personal best of 52.67 that lasted for all of 24 hours.

A 2019 graduate of Dover High School, Armstrong first swam at West Virginia before transferring to Ohio State prior to the 2020-21 school year. He scored in seven events at Big Tens, including taking second in the 100-meter backstroke, third in the 100-meter freestyle, and fourth in the 50-meter free, and then earned four All-America honors at the NCAA championships, including individually in the 100-meter backstroke.

Armstrong is the first Ohio State male swimmer to make the Olympic team since Ford Kono, George Onekea, Yoshi Oyakawa, and Albert Wiggins represented Ohio State at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Armstrong will continue his training for a short while in Columbus before traveling to Hawai’i on June 27, where the U.S. team will convene training camp before heading to Tokyo, Japan.