2009 Gator Holiday Classic

http://drsm.org/Championship_Meet_Data/Gator_Psych3.pdf

Ryan is entered in two races in this weekend's Gator Holiday Classic: 50 free and 100 free. According to the psych sheet, the 50 free is event #70 (Sat.) and the 100 free is event #118 (Sun.). Hope the races go well!

12/1/09 - Updated: new psych sheet and Ryan is not entered after all

http://www.drsm.org/Championship_Meet_Data/Gator_Psych4.pdf

Swimming World Magazine 2009 American Swimmers of the Year

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/22830.asp?q=%3Ci%3ESwimming%20World%3C/i%3E%20Names%202009%20American%20Swimmers%20of%20the%20Year

Swimming World Magazine announced its 2009 American Swimmers of the Year. The top 5 men were:

1. Michael Phelps, USA
2. Cesar Cielo, Brazil
3. Ryan Lochte, USA
4. Aaron Peirsol, USA
t5. Ryan Cochrane, Canada
t5. Eric Shanteau, USA

I did not see what the criteria was for this award, but assume it was based solely on the 2009 World Championships. If it was, then Ryan should have been ranked above Cesar Cielo. Cielo won two gold medals in Rome and set one WR. Ryan won four gold medals and set two WRs. Ryan also won a bronze.

Also, and I forgot to include this in my argument why Ryan deserved U.S. Swimmer of the Year, it cannot be emphasized enough that Ryan won the 400 IM and helped the US finish 1st in the 4x100 free relay. Ryan won golds in a sprint event and a marathon. He deserves higher than 3rd place for what he accomplished in Rome.

If the award wasn't based solely on performance in Rome, then Ryan deserved to be in 1st place for all of the reasons

Swimming World tv put up interviews of most of the swimmers who attended Golden Goggles. Unfortunately, they did not interview Ryan. Here is where the Swimming World tv interviews can be found.

http://www.swimmingworld.tv/2009-golden-goggles-archive/

Duel in the Pool 2009 - European Team Announced and US Short Course Nationals

Duel in the Pool 2009

The European team for Duel in the Pool, which takes place on December 18-19 in Manchester, England has been announced. Laszlo Cseh is not on the list, which is truly a shame. According to swimnews.com, the following swimmers are on the European men's team:

Britain:

• David Davies - Loughborough
• James Goddard - Stockport
• Thomas Haffield - City of Cardiff
• Michael Rock - Stockport
• Liam Tancock - Loughborough
• Christopher Walker-Hebborn - Bath
• Robbie Renwick - City of Glasgow

Italy:

• Federico Colbertaldo - GS Fiamme Azzurre / Montebelluna Nuoto
• Christian Galenda - Fiamme Gialle / Canottieri Aniene
• Edoardo Giorgetti - Canottieri Aniene
• Filippo Magnini - Larus Nuoto
• Luca Marin - Ispra Nuoto
• Joseph Davide Natullo - Can Napoli
• Fabio Scozzoli - Imolanuotoromagna - GS Esercito

Germany

• Steffen Deibler - TG Biberach
• Hendrik Feldwehr - SG Essen
• Marco Koch - DSW 12 Darmstadt
• Benjamin Starke - SG Neukölln

http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/7331

Even though Laszlo Cseh is not participating, the European team has quite a few swimmers that will be great in Ryan's usual events. Some of the European swimmers were familiar to me: James Goddard is one of the world's best IMers as are Luca Marin and Thomas Haffield. Liam Tancock and Christoper Walker-Hebborn are excellent backstrokers, and Steffen Deibler and Filippo Magnini are among the best freestyle sprinters in the world.

Other members of the team were new to me. I researched their names and learned that Michael Rock and Joseph Davide Natullo swim 100 & 200 butterfly and Robbie Renwick swims 200 free. Christian Galenda is a freestyle sprinter. Edoardo Giorgetti, Marco Koch, Hendrik Feldwehr and Fabio Scozzoli swim breaststroke. Benjamin Starke swims freestyle and butterfly.

I haven't heard if Ryan's knee has healed or if he has been swimming. Hopefully he will have enough time to get ready for this meet. It's only 3 weeks away.

US Short Course Nationals

The U.S. SC nationals will take place next weekend in Federal Way, Washington. The psych sheet has already been released and can be found here:

http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/23ccd32f-163f-4e73-baf7-f7c880408a5f/Psych%20Sheet_SCYNats.pdf

Ryan is not entered in any events, but neither is anyone from UF. It will be fun to see how well Tyler Clary can do. I've missed watching him swim.

Ryan wins Athlete of the Year at Golden Goggles!

Ryan won two awards at the Golden Goggles...

Best relay (4x100 free relay at World Championships). Sharing with Ryan in this award were Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian and Matt Grevers.

Best of all, Ryan won Male
Athlete of the Year!! Very well deserved.

The other winners were:

Breakout performer - Tyler Clary

Perseverance award - Dana Vollmer

Coach of the Year - Eddie Reese

Female Performance of the Year - Ariana Kukors 200IM

Male Performance of the Year - Michael Phelps 100 fly

Female Athlete of the Year - Rebecca Soni

Congratulations to all winners. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2009/11/swimming-ryan-lochte-michael-phelps-bodysuits.html

Come on, Somebody Please Invite Laszlo Cseh to the Duel!!!

The Duel in the Pool between the U.S. and a "European select team" is scheduled to take place on December 18-19, 2009 in Manchester, England (the site of the 2008 SC World Championships). The meet will be in SC meters. The U.S. team has been announced and it includes Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol and Tyler Clary. The European team has not yet been announced, but it is expected that it will consist of swimmers from Germany, Italy and Great Britain.

What I don't understand is why Laszlo (Laci) Cseh was not invited. He apparently wants to swim in the Duel. http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/7311

The European team has not yet been announced and Laci is Hungarian, which is part of the European Union. He definitely should be invited!

Laci is one of the best swimmers in the world, top 5 for sure. He won 3 individual silver medals in the Beijing Olympics (200/400 IM and 200 fly). He won a silver (200IM) & bronze (400 IM) in Rome this past summer despite being deathly ill and spending time in the hospital during the week of the meet.

Even though Laci has huge talent and is one of the best swimmers in the world, he only has the opportunity to race Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte once a year at most, and sometimes not for 2 years. This is not right. These swimmers are in the prime of their careers and they should be afforded as many opportunities as possible to race, not only for them but for fans who love to watch them.

A 200 IM race with Phelps, Lochte, Cseh and Clary would be monumental. Same with a 200 fly race with Phelps, Cseh and Clary and a 400 IM race with Lochte Cseh and Clary. Cseh wants to be there, the publicity for swimming would be great, and I'm sure Phelps and Lochte would relish the opportunity to race him. Why not invite him?

The article in http://www.swimnews.com/ linked above stated that Cseh was not invited because "Talks between LEN, the European body, and USA Swimming did not result in any agreements, with European calendar clashes and the varying programmes of a large number of nations among the key obstacles to progress."

The swimming world gets way too bogged down with nationalism and semantics and rules. World peace is not at stake. Yes the Duel is about national teams competing against each other, but in order to generate interest and fan support, the best swimmers should be invited. It sounds like Laci would have made the Duel a priority even if there was another meet he could have participated in during those two days.

I keep hearing that the swimming world wants swimming to be relevant and interesting beyond the Olympics. The swimming world needs to be more open minded so wonderful opportunities like this are not lost.

Swimming Update - Short Course Season

The 2009/10 Short Course swimming season is in full swing. Unfortunately, Ryan has not been able to compete having just had knee surgery.

I don't know anything about the surgery or how Ryan injured his knee... According to Ryan's twitter, he injured his knee, had surgery and is out of the water for a few weeks.

http://twitter.com/ryanlochte/status/4348867232

http://twitter.com/ryanlochte/status/5186059487

The good news is Ryan will be participating in the 2009 Duel in Manchester, England on December 18-19. This is a short-course meters event, with the U.S. team facing off against a team from Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The Duel will be recorded and broadcast on NBC on December 27. http://www.duelinthepool.com/ Ryan spoke to the press about this meet after he had his knee surgery, so he must feel confident about his ability to recover by then. I'll do a separate post about the Duel closer to the time. The European team has not yet been announced, but I am very disappointed that Laszlo Cseh is not part of it. The U.S. team is listed here: http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=335264.html

I'm happy that NBC is televising the Duel, and do not want to complain about a major U.S. network airing a swim meet, but I really prefer the events to be live. Swimming is so much more exciting when it is live (i.e. all of the Olympics and last summer's 4x100 free relay).

I'm not sure if Ryan will be swimming in the 2009 U.S. Short Course Nationals in Federal Way, Washington, which will take place on December 3-5. Hopefully he will be recovered from his surgery by then. Here's some information on the meet.
http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/11ed4e45-a0cc-483f-90a2-929f13173cfa/2009%20SC%20Nats%20Meet%20Book.pdf

The FINA World Cup meets are underway (actually they are almost over) and all of Ryan's SCM world records were broken. Ryan previously held SCM WRs in the 100 and 200 IM.

According to http://www.swimnews.com/, Ryan's WR for the 100 IM, 51.15 set at the 2008 SC World Championships, was broken by Sergey Fesikov of Russia in the prelims of the Berlin World Cup last weekend. Fesikov's time was 50.95. In the finals, Fesikov won with a time of 50.96. Ryan's previous WR was also broken in the finals by Gerhard Zandberg of South Africa who came in second with a time of 51.05.

Ryan's WR for the 200 IM, 1:51.56 set at the 2008 SC World Championships, was broken at the Berlin World Cup by Dairan Townsend of South Africa by only .01! I'm particularly bummed about this WR being broken. I liked that Ryan held the WRs in the 200 IM in both SCM and LCM.

I don't know what kind of suits Fesikov, Zandberg and Townsend were wearing in these swims, but I doubt they were Speedo LZRs or textile suits. It's hard to watch a WR go down when a) you aren't there to compete and b) the swimmers who go faster are not wearing the same suit you wore to set the WR. Given Ryan's injury and the fact that he rarely swims SCM, we'll probably have to wait for the 2010 SC World Championships in Dubai to see if Ryan can get these records back.

***A big thanks to callie01 from Reezy Daily who took these pictures of Ryan at the Minnesota Grand Prix in Minneapolis this past weekend. Ryan did not swim in the meet but went to do some PR and to help coach his teammates. callie01 was very kind to let me post the pictures here.***

GOLDEN GOGGLES - Why Ryan is Male Athlete of the Year in 2008/09

The Golden Goggle Awards for the 2008-09 season will be held next Sunday night, November 22. Ryan is nominated in several categories and anyone can vote for the winners:

VOTE HERE: http://swimfoundation.org/Page.aspx?pid=302

Ryan is nominated in the following categories (The relays in which Ryan participated are marked with an *)

Relay Performance of the Year:
2009 World Championships - Men's 4x100m Free Relay *
2009 World Championships - Men's 4x200m Free Relay *
2009 World Championships - Men's 4x100m Medley Relay

Male Race of the Year:
Ryan Lochte: 200m IM at World Championships
Aaron Peirsol: 200m Backstroke at World Championships
Michael Phelps: 100m Butterfly at World Championships
Michael Phelps: 200m Butterfly at World Championships

Male Athlete of the Year:
Ryan Lochte
Aaron Peirsol
Michael Phelps

I believe Ryan should win the Male Athlete of the Year for 2008/09. Here is why:

1. 2008 U.S. Short Course Nationals - After only about a week's training following his post-Olympics hiatus, Ryan entered in 6 races, making the "A" final in all 6 and winning 4 of them. He won the men's high point award for the meet. Ryan's accomplishments by race were:

• 50 yard free - 7th place
• 100 yard free - 4th place
• 100 yard back - 1st place (defeated Matt Grevers & Ben Hesen)
• 200 yard free - 1st place (missed the American record by .32)
• 200 yard back - 1st place (defeated Tyler Clary)
• 200 yard IM - 1st place (defeated Eric Shanteau)

Neither Michael Phelps nor Aaron Peirsol, the other nominees for Athlete of the Year, swam at the Short Course Nationals.

2. 2008/09 Grand Prix Results - Ryan swam in 5 out of the 6 Grand Prix events, missing only the Texas Grand Prix in Austin. He finished 2nd overall and 1st among men for total points from all of the Grand Prix events combined. No other male swimmer did as well as Ryan in the Grand Prix events.

In the Grand Prix events he entered, he had the following results:

• Minnesota Grand Prix - (2 first place finishes in 200 IM and 100 back, 1 second place finish in 100 breast and a fifth place finish in 50 free)
• So Cal Grand Prix - (4 first place finishes in 200 free, 100 back, 200 back & 100 breast, 1 second place finish in 100 fly, 1 third place finish in 50 free and a 9th place finish in 100 free)
• Missouri Grand Prix - (4 first place finishes in 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM & 400 IM, 1 second place finish in 100 fly and 2 ninth place finishes - 1st in B final - in 100 free and 200 free)
• Charlotte Ultra Swim - (1 second place finish in 200 IM, 4th in 100 back, 9th in 100 free and 11th in 400 free)
• Santa Clara International Grand Prix - (3 first place finishes in 400 IM, 100 back & 200 back, 1 second place finish in 100 fly & 4th place in the 100 free)

Michael Phelps swam in 2 Grand Prix events, Charlotte and Santa Clara. Aaron Peirsol swam in the Charlotte event and the prelims only for the Texas event.

3. Supporting Local Swimmers & Meets - Ryan swam in two meets in Florida in 2009: the Florida Spring Championships and the Speedo South Sectionals. In these meets, not only did Ryan have good results, he helped UF swimmers achieve NCAA "A" qualifying times and motivated the age group swimmers. Ryan's results were:

• Florida Spring Championships - 6 first place finishes in 400 IM, 200 free, 50 free, 100 back, 100 free and 200 back.
• Speedo South Sectionals - 4 first place finishes in 200 free, 100 back, 200 back & 200 IM, 1 second place finish in 100 breast.

4. 2009 U.S. Nationals (Long Course) - Ryan won 2 events - 200 IM & 400 IM, placed second in the 200 back and third in the 200 free. He had the second fastest prelim time in the 100 free. He qualified for the 4x100 free and 4x200 free relays. Ryan scored more points than any other male swimmer in the meet.

Michael Phelps won 3 events setting 1 WR. Aaron Peirsol won 2 events setting 2 WRs and came in 3rd in another. Phelps qualified for all 3 relays. Peirsol qualified for 1 relay.

5. 2009 Worlds (Long Course) - Ryan won 2 events - 200 IM & 400 IM, setting a new world record in the 200 IM. Ryan won gold medals as part of the 4x100 and 4x200 free relays, swimming the 2nd fastest times in both relays. The 4x200 free relay team, which Ryan anchored, set a new world record. Ryan placed third in the 200 back. Final medal totals: 4 golds and 1 bronze in 5 events. Ryan set 1 individual and 1 relay WR.

Michael Phelps won 5 golds and 1 silver and set 2 individual and 1 relay WR. Aaron Peirsol won 2 golds and did not qualify for the finals in his other event. He set 1 individual WR.

Ryan's accomplishments in 2008/09 were unequaled by any other swimmer when viewed collectively. He swam in a large number of events, entering a variety of races involving all four strokes. He swam both sprints & distance races. With the exception of the Charlotte Ultra Swim, Ryan performed well in all meets he entered. Ryan scored the most points among male swimmers at the U.S. long-course and short-course nationals. He set 2 WRs at the World Championships and won 4 gold medals. Ryan took a significant amount of time off after Beijing, just like many other 2008 Olympians, but he still managed to enter nearly every major swimming event in the U.S. and do well. For all of this he deserves to win Male Athlete of the Year for 2008/09.

Swimnetwork.com - 21 Questions with Ryan Lochte by Bob Schaller

http://www.swimnetwork.com/blogs/blog/20091103/20_question_tuesday_with_ryan_lochte-6435.html

By Bob Schaller, Ph.D. // Swimnetwork Senior Writer

Ryan Lochte always has time to make someone smile, or share a light moment. We caught him on his couch on Sunday watching football, where the topics ranged from his Florida Gators to how he deals with pressure at the biggest meets.

1) What are you doing this Sunday afternoon?
Ryan: I am doing well. I’m just sitting on my couch watching my TV.

2) How did you follow up 2008 with such a strong 2009?
Ryan: There are some things I wanted to do better, and some things that I did accomplish this year. So things went pretty well.

3) I didn’t catch the whole “Jeah” thing from its inception – is that like “Yeah” but only your version?
Ryan: Well, the real word is “chea,” it’s music... from a rapper. Instead of “chea,” I said “jeah” with a “J.” You know, kind of made it my own.

4) Did you think that would become such a famous line of yours – it was all over the Internet?
Ryan: No, I didn’t think it would become famous – I still don’t (laughs) think it is!

5) I always enjoyed talking to your father – is that where this laid back attitude and your grounded perspective come from?
Ryan: It does come a lot from your parents. You don’t want to let the attention get to your head. That’s how it’s always been for me.

6) How about another Lochte getting after it?
Ryan: Oh, my brother? I think it’s great. I just keep trying to tell him not to live in my shadow, and for him to be his own person. But he’s working hard and going to school, to all his classes, and doing well. I give it another year, and then he’ll be lighting stuff up.

7) So you are back in Florida training?
Ryan: Yep. Once you are a Gator you are always a Gator.

8) What are the odds the Gators win the BCS this year?
Ryan: Oh my gosh, there’s no question about that. I think we’ll definitely win again.

9) How did you do in Beijing in relation to how you hoped to do?
Ryan: I mean, for the most part, I definitely wanted to win all my races there. My longest-term goal was getting a gold medal – an individual gold medal.

10) Where does Reezy come from?
Ryan: I don’t know. ‘Cause I’m a big fan of Little Wayne, I think. He gets called “Wheezy,” so I guess a bunch of fans knew that I always listened to his music.

11) How do you deal with all that attention?
Ryan: I mean, like I said, it goes in one ear and out the other. I don’t pay much attention to it. But it is kind of cool to know there are fans out there. I appreciate them, for sure.

12) Will you stay in Florida, or do you plan to move away at some point?
Ryan: Well, I don’t know. It depends. I’ll definitely stay here until 2012 and train. Then, I’ll decide after that what to do.

13) How about the other coast – could you see yourself on Dancing With The Stars?
Ryan: Yeah, I’d do that – I’d show some people up!

14) Do you watch media coverage of yourself much?
Ryan: No. I mean, if I’m not swimming, if I’m on a break, sometimes I’ll watch a video of one of my races. It makes me want me get back into swimming and into the water and it keeps me motivated.

15) You’re laid back outside the pool, but that changes once you hit the water, doesn’t it?
Ryan: Oh yeah, I don’t know what it is, but as soon as I step on the blocks, I’m not a laid back person any more. I don’t know how it happens, but it does.

16) What was the most special part about Beijing?
Ryan: It was special just because I had my whole family there.

17) They really keep you grounded in a good way, don’t they?
Ryan: Yeah, they just keep telling us, “No matter what happens, you are still going to be yourself. Don’t let anything else change that.” That’s always stuck with me.

18) Your Dad’s a good interview – you guys ever give each other media advice?
Ryan: Uh, no. I mean, we never really talked about how to deal with the media. It’s kind of, just like swimming, the more you practice, the better you get at it. So, yeah, it’s kind of like that with the media; the more you do, the more you get comfortable talking into a camera.

19) Did you feel pressure at Olympic Trials or World Team Trials?
Ryan: I try not to put any pressure on myself, because if I do I’ll be a nervous wreck. I always think of myself as like the underdog, no matter what. I put that on me so I have no expectations for myself – I just go out there and swim.

20) In Omaha, your face lit up as much as the young fans you were signing autographs for – does that mean a lot to you and where does that pure joy come from?
Ryan: I think it goes back to me just being humble. Anytime I sign an autograph or get a picture with someone, it feels it’s like the first time I’m doing that. It never gets old. I’ll sign autographs galore. I’ll never not sign them – I’ll go until someone yells at me that it’s time to stop.

And this extra question:

21) What’s your plan as far as suits go – how do you feel about all the changes in the rules affecting the technology?
Ryan: Whatever suit they give us. I’m going to stick with Speedo. I’m just going to stick with Speedo because I’m most comfortable with them.

Ryan makes U.S. National Team & Video of Ryan's underwater kicking

This is the offseason for swimming, so there's not much news to report.

The 2009-2010 U.S. National Team was announced, and Ryan made the team in 5 events. The swimmers with the top 6 times for each event make the team. The qualifying swims were at U.S. Nationals, Worlds and the U.S. Open, and could be done in the prelims, semis or finals.

Ryan made the team in the 100/200 free, 200 back and 200/400 IM. The only difference from last year is he did not make the team in the 100 back. This is only because he elected not to swim 100 back at U.S. nationals.

The complete roster can be found here: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/8e442aff-894d-4948-98f6-9085f2a6eaf0/2009-2010%20National%20Team%20roster.pdf
I'm not sure what benefits a swimmer gets from being on the U.S. National Team. A lot of the swimmers are still competing in college, and I would think NCAA rules would prohibit them from receiving any outside assistance in the form of $ or benefits. Professional and high school swimmers, on the other hand, may benefit greatly. If I can find anything out about the benefits, I will make a post.

Here's a video of Ryan swimming 50 meters underwater in 25.0 seconds. It was just uploaded today so it's probably recent.

Ryan's Short Course World Records - 100 & 200 IM

The 2010 swimming season has officially begun, with SC meets currently being held in Australia, South Africa and England/Canada.

Ryan holds Short WRs in the 100m IM & 200m IM. Both WRs were set at the 2008 SC World Championships in Manchester, England. Ryan's WR time in the 100m IM is 51.15 and his WR time in the 200m IM is 1:51.56. It's cool that he currently holds both the SC and LC meters WRs in the 200 IM and also the American Record SCY in the 200y IM. Not bad.

It will be interesting to see if any of Ryan's SCM WRs will be broken during these meets. So far nobody has come close, but in the age of the crazy suits, no record is safe. It of course must be noted that both of Ryan's WRs were set in the Speedo LZR, which is technically (no pun intended) one of the crazy suits, albeit an outdated one.

Results from the current SC meets can be found here:

South Africa:
http://swimsa.sportza.co.za/wfr/Telkom+SA+Short+Course+2009/2277

Australia:
http://www.clubsonline.com.au/uploads/swimresults/National/2009SC/index.htm

England/Canada:
http://www.swimmingresults.org/liveevent/index.htm

Ryan sets the WR in the 100m IM (SCM)


Ryan sets the WR in the 200m IM (SCM)

Ryan wins 400 IM, Clary 2nd....Ryan finishes World Championships with 4 Gold & 1 Bronze

The times were kind of slow, and nobody swam a personal best, but Ryan Lochte won the 400 IM and Tyler Clary came in second, which was a great result for the U.S. Laci Cseh came in 3rd. Cseh must have been affected by his illness earlier this week because he looked completely gassed at the end.

The final results were:

Ryan Lochte - 4:07.01
Tyler Clary - 4:07.31
Laci Cseh - 4:07.37

Great swim by Clary, especially catching Cseh at the end.

Here is a comparison of the splits:

Fly:
25.59/30.03 (Lochte)
25.87/29.71 (Clary)
25.79/29.72 (Cseh)

Back:
31.16/31.10 (Lochte)
31.68/30.34 (Clary)
31.85/31.72 (Cseh)

Breast:
34.69/35.97 (Lochte)
36.42/36.42 (Clary)
35.04/35.70 (Cseh)

Free:
29.51/28.96 (Lochte)
29.39/27.55 (Clary)
29.37/28.18 (Cseh)

I think this is the last time Ryan will swim this event, although he did not have his best time so maybe he'll continue to try to do better. He did not seem to enjoy it at all though. Clary's swim was the most impressive to me. If he can improve on his breaststroke, he will be unstoppable in this event.

400 IM finals today - Ryan 4th in prelims, Clary 1st, Cseh 2nd

The prelims for the 400 IM took place this morning in Rome. The 8 qualifiers for today's finals are:

1 CLARY Scott Tyler - 4:10.04
2 CSEH Laszlo - 4:10.33
3 KIS Gergo - 4:10.99
4 LOCHTE Ryan - 4:11.05
5 HAFFIELD Thomas - 4:11.32
6 NEVO Gal - 4:11.51
7 MARIN Luca - 4:12.66
8 PEREIRA Thiago - 4:13.05

Ryan finished first in his heat, ahead of Luca Marin and Thiago Pereira. Pereira led most of the way, until the last 100 when he was passed by Ryan and Marin. From the splits, it looks like Ryan took it easy on the middle 200. He'll be able to go a lot faster in the finals.

Ryan will be in lane 6 in the finals, with Clary in lane 4 and Cseh in lane 5. My prediction is Ryan will finish 1st, Cseh 2nd, Clary 3rd.

Interview with Ryan Lochte after 800 free relay & medal ceremonies

he talks about the 200 back too. He went out faster than ever and paid for it at the end.



Video of the medal ceremony for 800 free relay


Video of the medal ceremony for the 200 back

More on the 4 x 200 free relay

I'll add videos once I find some.

Ryan 3rd in 200 back, anchors 4 x 200 free relay to new world record!

Ryan placed 3rd in the 200 back with a time of 1:53.82, .11 seconds faster than his previous personal best in Beijing.

Aaron Peirsol won with a new WR time of 1:51.92. Ryosuke Irie was second in 1:52.51.

Ryan was in 1st after the first 100 and in a close 2nd after the 150 (and a full second ahead of Irie) but then he died in the last 50 with a time of 30.14. I will need to watch his interview after the race, but hope nothing bad happened. His legs just may have been really tired from yesterday.

Ryan anchored the 4 x 200 free relay, which set a new WR by .01 with a time of 6:58.55. The splits were:

Michael Phelps: 1:44.49

Ricky Berens: 1:44.13

Dave Walters: 1:45.47

Ryan Lochte: 1:44.46.

Ryan has now swum in 4 events and won 4 medals, 3 gold and 1 bronze. His last event is the 400 IM on Sunday. Hopefully he can place 1st and have the most successful long course meet of his life!

Ryan wins 200 IM, sets new World Record

I'll post more about it when I get home from work. So happy!! Laci Cseh second, Eric Shanteau 3rd.

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Video from French tv of 200 IM Semi-Finals

Lochte & Cseh tied for 1st in 200 IM Semi Finals with time of 1:55.18!!

Here are the swimmers who made the finals:

1 LOCHTE Ryan - 1:55.18

2 CSEH Laszlo - 1:55.18

3 BRODIE Leith - 1:56.75
4 GODDARD James - 1:57.12

5 SHANTEAU Eric - 1:57.16

6 PEREIRA Thiago - 1:57.35

7 TAKAKUWA Ken - 1:58.09

8 KIS Gergo - 1:58.11

The splits for Ryan and Cseh were:

Fly: 24.85/24.72

Back: 28.91/29.06

Breast: 33.52/33.62

Free: 27.90/27.78

I didn't get to watch it yet, but people said Ryan did not even look winded after the race. He's definitely holding back for tomorrow's final in every part of the race. When he swam his personal best of 1:54.56 at U.S. nationals his splits were:

24.78 (fly)

28.67 (back)

33.43 (breast)

27.68 (free)

Ryan predicted at the time he could go a second faster in Rome.

Ryan wore a full-body LZR for the semis and Cseh wore his full-body x-glide.

So glad Eric Shanteau qualified for the finals as well. He can definitely swim a lot faster and will be in strong contention for a medal.

Finals for the 200m IM tomorrow!! Also, Ryan has the 200m back prelims and semi-finals on Thursday. It's his busiest day of the meet.

200 IM - Prelim Results - Laszlo Cseh isn't sick anymore

Ryan qualified 5th in the prelims of the 200 IM with a time of 1:57.94. The top 16 qualifiers advance to the semi-finals later today. Laci Cseh finished 1st with an extremely fast time of 1:56.34. Eric Shanteau was 2nd with a time of 1:57.65.

Those advancing to the semi-finals are:

1 Laszlo Cseh - 1:56.34
2 Eric Shanteau - 1:57.65
3 Leith Brodie - 1:57.66
3 Thiago Pereira - 1:57.66
5 Ryan Lochte - 1:57.94
6 James Goddard - 1:58.40
7 Gergo Kis - 1:58.48
8 Gal Nevo - 1:58.55
9 Ken Takakuwa - 1:58.60
10 Alessio Boggiatto - 1:58.81
11 Yannick Lebherz - 1:58.94
12 Darian Townsend - 1:58.96
13 Henrique Rodrigues - 1:59.21
14 Takuro Fujii - 1:59.26
15 Joseph Roebuck - 1:59.65
16 Martin Liivamagi - 1:59.95

A comparison of splits between the top 5 qualifiers is:

Fly: Cseh - 24.90
Shanteau - 25.84
Brodie - 25.57
Pereira - 24.74
Lochte - 25.13

Back: Cseh - 29.30
Shanteau - 30.63
Brodie - 30.38
Pereira - 29.23
Lochte - 29.21

Breast: Cseh - 34.29
Shanteau - 32.28
Brodie - 33.71
Pereira - 33.67
Lochte - 34.40

Free: Cseh - 27.85
Shanteau - 28.90
Brodie - 28.00
Pereira - 30.02
Lochte - 29.20

Looking at the splits, I think Ryan took it easy on the last 50, knowing he was fast enough to qualify for semi-finals and not wanting to waste too much energy. He can go a lot faster in the semis.

Laci Cseh is clearly over his illness, which is good. I can't wait for the semis. Ryan is in heat 2, lane 3, right next to Cseh who will be in lane 4. Brodie is also in the same heat, in lane 5.

Cseh wore a full body Arena x-glide and Ryan wore LZR legs. Cseh's time was a new European record and a personal best...better than his time in the Olympic finals.

200 IM - Prelims and Semi-Finals on July 29

Ryan will finally be swimming his first individual event at the world championships tomorrow - the 200m IM. The prelims are in the morning and the semi-finals are in the evening. For the prelims, Ryan is the top seed and will swim in Heat 11, Lane 4.

Although Ryan is seeded first in this event, as we've seen in the past couple of days, that does not automatically ensure he will advance to the semi-finals or the finals. In order to advance, I think Ryan will have to swim very fast in both races.

Here's what has happened in the prelims and semi-finals of some big meets in the past year:

At the 2008 Olympic trials, Ryan swam a 1:59.49 in the prelims (1st seed ahead of Michael Phelps' 1:59.70) and a 1:57.57 in the semi-finals (1st seed ahead of MP's 1:58.05). Then in the finals, MP finished 1st with a new WR of 1:54.80 and Ryan was 2nd at 1:55.22. In each race they were the only ones to go under 2:00.

At the 2008 Olympics, Ryan swam a 1:58.15 in the prelims and a 1:57.69 in the semi-finals, qualifying 1st both times. He swam a 1:56.53 in the finals, placing 3rd after Laci Cseh (1:56.52) and Michael Phelps (1:54.23 - current WR).

At the 2009 US nationals, there were no semi-finals...only prelims and finals. Ryan swam a 1:57.06 in the prelims and a 1:54.56 in the finals.

If Ryan wants to end up with a 1:54 low/1:53 high and break the WR, I think he's going to have to swim a 1:56 in the prelims and a 1:55 in the semi-finals. It's going to be a very fast field.

The top 8 swimmers in the 200 IM are:

1-Ryan Lochte 1:54.56
2-Eric Shanteau 1:56.00
3- Laci Cseh 1:56.52
4- Ken Takakuwa 1:57.24
5- Darien Townsend 1:57.88
6- James Goddard 1:57.99
7- Thiago Pereira 1:58.06
8-Bradley Alley 1:58.57

Laci Cseh is shown above shaving his head. He's ready to go despite a bad case of stomach flu earlier this week that caused him to be temporarilly hospitalized. I read a poorly translated article from Hungary, which appears to state that Cseh has recovered and been able to keep food down. He's a huge threat in the 200 IM if he's healthy. Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Because NBC didn't have time to show it.....

the medal ceremony for the men's 4 x 100 free relay.



thanks to Italian tv for showing it and the Daily Reezy for posting it.

Completely unexpected!

The U.S. not only won the 4 x 100 free relay, but Ryan was a huge part of the winning effort. His split was 47.03, his best 100 free time ever by more than a second. I'm really happy that not only was he part of this relay for the first time, but the result was a gold medal....a completely unexpected gold medal. I only hope the rest of the meet goes this well for Ryan.

The splits for the US team were as follows:

PHELPS Michael 0.72 22.93 47.78 (3) 47.78
LOCHTE Ryan 0.10 22.30 47.03 (3) 1:34.81
GREVERS Mattew 0.22 22.28 47.61 (2) 2:22.42
ADRIAN Nathan 0.25 22.23 46.79 (1) 3:09.21

Here's a link to the Universal Sports video of a portion of the race....Michael Phelps' lead-off leg and the finish. Ryan swam second so you can see him diving in right after Phelps finished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX1PiChUJkM

Here are two videos of Ryan speaking at the press conference after the race. I still can't believe he raced the great Alain Bernard and did so well. Bernard's split was 46.46, the fastest time out of every swimmer, but Ryan held his own against him.





Finally, Ryan comments on FINA's decision to ban technology suits starting in 2010.



Thanks so much to Reezy Daily for uploading the videos.

Ryan does not swim again until Wednesday. His schedule for the rest of the meet is:

Wednesday, July 29
200m IM
prelims and semi-finals

Thursday, July 30
200m Back
prelims and semi-finals
200m IM
finals

Friday, July 31
4 x 200m Free Relay
prelims and finals
200m Back
finals

Sunday, August 2
400m IM
prelims and finals

World Championship Start Lists

The Start List for each event in the 2009 World Championships can be found here:

http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/index.htm

Ryan will be swimming the following individual events:

Event 21 - July 29 - 200 IM
Heat 11, Lane 4

The swimmers in Ryan's heat:

0 LEBHERZ Yannick GER 13 JAN 1989 2:01.02
1 CARVALHO Diogo POR 26 MAR 1988 1:59.96
2 RODRIGUES Henrique BRA 4 FEB 1991 1:59.47
3 PEREIRA Thiago BRA 26 JAN 1986 1:58.06
4 LOCHTE Ryan USA 3 AUG 1984 1:54.56
5 TAKAKUWA Ken JPN 25 MAR 1985 1:57.24
6 BOGGIATTO Alessio ITA 18 JAN 1981 1:58.80
7 NEVO Gal ISR 29 JUN 1987 1:59.66
8 CABELLO Alan ESP 15 FEB 1988 2:00.43
9 WOJT Lukasz POL 13 MAY 1982 2:01.38

Shanteau is in Heat 10, lane 4 and Cseh is in Heat 9, lane 4.

http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C51A1_SLHeats_21_Heats_Men_200_Medley.pdf

Event 23 - July 30 - 200 Back
Heat 7, Lane 4

Here are the swimmers in Ryan's heat:

0 GUEDES Leonardo BRA 20 FEB 1989 2:00.10
1 BERNEK Peter HUN 13 APR 1992 1:58.66
2 WOLF Felix GER 30 OCT 1989 1:58.03
3 NAKANO Takashi JPN 21 JUL 1984 1:56.77
4 LOCHTE Ryan USA 3 AUG 1984 1:53.94
5 ROGAN Markus AUT 4 MAY 1982 1:55.49
6 STASIULIS Benjamin FRA 20 JUL 1986 1:57.90
7 DRIEBERGEN Nicolaas NED 19 AUG 1987 1:58.35
8 PINZON GARCIA Omar Andres COL 17 JUN 1989 1:59.11
9 CHAMMAH Itai ISR 11 NOV 1985 2:00.93

Peirsol is swimming in Heat 8 and Irie is in Heat 9. Interesting how Irie's unapproved WR time is used as his entry time in this meet and Irie is seeded first, even though Peirsol holds the official WR. How can that be?

http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C51A1_SLHeats_23_Heats_Men_200_Back.pdf

Event 38 - August 2 - 400 IM
Heat 8, Lane 4

Here are the swimmers in Ryan's heat:

0 DUR Dominik AUT 27 SEP 1986 4:19.59
1 JUKIC Dinko AUT 9 JAN 1989 4:15.48
2 ALLY Bradley BAR 11 DEC 1986 4:14.01
3 PEREIRA Thiago BRA 26 JAN 1986 4:11.25
4 LOCHTE Ryan USA 3 AUG 1984 4:06.08
5 MARIN Luca ITA 9 APR 1986 4:10.22
6 TAKAKUWA Ken JPN 25 MAR 1985 4:12.41
7 MATCZAK Mateusz POL 12 AUG 1989 4:14.12
8 PARKES Stephen AUS 22 JUL 1988 4:18.64
9 ALYFANTIS Romanos Iasonas GRE 21 MAR 1986 4:21.41

Cseh is in Heat 7, Lane 4 and Clary is in Heat 6, Lane 4

http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C51A1_SLHeats_38_Heats_Men_400_Medley.pdf

The relays Ryan is expected to swim in are seeded as follows:

Event 8 - July 26 - 4 x 100 Free Relay
Heat 4, Lane 4

Here are the other teams in Heat 4:

0 IRI I.R. Iran 3:28.63
1 PHI Philippines 3:27.70
2 SUI Switzerland 3:16.80
3 RSA South Africa 3:12.66
4 USA United States of America 3:08.24
5 ITA Italy 3:11.48
6 BRA Brazil 3:14.45
7 KAZ Kazakhstan 3:23.92
8 SIN Singapore 3:28.00
9 KSA Saudi Arabia 3:42.00

Don't know if Ryan will be swimming the prelims for this event. France is in Heat 3, Lane 4 and Australia is in Heat 2, Lane 4.

http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C51A1_SLHeats_8_Heats_Men_4x100_Free.pdf

Event 31 - July 31 - 4 x 200 Free Relay
Heat 3, Lane 4

Here are the other teams in Heat 3:

0 ALB Albania 8:54.00
1 KUW Kuwait 7:42.00
2 BRA Brazil 7:19.54
3 JPN Japan 7:09.12
4 USA United States of America 6:58.56
5 ITA Italy 7:05.35
6 GER Germany 7:13.92
7 KAZ Kazakhstan 7:35.80
8 MAC Macau 8:06.00
9 CZE Czech Republic [no time]

I doubt Ryan will swim in the prelims for this event.

http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Roma2009/C51A1_SLHeats_31_Heats_Men_4x200_Free.pdf

Ryan has been practicing outdoors to get ready for World Championships

At a press conference today in Rome, Ryan said he's been practicing outside for the past year to prepare himself to swim backstroke at the world championships, which will take place outdoors. Here's what he said (from http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/7073)

One other aspect of swimming outdoors was highlighted when Olympic champion Ryan Lochte (USA) revealed that he had been practising outdoors on backstroke for the past year specifically with a view to learning how to swim straight with only sky and sun above you. "It's going to be challenging for most swimmers because you don't have a ceiling to look at," he said. "When I was younger ... I never swam outside...so its hard for me but after Beijing I knew Rome was outside and have practiced mostly outside since amnd have learned to swim in a straight line."

I can barely back my car in a straight line. I can't imagine swimming straight without a point of reference. I hope practicing outdoors gives him an extra advantage.

Also, an article from Sports Illustrated today talked about how Ryan has a good shot at breaking the WR in the 200 IM. The article states:

"......don't be surprised if Phelps loses one of his world records in an event he has chosen not to swim. When Phelps set a personal best of 1:54.23 in winning the 200-meter individual medley at the Beijing Games, it marked the eighth time he lowered the world record in that event since 2003. Now Ryan Lochte, Phelps' relay teammate, is just three-tenths away from the record.

After six months of enjoying post-Olympic life as a self proclaimed late-sleeper and overeater, Lochte actually shocked himself when he won nationals in 1:54.56 earlier this month, beating the field by a second and a half. And watch the showdown between Lochte and Aaron Peirsol in the 200 back. That should be a one-two finish with both men challenging Peirsol's world record of 1:53.08."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/brian_cazeneuve/07/24/swim/

No mention of the 400 IM, which I think Ryan is going to win also.

Laszlo Cseh released from hospital

Laci Cseh is out of the hospital. According to this article, he was only "briefly admitted."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23072009/58/cseh-admitted-hospital.html

Hope he's feeling better. The world championships would not be the same without him.

Laszlo Cseh sick/rushed to the hospital according to swimnews.com

I'm not happy about this. The IM races will not be the same without him. Feel better Laci!!!!

http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/7067

US Coach's training camp blogs (Coach Greg Werner of Ohio University)

Coach Greg Werner, head swimming & diving coach at Ohio University, was selected as the head team manager for the US national team at the world championships in Rome. Coach Werner has been writing about his experience in a highly informative and articulate blog. There have been 9 entries so far, which can be found here:

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/c-swim/ohio-c-swim-body.html

It's interesting to read about how the US team is preparing for the world championships. Coach Werner gives swimming fans a glimpse of what the team is going through, without revealing any information that would be useful to other teams. After reading his blogs, I am even more excited about what will happen in Rome.

The world championships begin on Sunday, July 26. Ryan will hopefully be swimming his first event that day, the 4 x 100m free relay. NBC is airing the finals live from noon - 2 p.m. EDT. Can't wait for it to begin!

Interview with Laszlo Cseh (poorly translated from Hungarian)

http://74.125.67.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=hu&u=http://www.origo.hu/sport/egyeb/uszas/20090721-interju-a-romai-vizes-vbre-keszulo-cseh-laszloval.html&prev=http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF-8%26scoring%3Dd%26q%3Dlaszlo%2Bcseh%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhiYhIq6OnwYMABM-2fcY97MGWx61A

The translation is really bad, but it gives the gist of the questions Cseh was asked and his responses. Cseh now knows who Tyler Clary is! He will be competing against Clary in the 200 fly and the 400 IM and against Ryan in the 200 and 400 IM.

The article makes a big deal out of swimmingworldmagazine.com's prediction that Cseh will win the 400 IM. http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/21730.asp?q=FINA%20World%20Championships%20Predictions

Others have predicted this result as well. I don't know why people think Ryan will come in second in the 400 IM...he's definitely going to win it...no stomach flu this time.

Here's an article from the Miami Herald about Ryan's preparations for the world championships. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1150176.html He says he hasn't trained for a world record (no mention of which event[s] he's referring to) but it is possible. I think world records are most likely in the 200 IM and 200 back. I don't see how anyone breaks Michael Phelps' world record in the 400 IM for a long, long time.

Ryan tested the Jaked & Arena suits, but is sticking with the Speedo LZR

Below is an excerpt from an article published by the Washington Post's swimming column, http://reachforthewall.com/. The article identified what suits the swimmers were wearing at the US nationals and found that the majority wore the new Jaked and Arena suits. Nevertheless, the article concluded that "swimmers wearing older models — in most cases because of contractual obligations to the company Speedo — won more gold and silver medals than athletes in other suits and therefore earned more qualifying spots for the upcoming world championships in Rome."

Ryan Lochte was interviewed and revealed he tested the new Jaked and Arena suits but decided to stick with the Speedo LZR. The portion of the article pertaining to Ryan is quoted below:

Despite being a Speedo-sponsored athlete, Lochte said he had tested out all of the new suits. The Jaked, he said, worked particularly well on the underwater portion of races, such as starts and while coming off the walls. The Arena, he said, was the opposite, doing more to keep the swimmer above the water.

But Lochte, who won the 200 and 400 medleys in the LZR, said he actually preferred his old suit to the newer models.

“Everybody’s all hyping the new Arena, the new Jaked” suits, he said. “I’m kind of trying to stick it to them.”

Source: http://reachforthewall.com/2009/07/14/high-tech-suits-favored-at-usas-but-old-suits-won/

I'm glad Ryan tested the suits...this way he knows exactly what he's up against when racing someone wearing a Jaked and Arena. I'm also glad he stuck with the LZR, even if at the end of the day it was strictly for contractual reasons. Ryan does not need a rubber suit to help him perform well in Rome. If FINA allows the rubber suits to continue after 2009, then Speedo will improve the LZR and come out with something even better to compete with the Arena and Jaked suits. Ryan is better off sticking with Speedo and showing his loyalty.

In the videos for the 200 & 400 IM at US nationals, you can see that Ryan is the only one wearing a Speedo LZR, with all the other swimmers in Jaked, Arena, TYR in the 200 IM and the Jaked, Arena, TYR and Blueseventy in the 400 IM. Moreover, Ryan is wearing the LZR legs in the 400 IM and not the full body suit.

200 IM

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090710/nationals_men_s_200_im_a_final-16846.html

400 IM

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090707/nationals_men_s_400_im_a_final-16794.html

Interview at US nationals with Tyler Clary

Garrett McCaffrey, formerly of floswimming, interviewed Tyler Clary about his swims in the 200/400 IM and the 200 fly. The video can be found here (can't get it to embed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5xsok5YB9g

He says a lot of interesting things about race strategy, particularly against Ryan in the IMs. Tyler is hoping to go 4:04 in the 400 IM in Rome!

Also, if anyone wants to follow Ryan Lochte on twitter, the address is http://twitter.com/ryanlochte. Hopefully he will be updating from Rome!

Ryan places 2nd in 200 back, Peirsol breaks WR

The 200m back was a tough race, but Aaron Peirsol won and broke Ryan's WR with a time of 1:53.08. Ryan placed 2nd with a time of 1:54.21. Tyler Clary was 3rd. By placing 2nd, Ryan qualified for world championships and will have the opportunity to regain his title and WR in Rome in 2 weeks.

Here's a comparison of the splits:

Peirsol: 26.82, 28.36, 28.88, 29.02
Lochte: 26.81, 28.52, 29.33, 29.55

Ryan will have to speed up the 3rd & 4th laps in order to beat Peirsol and Irie in Rome.

Ryan and Dana Vollmer (pictured below) won awards for scoring the most points in the meet. Ryan finished with two firsts (200/400 IM) one second (200 back) and one third (200 free).

Initial thoughts about the world championships: Ryan will swim the same events that he swam in Beijing: 200/400 IM, 200 back and the 4 x 200 free relay. I think he will also swim the 4 x 100 free relay given that his prelim time in the 100 free was the second fastest time at trials.

If he swims both relays, here is his tentative schedule:

Sunday, July 26
4 x 100m Free Relay
prelims and finals

Monday, July 27
nothing

Tuesday, July 28
nothing

Wednesday, July 29
200m IM
prelims and semi-finals

Thursday, July 30
200m Back
prelims and semi-finals
200m IM
finals

Friday, July 31
4 x 200m Free Relay
prelims and finals
200m Back
finals

Saturday, August 1
nothing

Sunday, August 2
400m IM
prelims and finals

At least Ryan doesn't have the 200 IM and 200 back finals back-to-back like in the Olympics, but on Thursday, July 30 he has to swim the prelims and semi-finals of the 200 back and the finals of the 200 IM. That's going to be a tough day. I hope it doesn't hurt his chance of breaking the WR in the 200 IM.

Prelims of 200 back - US nationals

Ryan placed 3rd in the 200 back prelims this morning with a time of 1:55.99. I know he can swim a lot faster than that, so tonight will be very exciting.

Tyler Clary placed first with a personal best time of 1:55.37. Aaron Peirsol was second in 1:55.78.

As much as I admire Tyler Clary, I think tonight will be all about Lochte-Peirsol. The WR is definitely on the line. I hope Ryan will come out ahead and think he can do it. He has to have been thinking about this day for a long time and getting ready for it. My prediction is Ryan will place first, followed by Peirsol and the WR will be broken. Tyler Clary will finish 3rd.

US nationals - Day 5 Preview - 200m back

On the last day of US nationals Ryan will swim his best event, the 200m back. Ryan still technically holds the WR at 1:53.94 even though Ryosuke Irie swam faster earlier this year in an unapproved suit. Irie has come close to breaking Ryan's record in an approved suit, coming within .19 a few days ago. I can't wait for this event in Rome, but first Ryan has to qualify and it's not going to be a cake walk. Peirsol, Thoman and Clary all have a shot at winning.

The top 8 seeds in the 200 back are as follows:

1 Lochte, Ryan - 1:53.94
2 Peirsol, Aaron - 1:54.32
3 Thoman, Nicholas - 1:56.15
4 Clary, Tyler - 1:57.05
5 Tullius, Rexford - 1:57.73
6 Schirk, Patrick - 1:58.66
7 Cromwell, David - 1:58.75
8 Russell, David - 1:59.40

Ryan will be in heat 5, lane 4 in the prelims, right next to Tyler Clary in lane 5. Aaron Peirsol is swimming in heat 4 with Rex Tullius. Nick Thoman is in heat 3.

Ryan wins 200 IM, nearly breaks WR

"I just wanted to take it out fast but smooth and hold on for dear life," Lochte said. "At the very end, you've just got to put your head down and race. I feel like I can go a second faster. I'm going to try to put it all together in Rome and see what happens."

Ryan Lochte won the 200 IM on Friday in a personal best time of 1:54.56, which was also a U.S. Open record. Eric Shanteau came in 2nd and Tyler Clary was 3rd.

Ryan's splits were as follows:

24.78 (fly)
28.67 (back)
33.43 (breast)
27.68 (free)

By comparison, Ryan's splits when he swam his previous personal best - 1:55.22 - against Michael Phelps at the 2008 US Olympic trials were:

25.55 (fly)
28.95 (back)
33.60 (breast)
27.12 (free)

If Ryan can go faster in the freestyle leg in Rome, he'll have a chance to break the WR. I'm not sure he can do it given that unlike last night, the 200 IM follows the 200 back prelims and semi-finals in Rome. But, I can't wait to see him try.

What a great swim. The race video can be viewed here:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090710/nationals_men_s_200_im_a_final-16846.html

Gold Medal Mel's post-race interview with Ryan can be viewed here:

Irie wins 200 back at World University Games, misses WR with a time of 1:54.13

From Swimming World Magazine: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/21651.asp?q=World%20University%20Games,%20Swimming:%20%20Day%20Six%20Underway;%20Ryosuke%20Irie%20Scares%20World%20Record%20in%20200%20Back,%20Kevin%20Swander%20Smashes%20American%20Record%20in%2050%20Breast

"Men's 200 back finals

Japan's Ryosuke Irie threatened the world record for the first time in an approved swimsuit with a time of 1:54.13. Irie missed Ryan Lochte's global mark of 1:53.94 by just .19 seconds. In an interesting situation, Irie is farther off her national record of 1:52.86 set in an unapproved suit that was ratified by Japan but disallowed by FINA.

Comparative splits:
Irie: 26.74, 55.81 (29.07), 1:25.21 (29.40), 1:54.13 (28.92)
Lochte: 27.24, 55.77 (28.53), 1:25.06 (29.29), 1:53.94 (28.88)"

Assuming Ryan qualifies for the World Championships in this event, he is going to have to be patient and swim a smart race in order to beat Irie. Ryan has proven he is more than capable of this after doing a similar thing racing Tyler Clary in the IM events at Nationals. Irie is sure to be quicker in the first 100, but Ryan can beat him in the last 100. I can't wait for this event in Rome.