Ryosuke Irie's WR-breaking suit not on FINA Approved List?

When Ryosuke Irie broke Ryan Lochte's world record in the 200m back, he was wearing a suit developed in a collaborative effort by Descente, Arena and Japanese swimming. Several Descente and Arena suits made the approved list issued by FINA yesterday, but nobody seemed to be sure if the suit worn by Irie was on the list. Now an article has been published with quotes from Descente and Japanese swimming officials indicating that Irie's suit was not on the approved list.

Here's a link to the article. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hhKwENfdRAc5qPphLSvC3kCLhseA

Here are the relevant parts:

Descente said Irie's swimsuit cleared the FINA standards of "buoyancy and/or thickness" but failed to meet a rule related to elements "which create an air/water trapping effect during use."

***

"Even if his swimsuit was not approved, it wouldn't reduce his value," Japan's national swimming team head coach Norimasa Hirai told Japanese media.

Irie was wearing leggings that, according to the article cited above, were "covered with a rubber-like material from hip to ankle." I said before I could not imagine how leggings could really help someone go faster, but apparently they help the swimmer's hips and legs stay positioned higher in the water.

FINA has not yet issued a statement as to whether WRs set in non-approved suits will be recognized.

"That is a much better swim for Ryan Lochte than it is for Thiago Pereira"

On the last night of the Ultraswim, Ryan finished 2nd in the 200IM with a time of 1:58.71. Thiago Pereira came in 1st with a time of 1:58.25, a new meet record.

What I liked best was how Ryan's competitive spirit came through in this race. Rowdy Gaines said it was a better swim for Ryan than it was for Thiago Pereira because Pereira was wearing a full fast suit whereas Ryan was wearing FS-Pro legs. (Ryan's suit was not a LZR so even though he wasn't wearing a Speedo brief, he was still sort of old school in his approach.) In addition, Rowdy said he knew how hard Ryan had been training the past couple of months and how exhausted he was at this meet. Moreover, Pereira just finished the Brazil nationals, and was still rested and shaved. This means that although Ryan finished 2nd, he is in a good place in his preparation for nationals.

Here's a link to the 200 IM race video and commentary from swimnetwork.com:
http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090517/charlotte_men_s_200m_im_a_final-16618.html

Floswimming.org interviewed Ryan after the 200 IM. Ryan said he wants to get the WR back from Ryosuke Irie in the 200m backstroke. Although he was tired at the Ultraswim, Ryan feels like he's exactly where he needs to be in his training, which is great news. I could not get the video to embed, but the interview can be found at: http://www.floswimming.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235035-2009-charlotte-ultraswim/180200-ryan-lochte-wants-his-world-record-back

Gold Medal Mel posted a video on swimnetwork.com in which Ryan talks to reporters about how many events he plans to swim at U.S. nationals. He would like to swim 7 events at Worlds, including relays, which means 4 to 5 individual events events at nationals. When asked, Ryan at first seemed to back away from the idea of swimming doubles, but then said he would do it if it involved an IM and backstroke event. I'm thinking this means Ryan is preparing to swim the 200IM/200 back double again at nationals. The other possible double - 100 back/200 free - remains in doubt. It's such a hard choice because he probably has a better chance of qualifying in the 200 free, but the 100 back puts him in the medley relay. I'm not sure how he qualifies for 7 events without the 100 back.

I also could not get this video to embed, but here is the link:
http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090518/ryan_lochte_from_the_charlotte_ultraswim-16634.html

In other news from the last day of Ultraswim, Aaron Peirsol won the 200m back over Tyler Clary and Fred Bousquet won the 100m free over Michael Phelps. The results for all Ultraswim events can be found here: http://www.charlotteultraswim.com/results09/index.htm

Ryan's take on the technology suits

Here's a picture of Ryan swimming the 200 IM prelims at Ultraswim this morning. Thanks to swimnetwork.com for posting it and to Caroline for telling me about it.

LzzyBee1 noted that FINA is meeting tomorrow in Switzerland to review the new technology suits from Jaked, Arena and other manufacturers. It is expected that FINA will rule on the eligibility of the new suits some time this month. Here's an article that discusses the situation: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jeip_aZ7agyMKn6q7VNgIeRlbJRw It's the same article where Ryan was asked about Ryosuke Irie breaking the WR in the 200 back.

Here's another recent quote from Ryan on the technology suits:

"My plan would be to ban all (high-tech) suits until 2012," Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte said, knowing full well that will never happen. "Let's all go back to old school. You can't wear a cap. You can't wear goggles. You have to grow a beard. There's no shaving down.

"Now that would be fun."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hIF0LOGnwVDo3ZV5dHZZsZ2zLvewD987KC900

Ryan was clearly joking, but I sense a little frustration with the situation. He elected to wear an old-fashioned speedo in all of his races at the Ultraswim whereas most of the other swimmers wore some type of "fast" suit.

There could be many reasons why Ryan did not wear a fast suit at Ultraswim: perhaps his coach did not want him to wear a fast suit during this part of his training or perhaps Ryan knew he was beat up and would not post best times anyway. Those are two reasons I could think of and there are probably more. I doubt Ryan's decision to wear the old fashioned Speedo at Ultraswim was based on some kind of stance against technology suits as the article above implies. Ryan embraced the Speedo LZR and I'm sure he will do whatever it takes to stay competitive including wearing a technology suit at big meets.

If Speedo does not come up with a suit before the World Championships to compete with the Jaked and Ultra Glide, will Speedo swimmers like Ryan and Michael Phelps be at a disadvantage? It's exactly the same situation non-Speedo swimmers faced last year before the Olympics. It will be interesting to see how this issue develops over the next several weeks.

Charlotte Ultraswim Prelims Sunday 5/17/09

Here's a photo of Michael Phelps and Ryan at the Ultraswim that was posted on Floswimming.org. Thanks to Caroline for pointing it out.

Ryan swam the 200m IM this morning, finishing 1st in his heat and 8th overall with a time of 2:06.76. Ryan scratched his other two events - the 200m back and 100m free.

This has been a tough meet for Ryan and I think he knew it would be tough going in. Based on what the commentators have been saying during the finals, Ryan is in hard training and his body is worn out. I give him credit for going to Charlotte and trying to compete. It had to be difficult for him knowing that he was tired and probably would not do well but that peoples' expectations would nevertheless be high. Plus he knew a ton of media attention would be focused on this meet given Phelps' return. I'm sure he wanted to do well but knew the limitations he was facing given his training.

Someone in the press finally asked Ryan about Ryosuke Irie breaking his world record in the 200m back. Ryan said this:

Beijing Olympic champion Ryan Lochte lost his 200 backstroke world record a week ago to Japan's Ryosuke Irie.

"Records are made to be broken. Hopefully I will get it back," Lochte said. "I'm not too familiar with him. I'm just going to have to study. I know there is a lot more that I can still do so we will see."

Lochte wears simple briefs and sees no disadvantage.

"I still don't feel like I'm at a disadvantage," he said. "It's just crazy this technology, how far it has gone."

I'm still wondering if Speedo is going to come out with a suit to compete with the new suits from Arena and Jaked and if those new suits will be approved by FINA.

The source article can be found here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jeip_aZ7agyMKn6q7VNgIeRlbJRw

I will not be shocked if Ryan's meet is over. He may swim the finals of the 200 IM tonight, but he may skip it altogether. I'm not surprised that Ryan scratched the 200 back either. It's his best event and his WR was just broken last week. If he didn't feel good in the water, why swim it and risk a poor result. This was not the time or the place to do it.

Tyler Clary continued to have a good meet. He placed 3rd in the 200IM prelims with a time of 2:05.24 and he set a meet record in the 200m back prelims, finishing 1st with a time of 1:59.14. Even though Ryan will not be swimming in the 200 back finals, it will be a great race with Clary, Marco Loughran, Aaron Peirsol and Nick Thoman.

Ultraswim Finals - 100m back and 400m free (+ 200m fly)

Happy because I found another photo of Ryan at Ultraswim. A total of 2!

Ryan swam in the 100m back A final tonight and the 400m free B final. He placed 4th in the back and 3rd in the free. His 100 back time was 55.13 and his 400 free time was 4:01.53.

Neither time was near Ryan's best, but given the time of the season and the amount of training he is doing now, the times were good.

The 100 back race was really fun to watch. Aaron Peirsol finished first followed by Michael Phelps and Nick Thoman. These guys were all wearing "fast" suits whereas Ryan wore the old fashioned speedo. I don't think a fast suit would have helped Ryan win, but he may have gone sub-55.

I watched an interesting video on flowswimming.org of Patrick Murphy, age 17, who tied Ryan in the 100 back prelims. Patrick Murphy swam 10,000 meters in practice between prelims and finals! That's how hard these guys are training right now, Ryan included.

The video of Patrick Murphy, who ultimately finished 6th in the finals of the 100 back, can be watched here:


Tyler Clary had a great night. He came in 2nd in the A final of the 400m free with a time of 3:55.06, which qualified him for the world championship trials. Tyler also finished 5th in the A final of the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.74. He also qualified for the world championship trials in this event.

The announcers said tonight that the Club Wolverine team just finished altitude training. Tyler is having a great meet.

Finally, it was fun to watch Marco Loughran of University of Florida/UK win the 100 back B final by .02. Marco has his world championship trials coming up in Scotland in a few weeks and hopefully he will win the 100 back there.

Charlotte Ultraswim Prelims Saturday 5/16/09

The photo is from Universalsports.com, which had about 50 photos of Phelps at the Ultraswim and 1 photo of Lochte. Sigh.

Ryan swam in the prelims for the 100m back and 400m free today. In the 100 back he finished tied for 5th with a time of 55.98. He'll be in the A final tonight with Peirsol, Phelps, Thoman, and Hesen. It's going to be a great race to watch.

In the 400m free, Ryan finished 15th and will swim in the B final. His time was 4:03.33.

Tyler Clary scratched the 100 back and swam the 400 free. He finished 2nd with a time of 3:56.77. He will be battling PVK and 3 other Club Wolverine teammates in the A final tonight.

200 Free Finals - Charlotte Ultra Swim (+ 400 IM)

Ryan placed 1st in the "B" final with a time of 1:50.58. Michael Phelps won the "A" final with a time of 1:46.02. PVK was second with a time of 1:46.71.

Ryan was wearing a old-fashioned speedo brief whereas it looked like the other swimmers were in fast suits. Rowdy Gaines said Ryan is in hard training right now. He looked super tired at the end of his race, but he dug down and won which was really fun to watch.

Tyler Clary placed 8th in the "A" final with a time of 1:52.13, a little slower than he swam in the prelims but not much. He may be conserving for the 400IM later tonight.

ETA: Tyler Clary placed 2nd in the 400 IM. He struggled during the breaststroke and then ran out of gas at the end. Thiago Pereira won and looked really strong, even his freestyle which I've noticed in the past is his worst stroke. Thiago said afterward that he broke his arm 5 weeks ago. He made quite a recovery!

I wish Ryan had not scratched the 400 IM, but he clearly wasn't feeling it today. He looked pretty tired. Better to save it up for the 100 back tomorrow.

Charlotte Ultraswim Prelims Friday 5/15/09

Ryan was scheduled to swim in the 200m free and 400m IM today.

Ryan finished 12th in the 200 free and qualified for the "B" final tonight. His time was 1:52.85. It's disappointing that he won't be in the "A" final with Phelps, PVK, Peirsol, etc.

Ryan scratched the 400m IM. Hope everything is OK. Maybe he was having an off day.

Tyler Clary swam very well, finishing 1st in the prelims in the 400IM and 7th in the 200 free. He'll be in both "A" finals tonight.

The swimnetwork.com live feed was a huge failure. The site crashed about mid-way through the men's 200 free heats and I (and numerous others) were unable to see later heats or any of the later events. Hopefully they will get their act together for tomorrow's prelims.

Charlotte Ultra Swim begins (for Ryan) on Friday, May 15

According to the Charlotte Ultraswim psyche sheet (found at http://www.charlotteultraswim.com/results09/Psych.pdf) the events Ryan has entered on Friday, May 15 are:

200m free (Event 4)
400m IM (Event 10)

Ryan is seeded 3rd in the 200m free behind Michael Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay. Ryan is seeded first in the 400IM ahead of Thiago Pereira, Bradley Ally and Tyler Clary. Both of these races should be very competitive and entertaining.

According to this document http://www.charlotteultraswim.com/results09/Session.htm, the prelims for Event 4 will begin at 9:33 a.m. EDT. There are 118 swimmers entered in this race. My guess is Ryan's heat will take place about 10 a.m. or so. Finals for Event 4 will take place at 6:12 p.m. EDT.

There are 68 swimmers entered in the prelims for Event 10, which are set to start at approximately 11:33 a.m. EDT. My guess is Ryan's heat will happen around noon. Finals for Event 10 are scheduled to start at 7:21 p.m. EDT.

The good news is we can watch the races live. For those lucky enough to have the Universal Sports channel, the finals will be aired on tv. For the rest of us, we can watch the races online at swimnetwork.com.

According to this article http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&ItemId=2425&mid=2943:

Universal Sports will air footage from the A, B and C finals Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17. Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines will provide color commentary for the broadcast and Steve Schlanger will handle the play-by-play duties.

Swimnetwork.com will provide a LIVE online stream of the Universal Sports broadcast. In addition, Swimnetwork.com will also webcast the finals on Thursday, May 14 and the prelims from each day of competition. Swimnetwork.com will also feature on-demand footage of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday night finals as well as behind-the-scenes interviews with Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart.

In addition, realtime results will be posted here: http://www.charlotteultraswim.com/results09/index.htm

Ryan has not competed in a Grand Prix event since the Missouri Grand Prix in February...3 long months ago. I'm really looking forward to this weekend.

Next, I wasn't going to post this video because it doesn't have anything to do with actual swimming. However, it's entertaining so here goes:



Finally, in connection with the video posted above, Gold Medal Mel wrote an entry in his blog recognizing swimming fans who are not competitive swimmers. I thought it was so nice! Here is the link:

http://www.goldmedalmel.typepad.com/mel/2009/05/a-reezy-nation.html

Video of Ryosuke Irie's entire WR swim in 200m back

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cslxxJU-A5U

Here's the youtube link for the entire race. It is from Australian television, so the commentary is in English. I could not get the video to embed.

Notice how Irie's head is so still and he just zips through the water. It doesn't seem like the suit made a difference, but what do I know.

I've noticed in previous races that Irie's underwater kicking is nothing special, although in this race it is better. He must be working on it. Nevertheless, Ryan is so much bigger and stronger and athletic than Irie. I think if Ryan is rested and feeling good in July, he'll be able to beat Irie and get the world record back regardless of the suit. The only thing that worries me is the idea that long course races favor swimming technique over athleticism.

None of this takes away from Irie's accomplishment, which is really amazing.

Ryosuke Irie was not wearing Arena X-Glide leggings when he broke the WR in the 200m back

http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/6853

According to swimnews.com, Irie was wearing "an entirely new, collaboration suit, developed by Arena, Japan and Descente.."

Like the X-Glide, this suit is awaiting approval by FINA. A decision is expected at the end of May.

I could not find a picture of the suit (which is actually leggings) but the video posted below shows it.

It's hard for me to imagine that leggings would really help someone swim faster, particularly because the leggings do not support the core. I don't really understand how the suits help so it's a difficult issue for me tackle.

Video of Irie's WR in 200m back

Ryosuke Irie breaks Ryan's WR in 200 back

I was afraid this would happen. The results of the Japan-Australia Duel can be found here
http://www.clubsonline.com.au/uploads/swimresults/National/2009Duel/index.htm

1 IRIE, RYOSUKE 19 JAPAN NT 1:52.86!
26.84 55.46 (28.62) 1:24.42 (28.96) 1:52.86 (28.44)
2 DELANEY, ASHLEY 23 AUSTRALIA NT 1:57.90
3 NAKANO, TAKASHI 24 JAPAN NT 1:58.01
4 STOECKEL, HAYDE 24 AUSTRALIA NT 2:00.74

Irie broke the record by more than a second, and it's not like he was being pushed by the other swimmers during the race. Ashley Delaney finished 2nd more than 5 seconds behind Irie.

It is interesting to look at Irie's splits: all four laps were under 29 seconds. Hopefully someone will post a video.

Ryan has not had a big meet since Beijing. I don't know if he will be rested enough to get the record back until Rome...maybe at U.S. Nationals in July. This will give him extra motivation in his training, that is for sure.

ETA: According to swimnews.com (link posted below), Irie was wearing the X-Glide leggings, which have not been approved by FINA. The WR will not be broken unless the suit is approved. I've said before that the issue of whether the swimmers' times are aided by a particular suit is beyond my knowledge of the sport. Thus, I have no opinion as to how much the suit may or may not have impacted the time.

http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/6852

The suit issue puts swimmers in a horrible position. If the X-Glide is approved, and it does make a difference in the time, then does Ryan wear the LZR as usual at Worlds or does that put him at a disadvantage. I hate the suit issue.

Australia-Japan Duel in the Pool - 100m back results

100m backstroke: 1. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) 52.56, 2. Junya Koga (JPN) 53.38, Ashley Delaney (AUS) 53.45

Ryosuke Irie is on fire this year. His time was only .02 off Peirsol's world record.

There is no doubt that Ryan can beat Irie at Worlds in both the 100 and 200 back, but he's going to have to go very fast to do it.

Best Interview Ever

Fitting that this is my 100th post on this blog. Gold Medal Mel posted an excellent interview with Ryan on swimnetwork.com. I can't get the video to embed, but here's the url: http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090506/gold_medal_minute__ryan_lochte-16511.html

In the interview Ryan says some very interesting things about swimming and Beijing. First, he said his best time in a 50m kick is 22 seconds. I remembered Cullen Jones talking about it at the Olympics. It's in the floswimming.org interview below starting at about 50 seconds. Given that the world record in the 50m free is (arguably) 20.94, 22 seconds just kicking on his back is an amazing 50m time.



Next, Mel asked Ryan about a time trial he swam at the Olympics the day after the 400m IM finals. During this time Ryan was sick because he brushed his teeth with tap water. Despite his illness, Ryan was asked to swim a 100m free time trial to see if he would be put on the 4 x 100 free relay. He swam a 48.4 or 48.5, which was faster than the 48.65 he swam in the semi-finals at the Olympic trials.

I looked up the times in the prelims for the 4 x 100 free relay. Here they are:

Nathan Adrian - 48.82
Cullen Jones - 47.61
Ben Wildman-Tobriner - 48.03
Matt Grevers - 47.77

Ryan's 100m free time trial was faster than the time Nathan Adrian ultimately posted in the prelims. It's too bad Ryan was sick. He may have been selected for this relay and won another gold medal.

Regarding the 200 back, Ryan said he was disappointed in his time even though it was a world record and he won the gold medal. Ryan believes he could have gone 1:52 or 1:51 had he not been sick. That's amazing.

I can't wait for the U.S. nationals to see what Ryan can do.

Charlotte Ultraswim Preview - May 14 to 17, 2009

http://www.charlotteultraswim.com/results09/Psych.htm

According to the 'preliminary' psyche sheet for the Charlotte Ultraswim, Ryan has entered the following events:

200m Free - Event 4 - May 15 (Fri)
Ryan is seeded 3rd behind Michael Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay, which means that three of the four best 200 free swimmers in the world in 2008 are in this event (also 3/4 of the gold-medal winning 800m Free Relay at the Beijing Olympics). It should be a great battle.

400m IM - Event 10 - May 15 (Fri)
Ryan is seeded 1st ahead of Thiago Pereira, Bradley Ally and Tyler Clary. I would love to see Tyler Clary take 2nd behind Ryan.

100m Back - Event 18 - May 16 (Sat)
Many call this the premier event of the meet. Ryan is seeded 3rd behind Aaron Peirsol and Nick Thoman. Michael Phelps is seeded 4th, but did not use his personal best time of 53.01. Had he used that time, he would have been seeded 3rd rather than Ryan. Ben Hesen is seeded 5th. No doubt this is going to be an incredible race.

400m Free - Event 22 - May 16 (Sat)
Ryan is seeded 2nd behind PVK. Tyler Clary is seeded 4th and his Michigan teammate Matt Patton is seeded 3rd.

At last year's Ultraswim, which was held in June only 3 weeks before the Olympic trials, Ryan swam the 400m Free in both the prelims and the finals, finishing 1st with a time of 3:49.25. Ryan swam the 100m back in the prelims only, finishing 1st with a time of 54.0 and scratching the final. The time that ultimately won the 100m back in the finals was 2 seconds slower than Ryan's time. It will be interesting to see if Ryan scratches either the 100 back of the 400 free this year. I'll be disappointed if he elects to scratch the 100 back given the level of competition in that event.

200m IM - Event 28 - May 17 (Sun)
Ryan is seeded 1st ahead of Thiago Pereira, Eric Shanteau and Bradley Ally. Tyler Clary is seeded 12th. In the Olympics, Pereira came in 4th in this event and was really close to Ryan until the final 50 meters. Eric Shanteau's best time in 2009 is better than Ryan's. Bradley Ally won the 200y IM at the NCAA's and broke Ryan's record. Tyler Clary is better in the 400 IM but very good in this event too. Except for Pereira, who is from Brazil and Ally, who is from Barbados, the swimmers entered in this event will likely be battling for a place on the U.S. team for Rome.

200m Back - Event 30 - May 17 (Sun)
Ryan is seeded 1st ahead of Aaron Peirsol, Nick Thoman and Tyler Clary. Rex Tullius, Omar Pinzon and Marco Loughran, who train with Ryan at UF, are seeded 5th, 7th and 8th respectively. This is going to be a great race.

100m Free - Event 32 - May 17 (Sun)
This is Ryan's third event on Sunday, and the third in a row for that day. It's possible he may scratch from one of these events, but I hope not. This has a great field and Ryan is seeded 4th behind Michael Phelps, Nick Brunelli and Cullen Jones.

At last year's Ultraswim, Ryan scratched the prelims of all of his events on the last day and thus did not swim at all. Granted, it was 3 weeks before the Olympic trials and he was coming off an injury to his ankle. It would be understandable if he did not swim all 3 events on the last day, but hopefully he will not scratch it entirely like last year.

Here is a video of an interview of Ryan conducted by flowswimming at last year's Charlotte Ultraswim:

Charlotte Ultraswim Psyche Sheet - Finally some actual Ryan Lochte swimming to write about (plus a bonus workout video)

The psyche sheet for the Charlotte Ultraswim has been released.  There are so many great U.S. and foreign swimmers entered that, although it is doubtful anyone will be rested, it looks like this meet is going to be almost as good as the U.S. nationals.

http://www.charlotteultraswim.com/results09/Psych.htm

Ryan has entered in 7 events:  200/400m IM, 100/200/400m Free and 100/200m Back.  I'm looking forward to the Phelps/Lochte/Peirsol races the most.  Also, Tyler Clary has entered in most if not all of the same events as Ryan.  

I want to write more about each these events and the other swimmers entered in them but don't have time now (stupid work).  Much more later.  

Here is a video of Ryan's workout routine.  Part of it is in Swedish.  Thanks to Jess at the Daily Reezy for finding this.  I don't really know what to say about it except he works very hard and he's very athletic.