Twitter - @reezy_nation

If you want Ryan Lochte news a lot faster than I can provide it, follow http://twitter.com/reezy_nationon twitter. You won't regret it.

@reezy_nation linked two videos today. Great stuff.

The first was from swimnetwork.com, which of course will not embed.

It can be viewed here:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/Multimedia/Media-Center.aspx#/id=504abbbc-b1d8-4735-86c1-52fa09b9c1ec

The second is from swimmingworld.tv and can be viewed below:

The title is "The Toughest Double of the Meet Goes to Ryan Lochte"

Charlotte Ultraswim - Sunday Finals

Ryan swam great tonight, finishing first in the 200 back and second in the 100 free. Both races were exciting and he came from behind to win.

Ryan won the 200m back with a time of 1:58.93. I think Ryan's time is very good considering how hard he is training and he was wearing a speedo brief. Ryan's time would have placed him 3rd in last year's Ultraswim finals, even though most of the swimmers last year were wearing high tech suits.

The race can be watched here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N162fN8QXR4


Ryan tied with Peter Vanderkaay for second in the 100m free with a time of 50.29. The winner was Gideon Louw at 50.09. Ryan again swam in a speedo brief and not jammers like most of the other swimmers. Ryan's time would have placed him 6th in last year's Ultraswim with high tech suits and Fred Bousquet.

The race can be watched here:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/Multimedia/Media-Center.aspx#/id=c14ca2a4-a514-437e-b862-4dadc6f94ea1

Charlotte Ultraswim - Sunday Prelim Results

Love this interview by Garrett McCaffrey. We learn that Ryan still can't swim breaststroke but he is hoping to be able to swim a 200 IM at the Santa Clara GP in June. Also, we learn that it was his coach's decision to scratch the 100 back final last night.

Ryan did well in this morning's prelims. He finished 3rd in the 200m back with a time of 2:03.14. Only Matt Grevers and Rex Tullius had better prelim times. He finished 1st in the 100m free with a time of 50.58.

Really looking forward to tonight's finals. Hope the coach doesn't scratch any more events!

Charlotte Ultraswim update - Friday & Saturday results & Sunday preview

For lots of great meet photos, go to Ryan's official facebook page. For results and race videos, go to swimnetwork.com

Sorry I have been busy and unable to update. There's one day left in the Charlotte Ultraswim. Here's what has happened so far.

Friday, May 14 - Finals

• 200m Free

Ryan came in 3rd with a time of 1:49.05. Michael Phelps was first in 1:47.73 and Peter Vanderkaay was second in 1:47.77. Video of the race can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkkx7PdyWwA

• 100m Fly

Ryan came in 5th with a time of 54.48. Michael Phelps was first with a 52.41, Tyler McGill second in 53.13, Timothy Phillips third in 53.91 and Ricky Berens fourth in 54.31. Video can be found here:

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

Saturday, May 15 - Prelims

• 100m Back

Ryan swam well in the 100 back prelims, finishing 6th with a time of 55.98. He qualified for the "A" final but ended up scratching. More on this below.

• 400m Free

Ryan's time in the 400 free prelims was 4:01.83, good enough for a 4th place seed in the A final.

Saturday, May 15 - Finals

• 100m Back

Ryan scratched the finals of the 100m Back. No clue why he did this, except maybe he wanted to do his best in the 400 free to see if that is an event he wants to swim at Nationals this summer. If Ryan's knee injury prevents him from swimming breaststroke, he will need something to replace the 400 IM. The 400 free and 400 IM are usually swum on the same day in international meets.

It was disappointing as a fan to see Ryan scratch the 100 back, but it was an exciting race nonetheless. Nick Thoman won with a time of 53.70. Michael Phelps was second in 53.92.

• 400m free

Ryan finished second in the finals behind Peter Vanderkaay. Ryan's time was 3:55.50 and PVK's time was 3:48.94. The race was not really close and Ryan looked pretty tired at the end. He barely out-touched Ricky Berens to get second place.

Notably, Ryan's time was a full 6 seconds faster than the time he had the finals of last year's 400 free, which was 4:01.53. That's impressive.

The race can be watched here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXoMjm4GD70

Sunday, May 16 - Prelims

• 200m Back - Heat 8 of 9 Prelims

  1  Patton, Matthew               23 Club Wolverine-MI         2:05.96  NAT
2  Darmody, Kevin                17 SwimMAC Carolina-NC       2:03.38  NAT
3  Tullius, Rexford              23 Daytona Beach-FL          1:59.90  NAT
4  Thoman, Nicholas              24 SwimMAC Carolina-NC       1:54.59  NAT
5  Lochte, Ryan                  25 Daytona Beach-FL          1:57.50  NAT 
6  McCarroll, Connor             19 Club Wolverine-MI         2:02.36  NAT
7  Ford, Andrew                  20 Swim Ontario              2:05.07  NAT
8  Best, Adam                    18 GO Kingfish               2:06.11  NAT 

• 100m Free - Heat 16 of 17 Prelims
  

  1  Phillips, Timothy             19 UN-Ohio Swimming-OH         50.72  NAT
2  Robison, Scott                21 New South-NC                49.94  NAT
3  Lundquist, Bryan              24 Stingrays-GA                49.14  NAT
4  Grevers, Matt                 25 Tucson Ford-AZ              48.27  NAT
5  Brunelli, Nicholas            28 SwimMAC Carolina-NC         48.52  NAT
6  Vanderkaay, Peter             26 Club Wolverine-MI           49.71  NAT
7  Lochte, Ryan                  25 Daytona Beach-FL            50.50  NAT 
8  Godsoe, Eugene                22 UN-N. Carolina-NC           50.96  NAT

For insider information on the Charlotte Ultraswim & swimming in general (plus exclusive photos & videos)

follow Gold Medal Mel (Stewart) on facebook here http://www.facebook.com/GoldMedalMel1?ref=ts

Learned today that Ryan is swimming 9,000 - 10,000 (yards? meters?) each practice. I don't think it matters if it's yards or meters...that's a lot!! It's hard to imagine competing in a race while continuing to practice that hard.

Also, after Cullen Jones & Matt Grevers tied for 8th place in the 100 fly in this morning's prelims, rather than deciding who advances to the A final in a swim off, they had a coin flip. Matt Grevers won. Love the inside information.

Ultraswim - Friday May 14 Prelim Results

Ryan will swim in the finals of the 200 free and 100 fly tonight. He qualified 3rd in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.79 and 5th in the 100 fly with a time of 55.09. Finals begin at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time and can be watched live on http://www.universalsports.com/.

Here are the top 8 swimmers in both of those events:

200m Free

1 Vanderkaay, Peter 1:49.07
2 Berens, Ricky 1:50.41
3 Lochte, Ryan 1:50.79
4 Harrison, Ryan 1:51.00
5 Dwyer, Conor 1:51.56
6 Patton, Matthew 1:52.55
7 Phelps, Michael 1:53.47
8 Cormier, Kyle 1:53.58

100m Fly

1 Phelps, Michael 54.07
2 McGill, Tyler 54.21
3 Phillips, Timothy 54.22
4 Thoman, Nicholas 54.88
5 Lochte, Ryan 55.09
6 Berens, Ricky 55.19
7 Wyher, Tommy 55.20
8 Jones, Cullen 55.34
8 Grevers, Matt 55.34

Cullen Jones and Matt Grevers tied and will have a swimoff before the finals.

Swimnetwork fixed the link to the Ryan Lochte pre-meet interview video. Swimnetwork videos will never embed so you can watch it at this link:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/Multimedia/Media-Center.aspx#/id=b26fb756-c7b2-4260-bd1c-6f1bbd31042e

Charlotte Ultraswim - 200 free & 100 fly on Friday!

Event 4 - 200m Free
Prelims start at about 9:37 a.m. Eastern Time

Heat 13 of 15 Prelims 
1  Novakoff, Andrew              20 UN-Univ. of Mich-MI       1:52.05  NAT 
2  Wu, Peng                      22 Club Wolverine-MI         1:50.58  NAT 
3  Lochte, Ryan                  25 Daytona Beach-FL          1:49.00  NAT 
4  Vanderkaay, Peter             26 Club Wolverine-MI         1:45.77  NAT 
5  DeJong, Adam                  22 Club Wolverine-MI         1:48.66  NAT 
6  Peirsol, Aaron                26 Longhorn Aquatic-ST       1:49.84  NAT 
7  Cormier, Jay                  23 SwimMAC Carolina-NC       1:51.17  NAT 
8  Dsouza, Aaron                 17 Davie Nadadores-FG        1:52.22  NAT 

Event 8 - 100m Fly
Prelims start at about 10:57 a.m. Eastern Time

Heat 13 of 13 Prelims

  1  Lochte, Ryan                  25 Daytona Beach-FL            55.00  NAT 
2  Bussolin, Federico            20 Rari Nantes                 54.29  NAT 
3  Phillips, Timothy             19 UN-Ohio Swimming-OH         52.88  NAT 
4  Phelps, Michael               24 North Baltimore-MD          49.82  NAT 
5  Berens, Ricky                 22 UN-Longhorn Aqua-ST         51.98  NAT 
6  Godsoe, Eugene                22 UN-SwimMAC-NC               53.79  NAT 
7  Booth, William                21 Schenectady-Sara-AD         54.90  NAT 
8  Murphy, Patrick               18 North Baltimore-MD          55.21  NAT 

Live Results can be found here:
http://charlotteultraswim.com/results10/index.htm

Prelims will air live on www.swimnetwork.com starting at 9 a.m. Eastern Time

Here's an article on 5 races to watch at Ultraswim....tomorrow's 200 free is #5 and 100 fly is #3!

http://www.swimnetwork.com/News/Swimming/Blogs/Mike-Gustafson/2010/05/Charlotte-Ultraswim-Preview.aspx

Swimnetwork.com has pre-meet interviews with the Olympians, including Ryan, but his video did not get posted and Ricky Berens' video was posted twice & labeled as Ryan Lochte. Hope that gets fixed soon.

A Look Back - Part III 2004/05

Medal podium for 800m free relay at 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships (with Chad Carvin, Dan Ketchum and Justin Mortimer)











Medal podium for the 200m free at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships with Rick Seay and Michael Phelps (and Larry Bird!)












2004 FINA Short Course World Championships - October 2004

• 5th in the 100m IM (54.49)
• Bronze in the 200m free (1:44.97)
• Silver in the 200m IM (1:55.86)
• Gold in the 800m free relay

200m free


















2004/05 Florida

US Open - December 2004

• 1st in the 800m free relay
• 9th in the 400m free (4:00.23)
• 1st in the 400m medley relay
• 1st in the 100m back (56.14)
• 1st in the 400m IM (4:29.95)
• 3rd in the 100m free (51.20)
• 4th in the 1,500m free (15:48.67)
• 2nd in the 400m free relay
• 1st in the US Open Male High Points Award (100 points)

SEC Championships - February 2005

• 1st in the 200 medley relay
• 1st in the 800 free relay (NCAA record - Ryan swam leadoff & his time of 1:33.07 was the 2nd fastest time in history)
• 1st in the 200 IM (1:41.76 - NCAA & American records)
• 1st in the 400 medley relay
• 1st in the 400 IM (3:39.08)
• 1st in the 200 back (1:38.29 - NCAA & American records)
• 1st in the 200 free relay
• 1st in the SEC Male High Point Award (60 points)
  
• Ryan placed 1st in all 7 events he entered and set 3 NCAA and American record
  

NCAA Championships - March 2005

• 1st in the 200 IM (1:41.71 - NCAA & American records)
• 6th in the 400 medley relay
• 1st in the 800 free relay (NCAA record)
• 2nd in the 100 back (45.65 - lost to Matt Grevers by .03!)
• 6th in the 200 medley relay
• 1st in the 200 back (1:38.37)
• 4th in the 200 free relay
  
• NCAA Swimmer of the Meet & High Point Award (57 points)

200 back final


200 IM final


2005 World Championship Trials - April 2005

• 1st in the 400m IM (4:16.83)* qualified for World Championships
  
• 4th in the 200m free (1:48.89)* qualified for 800m free relay at World Championships
• 7th in the 100m free (49.98)
• 2nd in the 200m IM (1:58.40)*qualified for World Championships
  
• 2nd in the 200m back (1:57.50)*qualified for World Championships
• 2nd in the Male High Point Award (81 points; Michael Phelps was 1st with 100 points)
  

2005 FINA World Championships - July 2005

• Bronze in the 200m back (1:57.00)
• Bronze in the 200m IM (1:57.79)
• 5th in the 400m IM (4:13.67)
• Gold in the 800m free relay (American record)

800m Free Relay - Part 1


800m Free Relay - Part 2


Medal Podium for 200m Back with Aaron Peirsol and Marcus Rogan
















Medal podium 800m free relay

A Look Back - Part II 2003/04

At the end of Ryan's sophomore year in college, he was an Olympian. How he got there is interesting. Here's a newspaper article published in October 2003, at the start of Ryan's sophomore year: http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=6011 The article says that Ryan trains in the pool 30 hours a week and is hoping to qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

What really struck me is that Ryan was not at all a backstroker at this stage of his swimming career. He also isn't much of an underwater kicker. He must really start to work on that after the Olympics. Improving his underwater kicking and becoming a great backstroker will be what vaults Ryan into the next level.

2003/04 Florida

US Open - December 2003

• 2nd in the 200m IM (2:02.53)
• 5th in the 800m free relay
• 3rd in the 200m free (1:50.75)
• 5th in the 400m IM (4:27.16)
• 7th in the 1,500m free (15:39.15)
• 5th in the 400 free relay
  
• 2nd in the US Open Male High Point Award
  

SEC Championships - February 2004

• 1st in the 400 IM (3:41.42)
• 1st in the 800 free relay
• 3rd in the 200 fly (1:43.84)
• 2nd in the 200 free relay
• 2nd in the 400 free relay
  
• 2nd in the 200 IM (1:43.84)(It certainly is strange that Ryan had the exact same time in the 200 fly and the 200 IM)
• 4th in the SEC Male High Point Award (53 points)

The guy who beat Ryan in the 200 IM was George Bovell, then a sophomore at Auburn.

NCAA Championships - March 2004

• 7th in the 200m free relay
• 3rd in the 200m IM (1:55.62)
  
• 1st in the 400m IM (4:04.52) (NCAA & American record, missed WR by .28)
• 3rd in the 800m free relay
• 9th in the 200m fly (1:56.35)
• 4th in the 400m free relay
• 11th in NCAA Male High Point Award (45 points)

A couple of interesting things about the 2004 NCAA Championships. First, they were swum in short-course meters rather than yards. I think this was because it was an Olympic year but I'm not positive. Ian Crocker, then a senior at University of Texas, won the high point award. He set world records in the 100m fly and 100m free and as part of the 400m medley relay with Aaron Peirsol, Brenden Hansen and Garrett Weber-Gale. George Bovell won the 200m IM and Eric Shanteau was 4th.

Olympic Trials - July 2004

• 4th in the 400m IM (4:18.46)
• 4th in the 200m free (1:48.65)* - qualified for Olympics in the 800m free relay
  
• 16th in the 100m free (50.79) - scratched semi-final
  
• 2nd in the 200m IM (1:59.41)* - qualified for Olympics
  
• 5th in the 1,500m free prelims (15:28.37) - scratched final

I didn't realize Ryan came so close to qualifying for the Olympics in the 400m IM. Here's some information about that experience:

"On the first day of the Olympic Trials, Ryan underperformed in the finals of the 400 IM. Whereas he and his inner circle were hopeful that Ryan would crack the 4:10 barrier, he missed his backstroke turn, and after that, the wheels came off as he finished fourth in 4:18.46. As a sign of Ryan's experience, however, he quickly rebounded the next morning in the 200 freestyle."

It's fascinating that Ryan did so well in the 200m free. He didn't really swim that event in college, at least not in the SECs or the NCAAs. Ryan was more of a distance freestyler but something in his training made him faster in the shorter distance. He improved almost 2 seconds from his time in the 200m free at the 2003 US Open in December to the Olympic Trials in July.

Athens Olympics - August 2004

• Gold medal in 800m free relay (American record)

Ryan swam in the prelims of the 800m free relay with Scott Goldblatt, Dan Ketchum and Peter Vanderkaay. Ryan's time of 1:47.39 was the fastest and qualified him to swim in the finals with Michael Phelps and Klete Keller. Peter Vanderkaay had the second fastest time in prelims so he won a place in the finals as well.

In the finals, it was Ryan swam second after Michael Phelps. It was Ryan's job to hold off Michael Klim, one of Australia's stars. Ryan not only held off Klim but built the lead established by Michael Phelps by another .10. Ryan's time was 1:47.52 and Klim's time was 1:47.62.

The race was very exciting with Peter Vanderkaay doing his job building the lead and then Klete Keller holding off the best 200m free swimmer of the time - Ian Thorpe - to bring in the Gold for the U.S. by only .13 seconds.

• Silver medal in 200m IM (1:58.78)

Ryan out touches another swimmer by .02 to win the silver medal in the 200m IM. Who is that swimmer? George Bovell of Trinidad & Tobago...the same swimmer who beat him in the 200 IM at the SECs and the NCAAs a few months earlier.
http://www.videosurf.com/video/athens-2004-mens-200-im-final-11934399?vlt=ffext

A Look Back - 2002/2003

In Ryan's speech a couple of weekends ago (see video on April 25 entry below), he said he got serious about swimming in college. Here's a look back at how he progressed each year, starting with his freshman season in 2002-03. Ryan did really well that year but it is amazing how far he has come.

2002/03 Florida

U.S. Open - December 2002

• 4th in the 200m IM (2:04.63)
• 6th in the 400m free (3:59.44)
• 4th in the 1,500m free (15:50.17)
• 3rd in the 400m IM (4:29.37)
  
• 6th in the 400m free relay
• US Open Male High Points Award (66 points)
  

SEC Championships - February 2003

• 1st in the 800 free relay
• 2nd in the 200 IM (1:45.05)
• 2nd in the 200 free relay
• 1st in the 400 IM (3:43.31) - Ryan's goggles broke at the beginning of the race
• 1st in the 1,650 free (14:55.03)
• SEC Male High Points Award (57 points)
• SEC Swimming of the Year & Freshman of the Year
  

NCAA Championships - March 2003

• 4th in the 200 IM (1:44.58)
  
• 7th in the 200 free relay
• 2nd in the 800 free relay
• 3rd in the 400 IM (3:41.45)
• 8th in the 1,650 free (14:59.18)
• 7th (tied) in the 400 medley relay
  
• 7th (tied) in Male High Point Award (42 points)
  

2003 Pan Am Games

The swim meet at the 2003 Pan Am Games took place in the Dominican Republic from August 12-18. Ryan was part of the gold-medal winning 4 x 200m free relay along with Daniel Ketchum, Jeffrey Lee and Bryan Goldberg.

For his individual events, Ryan swam the 200m IM and 400m IM as exhibitions. This means that his qualifying times for the Pan Am games were not fast enough to allow him to swim the individual events, but he was allowed to swim in the prelims as an exhibition. The results were very good.

In the 200m IM, Ryan swam a 2:00.34, which was the 8th fastest time in the world in 2003. It would have placed Ryan 2nd if he had been allowed to swim in the finals.

In the 400m IM, Ryan's time was 4:16.80, which was the 7th fastest time in the world in 2003. It would have placed 1st in the finals.

2006 Short Course World Championships in Shanghai - 3 WRs not 2

In the post below where I go through Ryan's accomplishments at big international meets, I missed one of his world records at the 2006 Short Course World Championships in Shanghai. The WR was in the 100m Back and happened in the first leg of the 4 x 100m Medley Relay. The team went on to win a silver, but Ryan's time of 49.99 in the backstroke leg was a world record.

This means Ryan has set 12 world records not 11.

Watch it here:

Lochte's 100back at short course world championship

Best Short Course Yards Swimmer of All Time?

Swimming World Magazine recently posted a list of the Men's All-Time Top Short Course Yards Performances. The list compiled the top 50 performances for each short-course event. The article and list can be found here:

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/24048.asp

The list got me thinking: Is Ryan the best short course yards swimmer of all time? I think an argument can be made that he is.

• Ryan holds top 50 times in 10 out of 14 individual events. The only events in which he has not had a top 50 time are 100/200y Breast and 1000/1650y Free. He came close to a top-50 time in the 100y Breast with a 53.27 at the 2007 U.S. Short Course Championships
• Ryan has set multiple NCAA and American records in the 100/200y Back and 200/400y IM
• Ryan has 34 top 50 times in 10 events. No other swimmer comes close.

50y Free - 19.22 (2007 - top 50)
100y Free - 41.99 (2008 - top 25)
200y Free - 1:32.40 (2008 - #10); 1:33.07 (2005 - top 25); 1:33.32 (2009 - top 50)
500y Free - 4:13.23 (2007 - top 50)

100y Back - 44.60 (2006 - American/NCAA record); 45.19 (2005 - top 15); 45.28 (2006 - top 20); 45.37 (2005 - top 25); 45.37 (2008 - top 25); 45.44 (top 50)
200y Back - 1:36.81 (2007 - American record); 1:37.68 (2006 - #3); 1:38.29 (2005 - #5); 1:38.37 (2005 - #6); 1:38.49 (2008 - #8); 1:39.01 (2009 - #12); 1:39.44 (2007 - #17); 1:40.07 (2006 #31); 1:40.11 (2006 - #35)

100y Fly - 46.02 (2006 - top 40)
200y Fly - 1:42.39 (2006 - top 20)

200y IM - 1:40.08 (2007 - American record); 1:40.55 (2006 - #3); 1:40.89 (2008 - #5); 1:41.71 (2005 - #9); 1:41.76 (2005 - #11); 1:43.31 (2006 - top 50); 1:43.32 (2006 - top 50)
400y IM - 3:37.88 (2007 - #3); 3:38.15 (2006 - #6); 3:39.07 (2007 - #14); 3:39.08 (2005 - #15); 3:41.02 (2004 - top 50); 3:41.03 (2003 - top 50)

Here are some of Ryan's American record SCY swims. Apologies for not being able to figure out how to embed the videos.

200y IM (2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MDiGkiCTXk

200y IM (2005)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dxwOysC6j4

200y Back (2005)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdDyDPS86k8

Charlotte Ultraswim - May 13-16, 2010

The Charlotte Ultraswim, which will take place in about 2 weeks, released a preliminary psyche sheet today. Ryan has entered six events: 100/200 back, 100/200/400 free and 100 fly. As expected, he did not enter either the 200 or 400 IM.

Of most interest to me was his entry times. For almost every event the entry times were slower than Ryan's best times. I have no idea what that means for an elite swimmer, but it suggests to me a tentativeness....like this entire meet is just a test to see where he is at in training.

Here is his schedule:

Event 4 - 200m Free - 9th seed (1:49.0)
Also entered: Michael Phelps, Ricky Berens, Pete Vanderkaay, Garrett Weber-Gale, Aaron Peirsol

Event 8 - 100m Fly - 18th seed (55.0)
Also entered: Michael Phelps, Tyler McGill, Aaron Peirsol, Ricky Berens

Event 18 - 100m Back - 5th seed (54.8)
Also entered: Aaron Peirsol, Nick Thoman, David Plummer, Michael Phelps

Event 22 - 400m Free - 2nd seed (3:49.25)
Also entered: Peter Vanderkaay

Event 30 - 200m Back - 4th seed (1:57.5)
Also entered: Aaron Peirsol, Nick Thoman, Ian Clark

Event 32 - 100m Free - 17th Seed (50.5)
Also entered: Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Ricky Berens, Nick Brunelli, George Bovell