Ryan Lochte Swimming: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

Ryan finishes 5th in 100m Free Semi-Finals and Scratches Final

Ryan placed third in his heat and fifth overall with a time of 48.91. Word is he has scratched from Friday night's finals, because he presumably will swim in the 200 back and 200 IM semi-finals that same night. Having the 100 free final sandwiched in between those two semi-finals proved to be too much.

I guess it is no surprise my theory that Ryan would swim the finals of the 100m free is wrong. It seemed like that was the surest way he could qualify for all three relays and five individual events, so I thought maybe that was the plan. As it turns out, Ryan has wisely decided to take a more conservative approach and swim the same program he swam at last year's World Championships, with the possibility of swimming the 4 x 100 free relay in the prelims at the Olympics depending on the times in the finals on Friday night.

Whether Ryan's time of 48.91 is sufficient to get him on the 4 x 100 free relay remains to be seen. Ryan's only chance of making the 4 x 100 medley relay is if he puts up a great time in the 100 fly. I predict he will scratch the 100m fly and give up the medley relay.

If Ryan qualifies for the 200 back and 200 IM as expected, he will be swimming 5 events for sure in the Olympics and will have a chance to win a gold medal in all 5. He also will have the chance to possibly swim the 4 x 100 free relay, which would add a 6th event.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Lochte finishes second in the 200 free; qualifies for second and third Olympic events

Ryan was touched out by Phelps by .05. Their times, 1:45.70 and 1:45.75, were pretty slow for them and for this event, more than a second slower than their times at the world championships last year in Shanghai.

Ricky Berens and Conor Dwyer finished 3rd and 4th and qualified for the 4 x 200 free relay. Matt McLean and Charlie Houchin finished 5th and 6th and will also make the team for the relay.

Watch the race here:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/swimming/phelps-beats-lochte-in-200m-free-at-trials.html

Here is the medal ceremony, which was so much fun to watch live (almost as much fun as Matt Grevers' medal ceremony)

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/swimming/swim-trials-mens-200m-free-medal-ceremony.html

Here's an interview with Ryan from www.swimswam.com

http://vimeo.com/44844589

Ryan Edges Phelps in 200m Free Semi-Final - Final Tonight

Watch the semi-final here:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/swimming/lochte-edges-phelps-in-200m-free-semi-at-trials.html

Here are the finals swimmers and lanes:

Lane 4 - Ryan Lochte - 1:46.25
Lane 5 - Michael Phelps - 1:46.27
Lane 3 - Conor Dwyer - 1:47.38
Lane 6 - Matt McLean - 1:47.40
Lane 2 - Ricky Berens - 1:47.49
Lane 7 - Charlie Houchin - 1:47.69
Lane 1 - Davis Tarwater - 1:47.91
Lane 8 - Michael Klueh - 1:48.09

NBC Nightly News on Phelps/Lochte Rivalry

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Ryan wins the 400m IM - he's going to London

I was there to watch it live, which was really cool. It was less obvious live than on video (at least from my vantage point), but Ryan shut down the last 25m or so. He could have gone a lot faster. The look of pure dejection on Tyler Clary's face after the race was so sad but he showed guts and he'll make the team in either the 200m back or the 200m fly or both.

Watch the race here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/swimming/2012-swim-trials-lochte-beats-phelps-in-400m-im.html

Watch the post-race interview here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/swimming/phelps-lochte-talk-400m-im-rivalry.html

Monday, June 25, 2012

Ryan places 1st in Prelims in 400m IM

Here are tonight's finalists for the 400m IM:

Lane 1 GEMMELL Andrew - 4:19.19
Lane 2 HARRIS Tyler - 4:18.64
Lane 3 KALISZ Chase - 4:15.78
Lane 4 LOCHTE Ryan - 4:10.66
Lane 5 PHELPS Michael - 4:14.72
Lane 6 CLARY Tyler - 4:15.88
Lane 7 WEISS Michael - 4:19.05
Lane 8 MARGALIS Robert - 4:19.33

Olympic Trials - 400 IM today

Prelims at 10:00 a.m. CDT
Finals at 6:45 p.m. CDT

There's a viewer's guide at SwimSwam: http://swimswam.com/2012/06/olympic-trials-tvwebcast-watching-schedule/

This tweet perfectly sums up the 400 IM:

Phelps, Lochte, and Clary, oh my!
— Mike Gustafson (@mikelgustafson) June 24, 2012

Ryan is still entered in the 400 free???!! Is he using it as a warmdown as some people have said?

haha

@ryanlochte scratched in 400 free. said coach: "if you mess up bigtime in the 4 IM you’re gonna have to swim the 4 free" #SwimTrials12 ...
— Jason Devaney (@JasonNBC) June 25, 2012

Thursday, June 21, 2012

What events will Ryan swim at trials? My predictions

Everyone knows Ryan is entered in 11 events. I don't think he'll swim the 400m free (unless god forbid he hurts his groin and can't swim breaststroke or some other unforeseen injury) or the 100m breast because they fall on the same day as the 400m IM. He won't swim the 200m fly because it conflicts with the 100m free. He won't swim the 50m free because it's not his event and he has no chance of a top 2 finish. This leaves the following 7 events:

400m IM (Day 1 - heats & finals)
100m back (Day 2 heats & semis; Day 3 finals)
200m free (Day 2 heats & semis; Day 3 finals)
100m free (Day 4 heats & semis; Day 5 finals)
200m back (Day 5 heats & semis; Day 6 finals)
200m IM (Day 5 heats & semis; Day 6 finals)
100m fly (Day 6 heats & semis; Day 7 finals)

The 400 IM, 200 free, 200 back and 200 IM are givens. He's the reigning world champion in these events and he has the chance to not only finish 1st or 2nd at trials in all of them, but to win gold at the Olympics. The question is what other events does he swim?

The conventional wisdom is that he'll try to place in the top two in the 100 back, which would also place him on the 400 medley relay. The conventional wisdom is also that he'll swim the 100 free up to the semi-finals to put up a good enough time for the 400 free relay. I don't think that is the most effective use of his time and energy.

My guess is he tries for a top two finish in the 100 free. Qualifying for the 100 free gives him three events: the 100 free (individually), the 400 free relay and the 400 medley relay. He has demonstrated the ability to do it. He finished second in the 100 free at the US Nationals in 2010. He had the second fastest time in the 100 free at the US Nationals in 2009. Yes, his time was swum in the semi-finals and not the finals, but it was the second fastest. He could decide to drop the 100 free as an individual event at the Olympics, which would still give him seven events if everything goes well: 400 IM, 200 free, 200 back, 200 IM and all three relays.

Can he swim a top two time in the 100 free? Let's look at the schedule. The biggest difficulty in achieving this is that the finals of the 100 free are on Day 5, the same day as the heats & semis in the 200 back and the 200 IM. While Ryan does not have to swim all out in the semis of those events to make the final 8, he's definitely going to be tired when he swims the 100 free final, which is sandwiched in between the 200 back semi and the 200 IM semi. I think he can do it.

What about the 100 back and the 100 fly? He may swim the prelims and semis in the 100 back to see what kind of a time he posts but I would not be surprised at all if he scratches that event altogether. I think he'll swim the 100 fly only if he does not do well in the 100 free, has some gas left in the tank at the end of the meet, and wants to give another shot at qualifying for the medley relay.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Article by Wayne Drehs of ESPN

I love it when there's an article about Ryan that gives new information. It's rare, but here's a really good one:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=ryanvsryan

Here's a link to the podcast by the author Wayne Drehs talking about the article:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8072596