If any new Ryan Lochte fans (since the 2012 London Olympics) are reading this, please do not be upset if Ryan fails win many events at Winter Nationals. In the past Nationals has served largely as a training meet for him, even though it's a big meet for most of the other swimmers.
Based on Ryan's past performances, it is unlikely he will be tapered this weekend. If he tapers at all, it will be for Short Course Worlds in Istanbul in a few weeks. Here is what happened in 2010, the last time Ryan had Nationals followed by Worlds (both being short course meets):
Short Course Nationals (Dec. 2-4, 2010)
200y IM - 1st
50y Free - 8th
200y Free - 4th
100y Back - 7th (in all fairness Ryan's feet slipped on the start and it's amazing he finished as well as he did)
200y Back - 3rd
Short Course Worlds (Dec. 15-19, 2010)
200m Free - 1st (meet record)
200m IM - 1st (world record)
200m Back - 1st (meet record)
100m IM - 1st (meet record in semi-finals)
400m IM - 1st (world record)
4 x 100m Free Relay - 4th
4 x 100m Medley Relay - 1st (meet record - Ryan swam fly)
4 x 200m Free Relay - 2nd
Ryan claimed at the time that he was 50% tapered for Worlds. He trained through Nationals and was not shaved or tapered. I would expect the same result this time, although given that the Olympics happened just a few months ago and he took a long break from swimming, Ryan is probably not training as hard now as he was in the fall of 2010. He may be a little more rested this weekend for that reason.
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