No surprise given that Ryan won 8 world championship medals and set 2 world records!
http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/MorningSwimShow/32943.asp?q=Performance-of-the-Week%3A-Dec.-18%2C-2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Ryan Lochte and the 200 Back
Ryan's most disappointing race in the 2012 Olympics was the 200m back. It was really difficult, but after reading this article at swimmingworldmagazine.com, http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/Commentary/32937.asp?q=Should-Ryan-Lochte-Retire-From-the-200-Backstroke? I made myself re-watch it for the first time since August 2nd.
Ryan had a nice lead in the first half of the race but had a bad turn at the 150m and then died in the last 50.
I agree with everything in the Swimmingworldmagazine article. The 200m IM is Ryan's best event and the 200 back/200 IM double is too difficult for any human being to conquer. Ryan's gold/bronze finish in those events in Beijing 2008 and his bronze/silver finish in London 2012 defies belief. Nobody else could do better.
I honestly thought he had a chance at gold in both events in London 2012. When he failed to win gold in both, I thought maybe he used poor race strategy in the 200 back (something he rarely does). Maybe he overtrained, didn't hit his taper right, was demoralized from the 400 free relay and/or the 200 free, or was tired on his last day of competition (his 12th and 13th swims in 6 days). It could have been one or all of those things. It could also be that the 200 back/200 IM double is physically impossible for any human being to handle, even if he trains harder and longer than anyone else.
I honestly thought he had a chance at gold in both events in London 2012. When he failed to win gold in both, I thought maybe he used poor race strategy in the 200 back (something he rarely does). Maybe he overtrained, didn't hit his taper right, was demoralized from the 400 free relay and/or the 200 free, or was tired on his last day of competition (his 12th and 13th swims in 6 days). It could have been one or all of those things. It could also be that the 200 back/200 IM double is physically impossible for any human being to handle, even if he trains harder and longer than anyone else.
At this point I feel it would be best for Ryan to give up the 200 back, but only for 2016 Rio when it falls on the same day as the 200 IM. He doesn't need to give it up for 2013 or 2015 Worlds or for 2014 Pan Pacs given that it takes place at the end of those meets, just before the 400 IM, which he has already said he will not swim.
It's true that Tyler Clary, Ryan Murphy, Jack Conger and others are rising stars in the 200 back and it's possible they will all finish higher than Ryan Lochte at 2013 US Nationals. I don't think Ryan should shy away from that challenge, though. I'd like to see him continue with the event in the non-Olympic years until he is actually defeated by two of those guys.
For another interesting perspective, read this: Speed Endurance Lochte 200 Back Article. I disagree with the last sentence of the post: "(It might not matter soon anyway... Ryan Murphy (17), the second coming of Aaron Peirsol, has arrived)" That statement is a bit premature in my opinion. Ryan Murphy will have arrived only when he beats Ryan Lochte or Tyler Claryin a major competition for the first time, like when Lochte won the gold at 2007 Worlds over Peirsol.
For another interesting perspective, read this: Speed Endurance Lochte 200 Back Article. I disagree with the last sentence of the post: "(It might not matter soon anyway... Ryan Murphy (17), the second coming of Aaron Peirsol, has arrived)" That statement is a bit premature in my opinion. Ryan Murphy will have arrived only when he beats Ryan Lochte or Tyler Claryin a major competition for the first time, like when Lochte won the gold at 2007 Worlds over Peirsol.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Short Course World Championships - Day 5
Ryan has a tough triple today: 200 Back, 100 IM and the 4 x 100 Medley Relay.
200 Back:
Ryan qualified first in this morning's prelims with a time of 1:49.71. Here are the 8 qualifiers for the finals.
1 LOCHTE Ryan - 1:49.71
2 MURPHY Ryan - 1:50.60
3 KAWECKI Radoslaw - 1:50.92
4 DELANEY Ashley -1:51.20
5 BERNEK Peter - 1:51.33
6 HAGINO Kosuke - 1:51.38
7 MAHONEY Travis - 1:51.68
8 DIENER Christian - 1:52.25
The WR is 1:46.11, a suit record set by Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia in 2009. The textile WR is 1:46.68, held by Ryan. Let's see if he can go faster today.
100 IM:
Ryan broke the WR in yesterday's semi-finals. With the 200 Back happening only minutes before the 100 IM final (the two events are separated only by the women's 200 Breast), I have always thought the semi's were Ryan's best chance for a WR. We'll see!
Here are the 8 qualifiers for today's final:
1 LOCHTE Ryan - 50.71 WR
2 TO Kenneth - 51.47
3 BOVELL III George - 51.66
4 SJÖDIN Simon - 52.51
5 DWYER Conor - 52.74
6 MANKOC Peter - 52.80
7 SETO Daiya - 53.10
8 FUJII Takuro - 53.14
4 x 100 Medley Relay
What leg will Ryan swim? He could swim any leg except the breaststroke. Matt Grevers could swim back or free. The US qualified 1st in this morning's prelims with the following lineup:
MURPHY Ryan (back)
ALEXANDROV Mihail (breast)
SHIELDS Thomas (fly)
ERVIN Anthony (free)
Given this lineup in prelims, my guess for finals is:
Matt Grevers (back)
Kevin Cordes (breast)
Ryan Lochte (fly)
Jim Feigen (free)
Alternatively, because Tom Shields had a faster 100 Fly time than Ryan in the individual event, the lineup could be:
Matt Grevers (back)
Kevin Cordes (breast)
Tom Shields (fly)
Ryan Lochte (free)
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Word Record #2 of the Meet in the Semi-Finals
This isn't the greatest video - it's from somebody's tv screen. But it gives you a chance to see the WR in case you missed it live. I'll post a better video later when one becomes available.
The race begins at 2:38....
2012 Short Course Worlds - Day 4 - 100 IM!!
Day 4 of the Short Course Worlds has the 100 IM, my favorite race. Ryan swam an easy 51.75 in the prelims, nearly 2 seconds faster than the next-closest qualifier.
In the semi-finals later today, Ryan has his best chance of breaking the World Record. It will be easier today because it is his only event. Tomorrow in the finals he will also have the 200 back and the 4 x 100 medley relay.
In 2010, Ryan had the same situation and swam a 50.81 in the semis, which was only .05 off the WR. He swam slower the next day in the finals because of the 200 back. It would be great to see if he can beat the WR and get close to breaking 50 seconds.
In the semi-finals later today, Ryan has his best chance of breaking the World Record. It will be easier today because it is his only event. Tomorrow in the finals he will also have the 200 back and the 4 x 100 medley relay.
In 2010, Ryan had the same situation and swam a 50.81 in the semis, which was only .05 off the WR. He swam slower the next day in the finals because of the 200 back. It would be great to see if he can beat the WR and get close to breaking 50 seconds.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Ryan Lochte Finally Breaks 1:50 in the 200 IM
1:49.63 - What a great swim!
Swim Swam has some very informative information about the 200 IM record in this article: http://swimswam.com/2012/12/ryan-lochte-breaks-world-record-in-200-short-course-im/
Notably, Swim Swam has a comparison of splits from the 2010 WR vs. the 2012 WR:
Lochte ’10 24.07 27.35 32.07 26.59 1:50.08
Lochte ’12 23.71 27.03 31.74 27.15 1:49.63
Also:
Here’s what’s really crazy: the second-best swimmer in this race is Darian Townsend from South Africa, almost two seconds behind in a 1:51.55. That’s the biggest gap of any men’s World Record 400 meters or shorter.
Day 3 - 2012 Short Course World Championships - 200 IM
Ryan has the top time after this morning's heats. Here is the list of 8 swimmers who qualified for finals:
1 LOCHTE Ryan - 1:53.31
2 TO Kenneth - 1:53.57
3 SETO Daiya -1:54.41
4 CSEH Laszlo - 1:54.50
5 DWYER Conor - 1:54.67
6 SJÖDIN Simon - 1:54.90
7 CARVALHO Diogo - 1:55.14
8 HAGINO Kosuke - 1:55.41
Finals begin at 12:00 noon EST/11:00 am CST
Best bet for a live stream: http://www.trtdeutsch.com/trtworld/Canli/Live.aspx?chn=TV3&dil=de
It's not in English but it's better than nothing.
1 LOCHTE Ryan - 1:53.31
2 TO Kenneth - 1:53.57
3 SETO Daiya -1:54.41
4 CSEH Laszlo - 1:54.50
5 DWYER Conor - 1:54.67
6 SJÖDIN Simon - 1:54.90
7 CARVALHO Diogo - 1:55.14
8 HAGINO Kosuke - 1:55.41
Finals begin at 12:00 noon EST/11:00 am CST
Best bet for a live stream: http://www.trtdeutsch.com/trtworld/Canli/Live.aspx?chn=TV3&dil=de
It's not in English but it's better than nothing.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
According to Swimming World Magazine Ryan Lochte's prize money so far is $9,500
Gender Name 1st 2nd 3rd Total
| Male | Ryan Lochte | USA | 1.5 | $7,500 | 0 | $0 | 1 | $2,000 | $9,500 |
The prize money for SC Worlds is: $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third. The relays are awarded a single prize, which is split four ways.
Ryan's results are:
200 Free - 1st (1 x $5,000)
100 Fly - 3rd (1 x $2,000)
400 Free Relay - 1st (.25 x $5,000 = $1,250)
800 Free Relay - 1st (.25 x $5,000 = $1,250)
$9,000 Total
The entire chart is here: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/32905.asp
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Ryan Swims Fastest Times in 200 Free and 100 Fly Heats
Ryan safely made it into today's finals for the 200 Free and the semi-finals for the 100 Fly by swimming the fastest times in the heats for both events.
Here are the qualifiers for the 200 Free final:
1 LOCHTE Ryan - 1:42.41
2 ANDRUSENKO Viatcheslav -1:43.98
3 BIEDERMANN Paul -1:44.05
4 STANLEY Matthew -1:44.13
5 KILLEY Jarrod - 1:44.33
6 DWYER Conor -1:44.61
7 COLUPAEV Dimitri - 1:44.84
7 HOCKIN BRUSQUETTI Benjamin - 1:44.84
The lane assignments for the final are:
1 - Colupaev
2 - Killey
3 - Biedermann
4 - Lochte
5 - Andrusenko
6 - Stanley
7 - Dwyer
8 - Hockin Brusquetti
The WR for the 200 Free is 1:39.37 (a suit time) held by Paul Biedermann of Germany. Ryan has the textile WR of 1:41.08, which was set at the 2010 Short Course World Championships in Dubai. Let's see if he can beat it tonight.
Here are the qualifiers for the 100 Fly semi-finals:
1 LOCHTE Ryan - 50.16
2 WU Peng - 50.49
3 LE CLOS Chad - 50.73
4 VERLINDEN Joeri - 50.81
5 SHIELDS Thomas - 50.82
6 CSEH Laszlo - 50.86
7 MANKOC Peter - 50.99
8 KANEDA Kazuya - 51.00
9 TO Kenneth - 51.06
10 DUNFORD Jason - 51.14
11 CZERNIAK Konrad - 51.15
12 RIVOLTA Matteo - 51.19 1
13 SKVORTSOV Nikolay - 51.29
13 MUÑOZ PEREZ Rafael - 51.29
15 HEERSBRANDT François BEL - 51.31
16 TSURKIN Yauhen - 51.47
Ryan will be in Heat 2 of the semi-finals, lane 4 - right next to Chad Le Clos in lane 5. The WR for the 100 Fly is 48.48, a suit record. The textile WR is 49.07 held by Ian Crocker. I think that record is in jeopardy in the finals given this strong field.
With respect to the 4 x 100 free relay, the US qualified second with a team of Anthony Ervin, Garrett Weber-Gale, Tyler Reed and Jimmy Feigen. I think for the finals tonight the US will swap out Matt Grevers for Tyler Reed.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Prize Money for Short Course Worlds
I thought this was interesting....
Fina.org
Fina.org
Prize money will be allocated to swimmers as follows:
1st place: US$ 5,000
2nd place: US$ 3,000
3rd place: US$ 2,000
2nd place: US$ 3,000
3rd place: US$ 2,000
Total: US$ 10,000 x 40 events = US$ 400,000
+ World Record (for each): US$ 15,000
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Monday, December 10, 2012
2012 Short Course World Championships - December 12 - 16, 2012
The 2012 Short Course World Championships take place every other year. The 2012 event is in Istanbul, Turkey and begins on Wednesday, December 12. For those of us in the U.S., Istanbul is 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
The meet will televised by Universal Sports, a channel almost nobody receives. The Universal Sports website will have "highlight videos." Universal Sports is famous (infamous?) for producing shortened race videos, i.e. only the first and last 50's of a race are shown. It's horrible. Hopefully they will not do it this time.
The Event Page can be found here: http://universalsports.com/swimming/2012-fina-worlds-25m/
Realtime results can be found here: Omega Timing
I would encourage anyone in the US who wants to watch this event to download Expat Shield and watch it live on Eurosport. Other than dealing with the time change, you won't regret it.
As usual, read www.swimswam.com and www.swimmingworldmagazine.com for the most up-to-date news.
Ryan is scheduled to swim in 5 individual events: 200 Free, 100 Fly, 50 Fly, 200 IM and 200 Back. If he swims all three relays, he will be in 8 events total. The relay lineups have not yet been announced. Given the schedule below, I am going to guess that he swims in the 4 x 200 Free Relay and the 4 x 100 Medley Relay and not the 4 x 100 Free relay.
Click on the Heat Sheets below:
200 Free - Event 1 - Heat 9, Lane 6 (Wednesday, December 12 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
100 Fly - Event 7 - Heat 10, Lane 1 (Wednesday, December 12 - Morning Heats, Evening Semi-Finals)
(Thursday, December 13 - Evening Finals)
4 x 100 Free Relay (Wednesday, December 12 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
4 x 200 Free Relay (Thursday, December 13 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
50 Fly - Event 20 - Heat 9, Lane 6 (Friday, December 14 - Morning Heats, Evening Semi-Finals)
(Saturday, December 15 - Evening Finals)
200 IM - Event 23 - Heat 4, Lane 4 (Friday, December 14 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
100 IM - Event 30 - Heat 2, Lane 5 (Saturday, December 15 - Morning Heats, Evening Semi-Finals)
(Sunday, December 16 - Evening Finals)
200 Back - Event 35 - Heat 4, Lane 4 (Sunday, December 16 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
4 x 100 Medley Relay (Sunday, December 16 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
REVISED: Brian Pasek pointed out in the comments that Ryan is swimming the 100 IM. That's great news. I missed it when scanning the heat sheets last night.
Now I am even more convinced he will not swim in the 4 x 100 free relay. 6 individual events and 2 relays is a pretty heavy schedule.
The meet will televised by Universal Sports, a channel almost nobody receives. The Universal Sports website will have "highlight videos." Universal Sports is famous (infamous?) for producing shortened race videos, i.e. only the first and last 50's of a race are shown. It's horrible. Hopefully they will not do it this time.
The Event Page can be found here: http://universalsports.com/swimming/2012-fina-worlds-25m/
Realtime results can be found here: Omega Timing
I would encourage anyone in the US who wants to watch this event to download Expat Shield and watch it live on Eurosport. Other than dealing with the time change, you won't regret it.
As usual, read www.swimswam.com and www.swimmingworldmagazine.com for the most up-to-date news.
Ryan is scheduled to swim in 5 individual events: 200 Free, 100 Fly, 50 Fly, 200 IM and 200 Back. If he swims all three relays, he will be in 8 events total. The relay lineups have not yet been announced. Given the schedule below, I am going to guess that he swims in the 4 x 200 Free Relay and the 4 x 100 Medley Relay and not the 4 x 100 Free relay.
Click on the Heat Sheets below:
200 Free - Event 1 - Heat 9, Lane 6 (Wednesday, December 12 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
100 Fly - Event 7 - Heat 10, Lane 1 (Wednesday, December 12 - Morning Heats, Evening Semi-Finals)
(Thursday, December 13 - Evening Finals)
4 x 100 Free Relay (Wednesday, December 12 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
4 x 200 Free Relay (Thursday, December 13 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
50 Fly - Event 20 - Heat 9, Lane 6 (Friday, December 14 - Morning Heats, Evening Semi-Finals)
(Saturday, December 15 - Evening Finals)
200 IM - Event 23 - Heat 4, Lane 4 (Friday, December 14 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
100 IM - Event 30 - Heat 2, Lane 5 (Saturday, December 15 - Morning Heats, Evening Semi-Finals)
(Sunday, December 16 - Evening Finals)
200 Back - Event 35 - Heat 4, Lane 4 (Sunday, December 16 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
4 x 100 Medley Relay (Sunday, December 16 - Morning Heats, Evening Finals)
REVISED: Brian Pasek pointed out in the comments that Ryan is swimming the 100 IM. That's great news. I missed it when scanning the heat sheets last night.
Now I am even more convinced he will not swim in the 4 x 100 free relay. 6 individual events and 2 relays is a pretty heavy schedule.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
US Short Course Nationals - Day 2 Finals
200y Free Final - Ricky Berens beat Ryan on the turns!
100y Back Final - New American Record for Matt Grevers, beating Ryan's old AR from 2006
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