http://www.swimmingscience.net/2011/07/stat-sunday-200-im-comparison.html

Very interesting analysis by swimmingscience.net of the 200 IM at Worlds:

http://www.swimmingscience.net/2011/07/stat-sunday-200-im-comparison.html

Stat Sunday: 200 IM Comparison

First off, it was great to see some WR's go down without the high-tech suits! Hopefully this will remove the mental block, allowing athlete's to realize they can go faster than they went with the high-tech suits. I've done a WR analysis: Men's 200 IM and I still feel the 200 IM LCM WR is the most impressive. This analysis will take a short look between Phelps and Lochte.

Lochte: 24.89 53.48 1:26.51 1:54.00
28.59 33.03 27.49

Phelps: 24.83 53.67 1:26.80 1:54.16
28.84 33.13 27.36

It is easy to look at the race and say Lochte had a better butterfly and breast leg, leading him to victory. However, what was better and faster? My analysis showed a nearly identical race, with Lochte having a slightly better start and first 25, but Phelps building better into the finish. Lochte and Phelps taking the same number of strokes in the butterfly. Off the first wall was Lochte's largest advantage, spending 1.5 seconds longer underwater which allowed him to keep his stroke number equal to Phelps, but use a faster stroke rate. The breast was quite similar, but once again Lochte had a slightly higher stroke rate, helping him slightly extend his lead. On the last 50, Lochte once again gained room off the wall and was out splitting Phelps at the 25, but Lochte's higher stroke rate or longer duration under water potentially lead to him velocity to slow and finish with a long extension.

This is nitpicking differneces, but the Lochte's superior walls and stroke rate allowed him to hold off Phelps', but if Lochte can't rest on this win, Phelps' and Bowman and great strategist who will be ready to duel again next year, luckily Lochte is oblivious to most of society and will be able to stick to his strategy. Can't wait for the next race.

GJohn

Lochte gets better of Phelps in Shanghai

Lochte gets better of Phelps in Shanghai: "Lochte gets better of Phelps in Shanghai"

This video wouldn't embed, but it's pretty good so click on the link if you want to see it.

Ryan with all 5 gold medals & 1 bronze medal won in Shanghai

Ryan Lochte Wins Best Swimmer of the World Championships

Interesting award! Looks like a Chinese imperial vase.

Post-race interview 400m IM

Ryan wins 5th gold in 400m IM

Here's an edited video of the race. I really hate when Universal Sports cuts out part of the race in the video.

Ryan qualifies as top seed in the 400m IM finals

Ryan cruised to a 4:11.89 without exerting too much energy. Tyler Clary qualified 4th with a 4:14.98. Thiago Pereira dropped out due to illness and Lazslo Cseh surprisingly did not qualify for finals.

The top 8 qualified for finals:

LOCHTE Ryan 4:11.89
HORIHATA Yuya 4:13.68
HUANG Chaosheng 4:14.07
CLARY Tyler 4:14.98
DRYMONAKOS Ioannis 4:15.01
VERRASZTO David 4:15.01
WANG Cheng Xiang 4:16.45
PAVONI Robert 4:16.48

Ryan Lochte - post-race interview (200m back & 4 x 200m free relay)

Video - Lochte wins 200m back, anchors USA 4 x 200m free relay Gold

Universal Sports video of 200m IM & post-race interview

Ryan wins Gold in 200 IM, breaks World Record!!

Lochte, Phelps, Cseh. My favorite medal podium!!



Lochte ends world record drought in 'spectacular' fashion By Ryan Hurley, Special to Universal Sports

Ryan Lochte edges Michael Phelps for gold while setting a new world record in a thrilling men's 200m IM final. Lochte defeated Michael Phelps today in the 200m IM at the World Championships in Shanghai, China, setting a world record in the process. While every world record is impressive, this swim can only be classified as spectacular for the fashion in which it was set and the implications that come along with it. Not only was this the first world record set in a 50m pool in nearly two years, but it was also Lochte delivering another decisive blow to his close friend and intense rival.

Here are some quick thoughts after the race:

- Lochte's swim of 1:54:00 was the first world mark to fall in long-course pool since high-tech suits were banned on Jan. 1, 2010. Forty-three world records were broken at the 2009 World Championships, creating tremendous controversy over the suit technology and downgrading the significance of setting a world record. Swimmers shattered marks by large chunks and it was widely believed that they would hold up for a long time to come.

- The swimming community as a whole took a fairly significant step back last year as swimmers adjusted to racing in more traditional, less buoyant suits. While no long-course world records were broken in 2010, it was reassuring to see that many swimmers, including Lochte and Rebecca Soni, were well within striking distance.

Then almost exactly after two years after Ryan Lochte set the world record in the 200m IM, he proved today that it could be done without a high-tech suit as he lowered his own mark by a mere tenth of a second. This race is significant because it shows that it's time to start chipping away at the record books again.

- The other element of this race that made it such a spectacular feat was that Lochte showed the poise of a true champion, as he once again was able to hold off Phelps. Just as he had done earlier in the week in the 200m freestyle, Phelps battled to overtake Lochte in the final 50 meters, but Lochte remained collected and stayed out in front. This proves that Lochte is not intimidated by Phelps and is willing to dig deeper into the red.

You know a spectacular race when you see one, and watching the two greatest male swimmers in the world battle it out for a world record has spectacular written all over it. In the end, it's Ryan Lochte who is the world champion and world record holder in the 200m IM, but Michael Phelps is still right by his side.

200 IM prelims interview

Ryan places first in 200m IM semi-finals

He'll be in lane 4 and Michael Phelps will be in lane 5 in tomorrow's final.

200 IM prelims - Ryan glides through to the semi-finals

Ryan won his 200m IM heat today with a time of 1:59.04. Ryan's last 20 meters were in total shut down mode.

Here is what swimmingworld magazine had to say about the 200m IM prelims:

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/27688.asp?q=FINA-World-Championships,-Swimming:-Day-Four-Prelims

Men's 200 IM
World record: Ryan Lochte, USA, 1:54.10
Textile best: Ryan Lochte, USA, 1:54.43

Brazil's Thiago Pereira crushed the preliminary competition with a 1:57.82 for the top seed, while Hungary's David Verraszto earned the second seed with a 1:58.69. Meanwhile, a rush of 1:59 times made the rest of the semifinal field.

Australia's Kenneth To qualified third in 1:59.02, while USA's Ryan Lochte, the defending world titlist, finished fourth with a 1:59.04. Austria's Markus Rogan (1:59.22), Japan's Yuya Horihata (1:59.25), Lithuania's Vytautas Janusaitis (1:59.43) and USA's Michael Phelps (1:59.48) snared the rest of the top eight spots.

Portugal's Diogo Carvalho (1:59.51), Brazil's Henrique Rodrigues (1:59.54), Great Britain's James Goddard (1:59.68), Poland's Marcin Cieslak (1:59.77), Hungary's Laszlo Cseh (1:59.80), South Africa's Darian Townsend (1:59.97), Israel's Gal Nevo (1:59.98) and Germany's Jan David Schepers (1:59.99) grabbed the rest of the spots in the semifinal heats. Cseh is the reigning and defending silver medalist in the event.

Note: these times are much slower overall than Rome 2009, where Ryan swam a 1:57 in prelims, a 1:55 in semis and a 1:54 in the final. I'm still hoping for a world record. Hope that doesn't mean it's too slow to happen.

My thoughts on Ryan's win in the 200m free

There's so much I want to write about Ryan's 200m free victory. Ryan's time was 1:44.44, which I have heard criticized because it was slow. It's a personal best for Ryan by almost a second. Ryan's previous personal best, also in textile, was 1:45.30 at Pan Pacs last summer. This is tremendous improvement for a person at Ryan's level. There's no reason to believe he won't improve at least that much in 2012. All of Ryan's hard training in the past 3 years builds on itself. He doesn't have to cram 4 years worth of training into the next year.

The 200 free field in Shanghai was top notch. This was projected as the most competitive race of the meet. All of the top 200 free swimmers in the world were in the race: Park, Agnel, Biedermann and Phelps. Park and Bidermann are said to be in the best shape of their lives. Agnel is young and touted as the next Michael Phelps. Experts could not agree on who would win. Ryan outswam all of them.

The 200m free is an off event for Ryan. He didn't swim it in Beijing, although his semi-final time at the Olympic trials was second best. He didn't swim in the finals so it did not count. Ryan didn't swim the 200 free in Rome. Over the past several years, Ryan has swum the 200 free at Nationals in order to qualify for the 4 x 200m free relay, not to qualify as an individual event. That makes Ryan's achievement today even more impressive.

Ryan used strategy and experience to win. As noted in the article by Doug Lennox copied below, Ryan made his move in the 3rd leg because he knew Phelps breathes to his right and wouldn't see him. Ryan was patient and then used his superior walls (honed over the past 3 years of hard work) to make his move.

Ryan deserves all of the accolades he is receiving for this win.

I won't rehash my thoughts on the decision not to put Ryan in the finals of the 4 x 100 free relay. I'm over it (mostly).

http://ht.ly/5NYVk

By Doug Lennox

Two years after the 2009 World Championships in Rome, the headlines read the same: “Michael Phelps Stunned”. But this time, there were no suits to blame, no accusations made and no defensive statements issued. Heading into the race, the hype surrounded the rematch between Paul Biedermann of Germany and Phelps of the USA, but in the end the wise old Gator won out. Today’s 200m Freestyle race was taken home – literally and figuratively – by long-time American stalwart, Ryan Lochte.

In a field full of legitimate contenders – including 400m Freestyle champion, Park Tae Hwan of South Korea, and “the second coming of Michael Phelps”, Yannick Agnel of France – the race promised lots of drama. Immediately out of the gates, the shock was seeing Phelps take such an aggressive approach to the first 50m. Normally relying on his incredible underwater kick at the end of races, Phelps opted to go after the field at the start by posting a blazing 24.25 in the first 50m – only .02 seconds off of Biedermann’s World Record pace.

Phelps had a strong second 50m, holding onto the pole position through the first 100m of the race. But it was very clear that the halfway point was when Lochte had strategically decided to make his big move. In sports like swimming, it is easy to overlook the strategy that goes into a race-plan – especially if you do not study the sport like many athletes and coaches do. In this race, it was apparent that Lochte has been training his mind and his body to be the best in the world. By making his move at the halfway point, Lochte acknowledges that in order to beat strong finishers like Phelps, Park and Biedermann, you absolutely need to be one step ahead. That big move has to come just a little bit sooner.

Proving he now owns the world’s best underwater kick, Lochte leap-frogged past the man who has overshadowed him for years, and did it at the exact right moment. By swimming on Phelps’ left, and knowing Phelps only breathes to his right, you can be certain that these circumstances weighed into this calculated move. Pairing the element of surprise with a frantic sense of urgency, Lochte posted a blistering 26.29 in his 3rd leg, and took complete control of the race.

It was in the last 15m of the race that the brilliance of Lochte’s strategy shined through. With the best finishers and fiercest competitors in the world closing in on him, Lochte was obviously beginning to tighten up and shorten his stroke. As Phelps, Biedermann, Park and Agnel reeled Lochte in, the intensity of the crowd rose exponentially. Consistent with any true warrior, in his most physically weak moment, Lochte relied on his heart to follow through with his gutsy strategy. Instead of succumbing to the pain and losing his grip on gold, Lochte put his head down and got his struggling hand to the wall first – the sign of a true champion.

And at the end of the day, all the storylines about Biedermann and Phelps fell to the periphery as Lochte stole the show. But the truth of the matter is, the last 2 years have really been Lochte’s. Yet, we still herald Phelps as Batman as Lochte continues to play Robin. This 200m freestyle race might just be another step in Lochte’s climb to the top, but it should mean a lot more than just another loss for Phelps. Phelps has not been dominant since 2008, and he better take this as a strong indicator of what’s to come in London unless he makes some adjustments.

Stay tuned this week to see how Lochte and Phelps duke it out in the 200m Individual Medley on Thursday night.

Ryan Lochte wins the 200 free!!!

Cheat sheet for Ryan's events (for the U.S. time zones)

Prelims are in the evening, starting at 8 p.m. CDT and Finals are in the morning starting at 5 a.m. CDT

Mon p.m. in U.S./Tues. a.m. in China - nothing

Tues a.m. in U.S./Tues. p.m. in China - 200m free final

Tues p.m. in U.S./Wed. a.m. in China - 200m IM prelims

Wed. a.m. in U.S./Wed. p.m. in China - 200m IM semi-finals

Wed. p.m. in U.S./Thurs. a.m. in China - 200m back prelims

Thurs. a.m. in U.S./Thurs. p.m. in China - 200m IM final & 200m back semi-final

Thurs. p.m. in U.S./Fri. a.m. in China - 4 x 200m free relay prelim (Ryan probably won't swim)

Fri. a.m. in U.S./Fri. p.m. in China - 200m back final & 4 x 200m free relay final

Fri. p.m. in U.S./Sat. a.m. in China - nothing

Sat. a.m. in U.S./Sat. p.m. in China - nothing

Sat. p.m. in U.S./Sun. a.m. in China - 400m IM prelims

Sun. a.m. in U.S./Sun. p.m. in China - 400m IM finals

Ryan will compete in 200m free finals seeded 3rd

Ryan swam the 3rd fastest time in semi-finals of the 200m free. Ryan was in the 2nd semi-final heat in lane 4 next to Michael Phelps in lane 3 and Paul Biedermann in lane 5.

Ryan was in first place throughout the race but cruised the last 10 meters and Biedermann passed him for the win. Michael Phelps finished 3rd in the heat. The most noteworthy part of Ryan's swim was the final wall, which was incredible. He surfaced well after Biedermann and Phelps and had a half-body length lead until he started shutting it down.

Bidermann's time was 1:45.93. Ryan's time was 1:46.11. Phelps' time was 1:46.91

In the 1st semi-final, Yannick Agnel won in a time of 1:45.62, which puts him in lane 4 for the final. Agnel seemed to give the race everything he had. Finishing 2nd and 4th overall was Tae Hwan Park with a time of 1:46.26. Park was the only swimmer to go below 27 seconds on the third leg - 26.93. Then he shut it down a bit for the fourth leg. I think he can swim a lot faster.

Here are all 8 swimmers qualified for the final and their times:

1 AGNEL Yannick RT: 0.71 24.91 51.86 (26.95) 1:19.11 (27.25) 1:45.62 (26.51)

2 BIEDERMANN Paul RT: 0.81 25.00 52.03 (27.03) 1:19.52 (27.49) 1:45.93 (26.41)

3 LOCHTE Ryan RT: 0.66 24.55 51.87 (27.32) 1:19.47 (27.60) 1:46.11 (26.64)

4 PARK Tae Hwan RT: 0.65 25.31 52.59 (27.28) 1:19.52 (26.93) 1:46.23 (26.71)

5 PHELPS Michael RT: 0.75 24.72 51.91 (27.19) 1:20.08 (28.17) 1:46.91 (26.83)

6 MEICHTRY Dominik RT: 0.68 25.03 52.05 (27.02) 1:19.65 (27.60) 1:47.30 (27.65)

7 LOBINTSEV Nikita RT: 0.73 24.82 52.04 (27.22) 1:19.85 (27.81) 1:47.34 (27.49)

8 IZOTOV Danila RT: 0.77 24.85 52.08 (27.23) 1:20.04 (27.96) 1:47.39 (27.35)

The finals are at 5:00 a.m. CDT on Tuesday, Tuesday evening in China.

Ryan Lochte Has Chance to Elevate Status Even Further

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/27656.asp?q=FINA-World-Championships,-Swimming:-Ryan-Lochte-Has-Chance-to-Elevate-Status-Even-Further

Column by John Lohn, Swimming World senior writer

SHANGHAI, China, July 25. TO say this morning's heats of the 200 freestyle were a Yawn-Fest would be an understatement, as the top guns – expectedly – cruised through their morning swims like they were taking a bath. Tonight, though, will be a different story. Look for the semifinals of the event to be sensational as a stacked field battles for the eight coveted berths to the championship final.

Although yesterday's 400 freestyle was pegged to be a dandy, the 200 free – at least for this writer – has been the can't-miss event of the World Championships. The firepower is downright scary, paced by the presence of Michael Phelps, Tae Hwan Park and Ryan Lochte. We could very well see a big-time name shut out from the final.

The four-lap freestyle is Lochte's first chance to further his pursuit of Phelps' title of World's Best Swimmer. Although Lochte was the undisputed king of 2010 as evidenced by his Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year award, thanks to his six gold medals from the Pan Pacific Championships, he needs another extraordinary performance on the international stage to bump Phelps from his throne. And, truthfully, no matter what Phelps does the remainder of his career, his legacy is firmly established.

Still, Lochte has a chance to enhance his status and nothing would help more than a victory in an event that features ridiculous talent. In Phelps, he could knock off the most decorated Olympian of all-time. In Park, he'll tangle with the reigning Olympic champ in the 400 free, an event Park claimed on Sunday night at the World Champs.

Meanwhile, Lochte's portfolio would be boosted by bettering the likes of Paul Biedermann, the defending world champ and world-record holder, and Yannick Agnel, the rising French teenage star. The only international stars not in the event are China's Sun Yang, who has opted to focus on the 400 free and up, and Ian Thorpe, the Australian legend in the middle of his comeback.

Lochtehas always been fueled by a challenge and has long believed himself capable of beating Phelps, a mentality that not all competitors have fostered. Now is the Floridian's opportunity to get the job done.

200m free prelims - Ryan placed first

Ryan won Heat 7 with a time of 1:46.34. This was the fastest time in all 8 heats. Ryan's splits were: 25.10, 52.15 (27.05), 1:19.64 (27.49), 1:46.34 (26.70). Ryan glided the last 5 meters at least. This looked like a very easy swim.

Other swimmers finished as follows:

2 Sebastiaan Verschuren (Ned) 1:46.53

3 Paul Biedermann (Ger) 1:46.56

4 Tae Hwan Park (Kor) 1:46.63 (he always goes slow in prelims)

5 Michael Phelps 1:46.98 - 25.46, 52.64 (27.18), 1:19.92 (27.28), 1:46.98 (27.06)

6 Yannick Agnel (Fra) 1:47.11

7 Doninik Meichtry 1:47.38

8 Ross Davenport (GBR) 1:47.59

9 Danila Izotov (Rus) 1:47.72

10 Shaune Fraser (Cay) 1:47.73

11 Robert Renwick (GBR) 1:47.88

12 Nimrod Shapira Baror 1:48.11

13 Yuki Kobori 1:48.19

14 Nikita Lobintsev 1:48.28

15 Nicolas Oliveira 1:48.33

16 Kendrick Monk 1:48.42