Santa Clara Grand Prix - Videos for 100m free and 100m fly and post-race interview

Santa Clara GP - Ryan 8th in the 100m free and 8th in the 100m fly

Ryan was 8th in the 100m free with a time of 50.63, faster than his prelim time of 50.78. Taehwan Park won with a time of 48.92.

Ryan also finished 8th in the 100m fly with a time of 54.55. Michael Phelps was first in 52.41

Tomorrow is the 400m IM. It will be interesting to see how Ryan's knee holds up. Fingers crossed.

Santa Clara GP - Ryan qualifies for A finals in the 100 free & 100 fly

Watch tonight's finals on Universal Sports or USASwimming.org at 7 p.m. CDT

100m free

1 Moore, Graeme J 49.60
2 Park, Taehwan 50.00
3 Walters, David W 50.24
4 Monk, Kenrick 50.45
5 Oliveira, Nicolas C 50.49
6 Berens, Richard C 50.54
7 Phelps, Michael F 50.60
8 Lefert, Clement 50.61
9 Lochte, Ryan S 50.78

100m fly

1 D'Arcy, Nicholas 53.39
2 Phelps, Michael F 53.50
3 McGill, Tyler T 53.66
4 Lefert, Clement 53.79
5 Tarwater, Davis E 53.98
6 Godsoe, Eugene D 54.14
7 Phillips, Timothy J 54.23
8 Lochte, Ryan S 54.25
9 Smith, Giles P 54.30

Santa Clara Grand Prix - Friday prelims

100 free prelims

Heat 6 of 29
1 Swanepoel, Corney
2 Abdel-Khalik, Hassaan
3 Schneider, Josh J
4 Robison, Douglas S
5 Phelps, Michael F
6 Lochte, Ryan S
7 Copeland, William F
8 Fraser, Brett M
9 Phillips, Timothy J

100 fly prelims

Heat 5 of 23

1 Burnett, Shaun R

2 Fraser, Shaune D

3 Tarwater, Davis E

4 Lester, Daniel

5 Swanepoel, Corney

6 Phillips, Timothy J

7 Russell, David P

8 Lochte, Ryan S

9 Cantin, Eric

Ryan finishes 2nd to Tyler Clary in the 200m back

Ryan had his second silver medal of the meet in the 200m back. His time was 2:00.21 and man did he look tired. Tyler Clary won with a very impressive time of 1:56.61, the 3rd fastest time in the world this year.

Earlier today at the Japanese championships, Ryosuke Irie swam a 1:54.08, which is textile world record and .04 faster than Ryan's time at Pan Pacs last summer (1:54.12). This summer is going to be interesting!!

Tyler Clary had a really good meet and his time in the 200 back is very impressive for this time of year. He has to be extremely tired too. Tyler's other events were 200 free (8th), 400 IM (1st), 200 fly (3rd), 400 free (1st), 200 IM (3rd). Nothing less than a 200 and competing in the "A" final in each event. Very impressive!

Ryan won the "C" final of the 100m free. His time was 51.3.

Ryan is swimming both the 200m back & the 100m free tonight

200m back - "A" final, lane 3

100m free - "C" final, lane 5

Watch live here: http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=2060&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

or

here: http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=447fb4c3-0dfb-405a-98a5-dfbaa63096b8.html#watch+live+now+swimming+finals

Just a note though - universal sports doesn't show "C" finals.

Michigan Grand Prix - Sunday finals

In this morning's prelims, Ryan qualified for the "A" final in the 200m back and the "C" final in the 100m free.

200m back

Tyler Clary: 2:00.92

Leonardo Fim: 2:02.38

Ryan Lochte: 2:02.64

100m free

Ryan Lochte:  51.46 (25.16)(26.30)

Ryan finished 21st overall in the prelims.  Here it appears he didn't get a good start because his first lap (25.16) was much slower than the others.  The second lap (26.30) was pretty good.

Here are videos of Ryan's races this weekend:

100m back

Interview with Ryan after Sat. finals at Indy Grand Prix

Ryan's part begins at about 4:36. I couldn't hear the question very well, but I think a reporter asked Ryan about the 200m IM and Ryan said it was his best in-season time ever. If that is true, he has to be pretty happy about the meet only though he only won two events.

Indy Grand Prix - Ryan won the 200m back on Saturday & tied for 1st in 100m back on Friday

This is Ryan after tonight's 200m back. He looked so tired! Nevertheless he had a fantastic meet.

On Friday, Ryan tied for 1st with Matt Grevers in the 100m back. Ryan's time was 54.08. He said it was his best time "in season" by nearly 1 second. I checked and last year in February 2010 at the Missouri GP Ryan's time in the 100m back was 54.81. He didn't swim it last year in Charlotte (in the finals) and at Santa Clara he was 55 seconds. A 54.08 is fantastic. Here's the post-race interview (starts at about 6:18).

Also on Friday Ryan swam in the "B" final of the 50m free. He finished 13th overall with a time of 23.39.

On Saturday, Ryan swam three races back-to-back-to-back. He started off in the 200m IM. He finished second to Michael Phelps. MP's time was 1:56.88, fastest time in the world this year. So fast. Ryan's time was 1:59.19. It's good for him to be under 2 minutes this time of year.

Ryan's next race was the 200m back, which he won by more than 1 second, with a time of 1:57.63.

Ryan's final race tonight was the 100m free. Ryan finished 12th overall (4th in the "B" final) with a time of 50.78. MP won the "A" final with a time of 48.89, another incredible time for him.

Ryan looked so tired after the 200m back that I am surprised he was able to even swim the 100m free. I'm really happy he went through with his triple tonight. As Ryan has said in the past, he needs to practice doing multiple events if he is going to do it at Olympic trials. I'm still holding out for him swimming some combination of the 200m free, 100m back and 100m free at trials, and they are all right on top of each other in the beginning of the week. Of course there is also the 200m back/200m IM double later in the week at trials.

I will post race videos for the 200m IM and 200m back once they are up at usaswimming.org. Here is the video for the 100m back from Friday. Of course it is only a link because Universal Sports STUPIDLY doesn't allow embedding. I say stupidly because they would get a lot more views if they let fan blogs like this one embed their videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODvY0QKl74Q

Austin Grand Prix Results - Sunday, Jan. 16

Ryan won the 200m IM and placed second in the 100m free. What a great meet! I usually don't expect him to do so well in January when he's training so hard. He must be pleased with his results.

Here's what Swimmingworld Magazine had to say about the races:

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/26188.asp?q=USA-Swimming-Grand-Prix,-Austin:-Missy-Franklin-Wins-Three-Events-Within-30-Minutes-on-Day-Three;-Brent-Hayden-Tops-Amazing-100-Free-Field

Men's 200 IM
The final of the 200 IM featured the event's world record holder (Ryan Lochte), the reigning Olympic champion (Michael Phelps) and the world championship bronze medalist (Eric Shanteau). At 100 meters, Lochte and Phelps were a body length ahead of the field, both splitting 55-high after backstroke. Lochte took off on the breaststroke leg and won the event in 1:59.26. Shanteau, the winner of the 200 breast yesterday, also made a major move on the breaststroke, passed Phelps, and held on to second with a 2:01.13. Phelps was third in 2:01.47. Todd Patrick, who trains with Phelps at North Baltimore, got his hand on the wall in fourth, but was disqualified for a one-hand touch at the end of the breaststroke leg.

Men's 100 freestyle
Six Olympians comprised this star-studded field, and it was Brent Hayden of Canada who showed why he was the fastest in the event in the world in 2010. Hayden led the field at 50 meters with a 23.96 and held off some fast charges around him with the only sub-50 second swim in 49.91. Ryan Lochte got to the wall a tick ahead of Longhorn Aquatics' David Walters, 50.08 to 50.09. Ricky Berens of Longhorn was fourth in 50.18 and Jason Lezak of Rose Bowl, who was second at the halfway mark, faded to fifth with a 50.23.

Notably, Michael Phelps won the B final in 50.09, which would have tied him with Walters for third in the A final. Phelps had the fastest final 50-meter split of all swimmers in the final session with a 25.60. Comparably, Berens had the second-best final 50 with a 25.69 split, with Lochte swimming the third-best split in 25.71.

Videos from Swimmingworld.tv - impressed with Ryan's swims

Ryan places 1st in 200 IM and 2nd in 100 free

I don't even know where to begin. Ryan Lochte had his best night of swimming ever, and he's had a lot of great nights of swimming.

First, he finished 2nd in the 100 free against a bunch of guys who are sprinters, not the guy who won the 400 IM. Next, he won the 200 IM, in the best time ever in a textile suit, and beat Michael Phelps. By more than 1 second. He swam these events less than 30 minutes apart!

In the second 50 of the 100 free, Ryan swam faster than Nathan Adrian who won the race and is the best sprinter in the U.S. In the breaststroke leg of the 200 IM, Ryan swam only .03 slower than Eric Shanteau, one of the greatest breaststrokers in the world.

Amazing. Ryan's time in the 100 free was 48.83. His time in the 200 IM was 1:54.84.

If Ryan qualifies for Pan Pacs in the 200 back, he will be in 8 events. 8! Wow.

Photos from tonight in the next post. I'm still trying to process this.

Ryan qualified for tonight's finals for 100m free and 200m IM

100m Free - Ryan qualified 5th with a time of 49.17. If he swims in tonight's final, he will be in lane 2. Other swimmers qualifying for the A final were (in order of finish) Jason Lezak, David Walters, Nathan Adrian, Garrett Weber-Gale, Matt Grevers, Nick Brunelli and Scott Robison.

200m IM - Ryan qualified 3rd with a time of 2:00.69. I had to laugh when I saw his splits. He would have placed first except he took it very easy on the freestyle leg. His splits were: 25.38 (fly) 30.14 (back) 34.15 (breast) and 31.02 (free). By comparison, Michael Phelps and Tyler Clary, who finished 1st and 2nd, had freestyle splits of 28.75 and 28.59. Other qualifiers (in order of finish) were Todd Patrick, David Nolan, Conor Dwyer, Austin Surhoff and Eric Shanteau. Ryan will be in lane 3 for tonight's final. Can't wait for this race!

Day 4 of US Nationals - 100 free & 200 IM today!

100m free - Event #20

Ryan is in heat 17 of 17 for the prelims of the 100 free, which is the 1st event today. He is in lane 5. Also in his heat are Cullen Jones, David Walters and Nick Brunelli. I think Ryan can win this heat.

200m IM - Event #22

Ryan is in heat 20 of 20 for the prelims of the 200 IM. He is in lane 4. Also in his heat are Alex Vanderkay, Todd Patrick and Rex Tullius. Will also be watching closely heat 18, which has Michael Phelps and Tyler Clary and heat 19, which has Eric Shanteau and Jack Brown. I've been looking forward to this race most of all.

Wish Ryan did not have a double for the 200 IM, but at the same time I hope he swims the finals of the 100 free. I think he has a good shot of finishing in the top 4.

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!

Prelims of 100 free & 200 IM - US nationals

Ryan swam in the prelims of the 100 free and the 200 IM at US nationals this morning. Here are the results:

100m free:

Ryan had the 2nd fastest time in the morning prelims, a personal best of 48.16. I wanted so badly for him to go 47 something, but 48.16 is really fast. Only Nathan Adrian went faster with a time of 48.10. I don't think Ryan will swim the finals of this event, so hopefully 48.16 is fast enough to secure a spot on the 4 x 100 free relay in Rome.

The big news is Michael Phelps dropped out of the 100 free with a stiff neck. Apparently he wanted to race but his doctor & coach told him no. He will no doubt still be on the 4 x 100 free relay at the US national team coach's option. It would be crazy to leave him off the relay given he is one of the fastest if not the fastest American in this event when healthy and he has tons of experience on the relay.

The top prelim times in the 100 free were:

1 ADRIAN Nathan - 48.10
2 LOCHTE Ryan - 48.16
3 TARGETT Matthew - 48.17* (Australian - will swim in B final)
4 WALTERS David - 48.46
5 WEBERGALE Garrett - 48.52
6 BRUNELLI Nicholas - 48.73
7 JONES Cullen - 48.74
8 BERENS Ricky - 48.83
9 FEIGEN Jimmy - 48.84
10 BROWN Adam - 48.97

Given that Matt Target is Australian and cannot swim in the A final, Jimmy Feigen will move up. I expect Adam Brown will also move up to the A final when Ryan drops out. It's hard to bet against Nathan Adrian and Dave Walters is having such a good meet, but I've got to go with Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones finishing 1-2 in the final tonight.

Notably, Cesar Cielo and Fred Bousquet did not finish in the top 8, swimming just fast enough to qualify for the B final. They both took it easy presumably because as foreign nationals the B final was the best they could do. Watch for them both to be very fast in tonight's finals.

200m IM

I did not get to see Ryan's race against Tyler Clary in this morning's 200 IM prelims due to work, but I heard it was a lot like the 400 IM. Tyler led through the fly, back & breast and Ryan put it into the next gear and cruised by him in the freestyle, winning by 1.56 seconds with a time of 1:57.05. Interestingly, Ryan's prelim time was the 2nd fastest time in 2009 by only .02!

The top 8 finishers were:

1 LOCHTE Ryan - 1:57.05
2 CLARY Tyler - 1:58.61
3 SHANTEAU Eric - 1:59.37
4 BROWN Jack - 1:59.94
5 D'INNOCENZO Nicholas - 2:01.43
6 COLLINS Bryan - 2:01.76
7 THOMPSON Matthew - 2:01.82
8 MARGALIS Robert - 2:02.19

Here's my bold prediction for tonight. I think Ryan is going to break the world record in this event, or at least come very close. After reviewing the schedule for world championships, I am changing my prediction from yesterday. The 200 IM is on the same day as the 200 back in Rome and it will be swum second, just like at the Olympics. I don't think Ryan will be able to break the WR in Rome when the race will be the 2nd swim in an extremely tough double. Thus, this is his big chance to do it. He needs a 1:54.23, which is nearly a second faster than his personal best of 1:55.22. I think he can do it. I think Tyler Clary pushes him and finishes 2nd.

US Nationals - Day 4 Preview - 200m IM & 100m free

Ryan is entered in two events at U.S. nationals on Friday, July 10: the 200m IM and the 100m free. Wonder if he'll swim in both events. I'm thinking he will swim in the prelims and finals of the 200 IM, which is one of his best events, and swim only the prelims of the 100 free in order to be considered for the 4 x 100 free relay. I could be wrong though...nothing would surprise me after he dropped the 100 back yesterday.

200m IM:

Here are the top 8 seeds in the 200 IM:

1 Lochte, Ryan - 1:55.22
2 Shanteau, Eric - 1:58.15
3 Margalis, Robert - 2:00.77
4 Patrick, Todd - 2:00.87
4 D'Innocenzo, Nicholas - 2:00.87
6 Whitaker, Kyle - 2:01.27
7 Burckle, Clark - 2:01.30
8 Clary, Tyler - 2:01.87

I believe Clark Burckle is out of the meet with a broken thumb so I don't think he'll be swimming in this event. The current 9th seed is Jack Brown with a time of 2:02.03.

Ryan and Eric Shanteau have to be the favorites. They are the only Americans entered in this race to have gone under 2 minutes. Nevertheless, I'm not going to count out Tyler Clary. His times have improved so drastically that he could drop below 1:58 and qualify in this event too. I think Ryan will go below 1:55 in the finals and swim a personal best. I also think Ryan will break the WR in this event (1:54.23 - Michael Phelps) in Rome. It will help if he has Tyler or someone else pushing him.

100m free:

I would love to see Ryan do well in this event, swim a personal best, and qualify for the 4 x 100 free relay. In order to do so, he will have to swim at least the prelims. It's too bad this event is on the same day as the 200IM but Ryan has done doubles before and I'm sure he's up for it.

Ryan is seeded 11th in the 100 free, but there are 4 swimmers in the top 10 who are not American and therefore will not be eligible for the A final. The top 14 seeds (including 6 foreign nationals) are:

1 Phelps, Michael - 47.51
2 *Cielo, Cesar - 47.67 (Brazil)
3 Weber-Gale, Garrett - 47.78
4 *Targett, Matthew - 47.88 (Australia)
5 Brunelli, Nicholas - 48.29
6 Jones, Cullen - 48.35
7 Adrian, Nathan - 48.46
8 *Bousquet, Fred - 48.52 (France)
9 Grevers, Matthew - 48.53
10 *Meichtry, Dominik - 48.55 (Switzerland)
11 Lochte, Ryan - 48.65
12 *Bovell, George - 48.83 (Trinidad)
13 *Subirats, Albert - 48.97 (Venezuela)
14 Walters, David - 49.04

Among the Americans, Ryan is ranked 7th. He needs to finish in the top 6 to ensure consideration for the 4 x 100 free relay. I'd love to see him go under 48 for the first time.

Flowers Sea Swim Results and Grand Prix Coupe Canada Results

Flowers Sea Swim

The Flowers Sea Swim, the 1-mile open water swim in the Cayman Islands, took place yesterday. In the interview posted below, Ryan said he elected not to swim because he did not want to risk injury before the U.S. Nationals.

The other swimmers who were interviewed with Ryan, Anthony Nesty (his coach at UF) and Ian Crocker did compete, along with Ryan's UF training partners Shaune and Brett Fraser.

The race was won by Shaune Fraser with a time of 19:20. Brett Fraser came in 2nd. I could not find any other results. http://www.10kswimmer.com/2009/06/fraser-brothers-go-1-2-in-hometown.html



Grand Prix Coupe Canada Results

A Grand Prix meet was held this weekend in Montreal, Canada. Tyler Clary, Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay and a number of other U.S. swimmers competed. Results from U.S. swimmers in the events Ryan may swim at U.S. Nationals were as follows:

100m Back
1. Charles Francis - 56.46
2. Patrick Murphy - 56.69

200m Back
1. Tyler Clary - 1:58.26




200m IM
1. Tyler Clary - 2:01.87
2. Alex Vanderkaay - 2:02.45



400m IM
1. Tyler Clary - 4:17.40
2. C.J. Nuess - 4:23.26

100m Free
1. Michael Phelps - 48.65

200m Free
1. Daniel Madwed - 1:49.17
3. Charles Houchin - 1:50.09

Tyler Clary had a great meet, finishing 1st in the 200m IM, 400m IM and 200m back. Here's an interview by www.floswimming.org after the 200 IM:



Michael Phelps had a phenomenal meet, finishing 1st in the 100m free and the 100m fly. He almost broke the world record in the fly, finishing with a 50.48, only .08 from the world record. All results can be found here: https://www.swimming.ca/Default.aspx

U.S. nationals are going to be so exciting.

Ryan wins 100 back at Santa Clara Grand Prix; 4th in 100 Free

100m Back
Thanks to my friend Lisa (calidreamn08) for the great screen shot from the 100 back awards ceremony. Yes, Ryan came in 1st and beat Michael Phelps for the first time in a long course event. This was way overdue and hopefully it will not be the last time it happens.

Ryan's winning time was 54.15. Phelps was 2nd with a time of 54.31. Ashley Delaney was 3rd with a time of 54.41. Matt Grevers was 4th with a time of 54.96. It was really close. Ryan was ahead at the 50m mark and held on to win despite a surge from Phelps in the final meters.

It is interesting to note that last year the Charlotte Ultraswim was held from June 5-8, 2008, around the same time as the Santa Clara meet this year. It was also a few weeks before nationals/trials. Ryan swam a 54.0 in the 100 back in Charlotte one year ago. He's right there again with a 54.15 same time this year.

Rowdy Gaines noted after the race that the times were not even in the top 10 in the world this year. I think it's OK given that other than Aaron Peirsol's 53.32, which he swam at the Charlotte Ultraswim, it appears that the other top 10 times were achieved in the world championship qualifying meets where the swimmers were tapered. It makes me feel good that Ryan's time is only .15 off of where he was a year ago at the same point in his training.

Nevertheless, I don't know what this means for nationals. Aaron Peirsol is still the guy to beat and with Grevers, Phelps, Hesen, Thoman, Marshall and others, it is easily the toughest event for the men. It's also the same day as the 200 free (events 9 and 10!!) I hope Ryan decides to swim the 100 back because he's such a great competitor but I hope he swims the 200 free as well. It's going to take a tremendous effort but I think he can do well in both events.

For now, I hope he savors the win and that it gives him confidence going into nationals in a few weeks.

100 Free
Ryan is not a sprinter, and I didn't expect him to win this event. Nevertheless, I hoped he would finish in the top 3. He almost made it, finishing 4th overall and 3rd among the Americans with a time of 49.18. It was Ryan's fastest time in the 100 free this year and he has to be pleased with the result. He had a great start and went out fast, and was in 3rd at the turn ahead of Phelps.

The event was won by Brent Hayden of Canada with a time of 48.44. Phelps was 2nd with a time of 48.87 and Nathan Adrian was 3rd with a time of 48.94.

I think this shows Ryan has a good shot at finishing in the top 6 in this event at nationals and qualifying for a spot on the 4 x 100 free relay. He finished 3rd among U.S. swimmers at this meet in a very strong field. Notably absent were Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones, but even if they are faster, Ryan would be right there in the top 6. Jason Lesak is not going to compete at nationals which is not great for the team, but increases Ryan's chance of making the relay.

Both Ryan and Michael had a great meet, but I'm happy to report that Ryan won the high point award with 3 first place finishes, 1 second and 1 fourth (out of 6 events). Michael won 2 events and had 2 second place finishes. That's really amazing for both of them.

I don't think Ryan has any more meets before nationals, which start on July 7. There will be a lot to speculate on before then.

ETA: Here's a link for the 100 back race on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0CAFMvFoPw