US Short Course Nationals - Saturday prelim results

Ryan swam in the 200y back and 100y free today. Here are the results:

200y back

1 ROGAN Markus 1:42.59
2 TULLIUS Rexford 1:42.71
3 GODSOE Eugene 1:43.06
4 PATTON Matthew 1:43.09
5 RUSSELL David 1:43.20
6 LOCHTE Ryan 1:43.24
7 RESS Eric 1:43.59
8 MARGALIS Robert 1:43.64
9 HESEN Benedict 1:43.83
10 ELLIOTT Andrew 1:43.89

100y free

Ryan Lochte - Declared false start

Now Ryan can put 100% into the 200y back final.

Minnesota Grand Prix - Sunday Finals (UPDATED)

Sunday finals begin at 5 pm CST, one hour earlier than Friday & Saturday's finals.

I assume Ryan qualified for finals in the 200y IM and 200y back, but the results have not been posted yet, less than one hour before finals.

I heard that Ryan did not swim the 100y free in prelims.

Watch finals tonight at 5 pm on www.swimnetwork.com

Edited to add results: Ryan won both the 200y IM and the 200y back and was high point leader for the males. His times were: 1:45.35 in the 200y IM and 1:40.44 in the 200y back.

Can't wait to see how Ryan does at U.S. Short Course Nationals, which take place on Dec. 2-4 in Columbus, Ohio.

Minnesota Grand Prix - Saturday Finals Results & Sunday Prelims

Saturday Finals

Ryan placed 1st in the 100y back with a time of 46.42 and 3rd in the 50y free with a time of 19.94. Here's what swimmingworldmagazine.com had to say about the races:

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/25678.asp?q=USA-Swimming-Grand-Prix,-Minneapolis:-Missy-Franklin-Up-to-Four-Wins;-Ous-Mellouli-on-Fire

Men's 100 Back
Ryan Lochte exploded on the third 25 to overtake Minnetonka's David Plummer, this year's long course national champion. Lochte, swimming unattached for Gator Swim Club, posted a time of 46.42 to earn his first win of the weekend. His time fell well short of his 2006 American record of 44.60. Plummer, meanwhile, posted a 46.72, a few hundredths shy of his lifetime best of 46.65. Longhorn's Ricky Berens' streak of wins at this meet came to an end, but he used a strong final length to pull away from the pack and earn third in 47.34.

Men's 50 Free
Tucson Ford's Simon Burnett showed off outstanding speed in the men's splash-and-dash, winning in a fast time of 19.52. Burnett jumped in front early in the race and held off charges from Club Wolverine's Bobby Savulich and superstar Ryan Lochte. Savulich took second in 19.85, edging Lochte's third-place time of 19.94.


Sunday Prelims

Ryan is competing in the following events on Sunday:

Event 25 - 200y IM
Event 27 - 200y back
Event 29 - 100y free

Don't be surprised if one of these events is scratched. Looking forward to seeing the races. Watch live in www.swimnetwork.com. Hopefully they will figure out a way to broadcast both the men's and the women's prelims even if they both take place at the same time in adjoining pools.

Results from Sunday - Florida Sr. Spring Championships

Today was the last day of the Florida Sr. Spring Championships and Ryan won both of his events, 100y free & 200y back. Here are his times:

100y free - 44.19 (prelims) & 43.82 (finals)
200y back - 1:43.59 (prelims) & 1:41.87 (finals)

Ryan swam both of these events a little faster last year, 43.73 in the 100 free and 1:41.02 in the 200 back. He's not far off of where he was last year though and I'm hoping that means his injury is healing well.

I'm going to the Austin Grand Prix next Friday night (March 5). It will be the first time I see Olympians and National Team swimmers race in person. Will give a full report here.

Tyler Clary does it again - wins 200y back at NCAAs and breaks Ryan Lochte's NCAA record

Event 16  Men 200 Yard Backstroke
=========================================================================
     NCAA: N 1:37.68  3/25/2006 Ryan Lochte, Florida
NCAA Meet: M 1:37.68  3/25/2006 Ryan Lochte, Florida
American: A 1:36.81  12/1/2007 Ryan Lochte, Daytona Beach
US Open: O 1:36.81  12/1/2007 Ryan Lochte, Daytona Beach
Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            

1 Clary, Tyler              MICH              1:38.17    1:37.58N  20
  23.27        47.70 (24.43)
1:12.54 (24.84)     1:37.58 (25.04)
2 Tapp, Jake                ARIZ              1:39.13    1:38.67   17
  22.94        47.85 (24.91)
1:13.21 (25.36)     1:38.67 (25.46)
3 Pinzon, Omar              FLOR              1:39.96    1:39.50   16
  22.81        47.90 (25.09)
1:13.78 (25.88)     1:39.50 (25.72)

The announcers on ESPN360 said Tyler's best time in this event a
year ago was 1:42, which means he took more than 4 seconds off his
time in one year.  That take hard work and dedication.

Congrats also to Jake Tapp and Omar Pinzon for their 2nd and
3rd place finishes.  Rex Tullius of Florida finished first in the
consolation final and had a great time that was the 6th fastest overall.

Aaron Peirsol handed out the awards, which is very cool.

I'll add the video when it becomes available.

Great meet for Tyler Clary!!  He has to be feeling very confident
going into the summer.

ETA:  Big congratulations to Shaune Fraser of Florida who took first
in the 200y free and 200y fly.  He broke the NCAA record in the
200y fly.  Fraser also broke the Florida school records in both
events, which were previously held by Ryan Lochte.

A lot of Ryan's records were broken during this meet....NCAA records, meet records,
school records.  He still has three American records - 200y IM, 200y back and
100y back.  He has one NCAA record in the 100y back.

Like I said before, I doubt if Ryan cares too much about his NCAA records
being broken.  There's nothing he can do about them given that he's done
with school and I'm sure he's excited about the new competition.  Tyler
Clary is going to be great racing competition this summer in all of Ryan's
best events.  That has to get the competitive juices flowing.

Tyler Clary's NCAA record in the 400IM and NCAA Championships

The Big 10 Network recently aired a 2-hour highlights show for the Big 10 championships and I finally was able to see Tyler Clary's NCAA record-breaking swim in the 400IM. Well, sort of. It was the only race at the meet where an NCAA record was broken, yet the Big 10 Network elected to show only part of it...all of the fly, part of one lap of back and the last lap of free...about 150 yards of the 400 yard race.

I couldn't really see Tyler's walls and underwaters, because less than a full lap of back and free were shown. Nevertheless, I watched Tyler win the 200y back, and his turns/walls looked great, especially the last turn. He stayed under water for a long time and it looked like he had a lot left at the finish. I could tell he has really worked on that aspect of racing.

Tyler wasn't shaved or completely tapered (just a little rested). I can't wait to watch him swim fully rested at the NCAA's.

The NCAA Div. 1 Men's meet takes place on March 26-28. Swimming World Magazine is going to show the NCAA events at its website. Here is the address for video of the men's meet: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/specialevents/MensNCAA2009/

Tyler's individual events are 200IM, 400IM and 200 back, which works out nicely because he has one event per day. 200IM is on Thursday, 400IM is on Friday and 200 back is on Saturday.

Now the best part...Swimming World interviewed Tyler on March 12. The video can be found by clicking on Tyler's picture at http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/20679.asp (Can I say now how much I hate the Swimming World website? It has good content, but is not user friendly.)

Tyler's goal at the NCAA's is to break the American record in the 400y IM, held by none other than Michael Phelps. It is 3:36.26, which is almost 2 seconds faster than Tyler's 3:38.03 NCAA record. He just might be able to do it. Given how much Tyler seemed to have left at the end of his 200 back win at the Big 10 championships (1:39.59), Ryan's NCAA record in that event (1:37.68) may be in jeopardy as well.

NCAA Men's Division 1 Swimming Championships - Tyler Clary

The official list of swimmers invited to participate in the NCAA Men's Division 1 Swimming Championships was released today and can be found at: http://www.ncaaswim.com/pdf/m09_off_ps.pdf . The meet will take place on March 26-28, 2009.

Tyler Clary will be swimming in the 200y IM (in which he is ranked 2nd after Bradley Ally of Florida), 400y IM (in which he is ranked 1st), 200y Back (in which he is ranked 1st) and probably a relay or two. (Sorry, I just can't get excited about college relays.)

Tyler's best events are the same as Ryan's. This summer's national championships will be very interesting. I hope Tyler does well at the NCAAs and that he really pushes Ryan this summer.

Nevertheless, in my admittedly highly uneducated opinion, Tyler needs to improve his walls and underwater kicking if he's going to compete with Ryan. I haven't had many opportunities to watch Tyler swim, but I recently saw a video of his 400y IM performance at U.S. SC Nationals in December 2008 thanks to swimnetwork.com.

Tyler came in 2nd in that race and could have won except he popped up too quickly after his turns. The guy who ultimately won, Hidemasa Sano, had fantastic underwater kicks. Both had great times but Tyler could have been much faster had he stayed underwater longer. I mean it was obvious even to me and I'm certainly no expert. Tyler's time at SC Nationals was 3:40.96. He swam a 3:38.03 when he broke the NCAA record, which was nearly a 3 second improvement. Maybe Tyler has already improved his walls/underwater kicking and I just have had the opportunity to see it.

This brings up a question I've had for a while about underwater kicking. It looks really hard and like it would take a ton of strength training and practice to perfect. Is this why not everyone does it? It works so well for Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, that it would seem obvious for every swimmer to do it....push hard off the walls on turns, stay under water as long as possible, and dophin kick like crazy. Yet most swimmers don't really do it. Is it something that requires a level of athleticism that only a few swimmers have? I certainly don't know the answer.

Florida Spring Championships - 3/1 Finals; Austin Grand Prix

In Sunday's finals, Ryan came in first in both of his events:

100y Free - 43.73 (splits 20.63, 23.10)
200y Back - 1:41.02 (splits 23.80, 25.43, 25.58, 26.21)

It seems as though Ryan took it kind of easy today, but still won his races, which is always a good thing.

The swimmers participating in the Austin Grand Prix from March 5-7, 2009 have been announced, and Ryan is not one of them. I don't know when Ryan will be swimming next, but the Grand Prix does not have another event until the Charlotte Ultra Swim on May 14-17. It has already been announced that Michael Phelps will return to competition in Charlotte, so I hope Ryan will be there as well.

From what I've heard, this is the time of year when swimmers train the hardest, including high altitude training. It may be a while before Ryan races again.

Here's a link to a video someone put on youtube of Ryan's 100y Back race yesterday at the Florida Senior Spring Championships. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vmi_Ev6Hp8

NCAA Swimming - Ryan's Records

Ryan Lochte currently holds individual NCAA records in the following events:

200 yard IM - 1:40.55 (Ryan's best time is 1:40.08, which is the American record)
400 yard IM - 3:38.15 (Ryan's best time is 3:37.88. Michael Phelps has the American record at 3:36.26)
100 yard Back - 44.60 (This is still Ryan's best time and is also the American Record)
200 yard Back - 1:37.68 (Ryan's best time is 1:36.81, which is the American record)

The NCAA conference championships have started, and nobody has broken any of Ryan's records.....yet.

200 yard IM

At the Big 10 championships today, Tyler Clary swam a 1:44.34 in the prelims of the 200 yard IM, setting a pool record. It looks like Alex Vanderkaay's Big 10 record (1:43.88) is going down in the finals. Bradley Ally of Florida swam a 1:41.96 in the SEC Championships last weekend and I predict Clary will go faster tonight. Ryan's record of 1:40.55 is probably safe.

400 yard IM

In the 400IM, Clary is the fastest in the NCAA this year with a time of 3:40.96. Ally swam 3:41.35 at the SEC championships, the second fastest time. Ryan's record of 3:38.15 appears safe.

100 yard Back

Eugene Godsoe of Stanford has the fastest time in the NCAA this year with a 45.94. He will be swimming in the Pac 10 championships this weekend, and it will be interesting to see how fast he can go. The second fastest time - 46.04 - is from Pascal Wollach of Auburn at the SEC championships. I've never heard of either of these swimmers before so I'll have to do a little research. Ryan's record of 44.60 appears safe, but you never know.

200 yard Back

Clary has the 4th best time in the NCAA this year with a 1:40.85. Rex Tullius and Omar Pinzon of Florida swam the 1st and 2nd fastest times: 1:39.88 and 1:40.15 at the SEC championships. Godsoe had the third fastest time, 1:40.61. It will be interesting to see if Clary beats those times at the Big 10 championships. Prior to the SEC championships, Clary had the best NCAA time in the nation in this event. Ryan's record of 1:37.68 probably will not be broken.

Prediction: I do not think any of Ryan's NCAA records will be broken this year. However, if I had to pick one, my prediction would be the 400IM. Clary keeps getting faster and faster and there is much room for improvement in a longer race. Clary's best time is 2.81 seconds slower than Ryan's record; however, he has not competed in this event yet in his conference championship or the NCAA championships. Therefore, his time of 3:40.96 presumably was achieved while unrested. I think he can go a lot faster when he is rested.

I doubt if Ryan cares too much if his NCAA records are broken. Unlike with world records, there's nothing Ryan can do about it because his college career ended in 2006 and he can't swim in any more NCAA events.

It's interesting, though, to view Ryan's records as a testiment to how good he was 3 years ago compared to the some of the best swimmers in the world today.

More on the So Cal Grand Prix - 100y free and 200y back results

Great news, lenaorgana (Lisa) from The Daily Reezy met Ryan and Gold Medal Mel at the meet yesterday and she posted a detailed account of her experience at The Daily Reezy website. In addition to speaking with Ryan, she took some photos and videos and also appeared in a video with Ryan that was shot by GMM. I can't wait to see that.

Also, Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times interviewed Ryan about his future swimming plans and wrote an article about it. The article is very informative and will be covered in a separate post. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-swim18-2009jan18,0,6794892.story

Given the overall Grand Prix results yesterday and Ryan's times specifically, it appears that Ryan and most of the swimmers are tired. I've read that swimmers do some of their toughest training over the holidays, and this is probably why the times are generally higher than usual.

A notable exception was Mary Descenza breaking the American record in the 200y fly and nearly breaking it in the 200y back. That is quite an amazing accomplishment, not only given the time of the year, but also because swimming those two extremely difficult events back to back and doing so well is unbelievable. Mary is an amazing swimmer and her accomplishments deserve attention. Hopefully she will continue to do well and qualify for the world championships in Rome. It's a shame that she never made the Olympic team.

Ryan's time in the 100y free was 43.18, which placed him first in the "B" final by nearly 1.5 seconds and would have placed him third in the "A" final had he done better in the prelims. Lisa Dillman wrote the following about Ryan's 100y free performance:

That led to a particularly painful opening race Saturday, the "A" consolation final of the 100 freestyle. His time was 43.18 seconds."Let's just leave that out," he said, smiling. "The 100 free, let's just say I was in so much pain. I've never felt that bad before."

The official results for the 200y back were not available at http://www.socalswim.org/, but swimnetwork.com had the following information:

Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) also had a strong night Saturday, setting a meet record in the 200y back in 1:39.01. Olympic silver medalist Matt Grevers (Lake Forest, Ill.) was second in 1:40.42 and Adam Ritter (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) was third in 1:44.41.

Ryan broke the meet record in the 200 back. It's a nice accomplishment, although I'm sure he does not care about this one bit because his time was 3 seconds off his American record.

Swimnetwork.com also has videos of the individual races, which can be seen here:

100y free (B final)

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090118/2009_southern_california_grand_prix_of_swimming___men_s_100yd_freestyle___b_final-16073.html

200y back (A final)
http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090118/2009_southern_california_grand_prix_of_swimming___men_s_200yd_backstroke___a_final-16087.html

As for the type of suit Ryan was wearing, Lisa at Daily Reezy told me he was wearing a regular speedo in the prelims and had some type of long legs-only suit on during the finals. In the videos, it doesn't look like a Speedo LZR. Ryan may be trying out a different brand of fast suit or it could be a different type of Speedo that I don't know anything about.

FINALS - 100 free and 200 back - So Cal Grand Prix

Ryan finished first in the consolation final of the 100 free with a time that would have placed him 3rd overall had he made the championship final.

Ryan placed first in the 200 back. :))

I'll add more information tomorrow, including Ryan's times and the kind of suit he was wearing. Hopefully swimnetwork.com will have videos of the races. I heard GMM was at the meet, which should mean more videos and insider information! A couple of people from Daily Reezy went too so that should mean photos.

200y Back Prelim Results So Cal Grand Prix - January 17, 2009

Event 8 Men 200 Yd Backstroke

1 Lochte, Ryan S 24 DBS-FL 1:36.81 - 1:44.41 25.15 51.65 (26.50) 1:18.12 (26.47) 1:44.41 (26.29)
2 Grevers, Matt C 23 FORD-AZ 1:39.99 - 1:47.19 24.81 51.80 (26.99) 1:19.50 (27.70) 1:47.19 (27.69)
3 Ritter, Adam J 24 FORD-AZ 1:46.55 1:47.78 25.54 52.56 (27.02) 1:20.02 (27.46) 1:47.78 (27.76)
4 Kline, Peter R 19 CPSU-CA 1:47.92 1:47.98 25.56 53.01 (27.45) 1:20.48 (27.47) 1:47.98 (27.50)
5 Bloch, Chase E 17 CLSS-CA 1:49.96 1:49.87 26.10 54.39 (28.29) 1:22.12 (27.73) 1:49.87 (27.75)
6 Nick, Chase E 20 UN-PC 1:51.28 1:50.06 25.11 52.51 (27.40) 1:21.27 (28.76) 1:50.06 (28.79)
7 Hesen, Ben E 22 IUCP-IN 1:40.85 1:51.22 24.98 52.94 (27.96) 1:22.21 (29.27) 1:51.22 (29.01)
8 Schwab, Daniel A 17 ICAC-SI 1:54.69 1:51.50 26.47 54.82 (28.35) 1:23.29 (28.47) 1:51.50 (28.21)


Ryan came in first in the prelims of this event, which was expected. Someone could sneak up on him in the finals, though, if he is tired and not wearing a fast suit.

200 Back - update

Two years ago in the 2007 Southern California Grand Prix, Ryan beat Aaron Peirsol quite easily in the 200y back. Their times were 1:40.99 and 1:42.02 respectively. This was 2 months before Ryan defeated Aaron in the world championships in Melbourne. Even though Ryan ultimately won the long course race, I think this shows that Ryan is the superior short course swimmer.