Ultraswim Finals - 100m back and 400m free (+ 200m fly)

Happy because I found another photo of Ryan at Ultraswim. A total of 2!

Ryan swam in the 100m back A final tonight and the 400m free B final. He placed 4th in the back and 3rd in the free. His 100 back time was 55.13 and his 400 free time was 4:01.53.

Neither time was near Ryan's best, but given the time of the season and the amount of training he is doing now, the times were good.

The 100 back race was really fun to watch. Aaron Peirsol finished first followed by Michael Phelps and Nick Thoman. These guys were all wearing "fast" suits whereas Ryan wore the old fashioned speedo. I don't think a fast suit would have helped Ryan win, but he may have gone sub-55.

I watched an interesting video on flowswimming.org of Patrick Murphy, age 17, who tied Ryan in the 100 back prelims. Patrick Murphy swam 10,000 meters in practice between prelims and finals! That's how hard these guys are training right now, Ryan included.

The video of Patrick Murphy, who ultimately finished 6th in the finals of the 100 back, can be watched here:


Tyler Clary had a great night. He came in 2nd in the A final of the 400m free with a time of 3:55.06, which qualified him for the world championship trials. Tyler also finished 5th in the A final of the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.74. He also qualified for the world championship trials in this event.

The announcers said tonight that the Club Wolverine team just finished altitude training. Tyler is having a great meet.

Finally, it was fun to watch Marco Loughran of University of Florida/UK win the 100 back B final by .02. Marco has his world championship trials coming up in Scotland in a few weeks and hopefully he will win the 100 back there.

British & Australian National Results & US National Team Training Camp

Australian National Championships - 200m Free
1 MURPHY, PATRICK - 1:46.85
2 MONK, KENRICK - 1:47.27
(Leith Brodie came in 11th in the prelims and didn't swim in the finals)

British National Championships - 100m Back
1. Liam Tancock - 53.20
2. Marco Loughran - 54.51

53.20 is a really good time. Congrats to Liam Tancock.

I'm not sure if Marco qualified for the 2009 World Championships by placing second. Generally each team is allowed to send the top two swimmers in each event to an international competition; however, I believe Britain has one other qualifying meet - the Scottish Championships. My understanding is Liam Tancock qualified for Rome by finishing first in this meet, but if someone else swims a faster time in the 100m back than Marco in the Scottish meet, then I believe the other person would go to Rome.

I don't know if this means that all British swimmers other than Liam Tancock have a second chance to qualify for Worlds in the 100m back. For instance, is the Scottish meet only open to swimmers who did not compete at the British National Championships or is it open to all British swimmers who did not qualify for Worlds at this meet? If the Scottish Championships are open to everyone, then Marco will need to swim the event again and hope to win or hope that nobody else goes faster than 54.51.

U.S. National Team training camp
The U.S. National Team is participating in a 2-week training camp at the USOC in Chula Vista, CA. Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale are there, but I don't know who else is participating. I hope Ryan is there, but no word yet.

British & Australian National Championships have begun

Results can be found at:

(British) http://www.swimmingresults.org/liveevent/index.htm

(Australian) http://www.clubsonline.com.au/uploads/swimresults/National/2009AUS/index.htm

Hope Marco Loughran and Leith Brodie both do well.

British Swimming Championships - World Champ Trials begin March 16

The British National Championships/World Championship Trials begin tomorrow. The start list (psych sheet) can be found here: http://asa.sportcentric.net/db//files/serve.php?id=5036

The top competitors in Ryan's best events are:

100m Back - Event 106 (Prelims & Semis on 3/16; Finals on 3/17)
43. Marco Loughran (89) Guildford Ct 54.40
44. Matthew Clay (82) Chard 53.97
45. Liam Tancock (85) Loughboro Un 53.39
(Ryan's best time = 53.37)

200m IM - Event 205 (Prelims & Semis on 3/17; Finals on 3/18)
35. Joseph Roebuck (85) Loughboro Un 2:01.12
36. Liam Tancock (85) Loughboro Un 1:57.79
37. James Goddard (83) Stockport Mo 1:57.72
(Ryan's best time = 1:55.22)

200m Free - Event 209 (Prelims & Semis on 3/17; Finals on 3/18)
53. Robert Renwick (88) Co Glasgow 1:47.07
54. Ross Davenport (84) Loughboro Un 1:47.03
55. David Carry (81) Stockport Mo 1:46.47
(Ryan's best time = 1:45.61)

200m Back - Event 302 (Prelims and Semis on 3/18; Finals on 3/19)
39. Chris Walker-Hebborn (90) Team Ipswich 1:59.61
40. Marco Loughran (89) Guildford Ct 1:58.16
41. James Goddard (83) Stockport Mo 1:56.82
(Ryan's best time = 1:53.94)

100m Free - Event 401 (Prelims & Semis on 3/19; Finals on 3/20)
51. Adam Brown (89) Hatfield 49.50
52. Ross Davenport (84) Loughboro Un 49.12
53. Simon Burnett (83) Windsor 48.20
(Ryan's best time = 48.65)

400m IM - Event 503 (Prelims and Finals on 3/20)
36. Lewis Smith (88) Warrender Ba 4:19.42
37. Joseph Roebuck (85) Loughboro Un 4:18.04
38. Thomas Haffield (88) Co Cardiff 4:12.59
(Ryan's best time = 4:06.08)

Liam Tancock, James Goddard and Simon Burnett are familiar names from the 2008 Olympics and other international events. Until recently, Simon Burnett held the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 200y free.

Marco Loughran, who has been training with Ryan at the University of Florida for a few months, is entered in three events: 100 & 200 back and 100 fly. He has the best chance of making the world team in the 200 back.