Duel in the Pool 2009 - European Team Announced and US Short Course Nationals

Duel in the Pool 2009

The European team for Duel in the Pool, which takes place on December 18-19 in Manchester, England has been announced. Laszlo Cseh is not on the list, which is truly a shame. According to swimnews.com, the following swimmers are on the European men's team:

Britain:

• David Davies - Loughborough
• James Goddard - Stockport
• Thomas Haffield - City of Cardiff
• Michael Rock - Stockport
• Liam Tancock - Loughborough
• Christopher Walker-Hebborn - Bath
• Robbie Renwick - City of Glasgow

Italy:

• Federico Colbertaldo - GS Fiamme Azzurre / Montebelluna Nuoto
• Christian Galenda - Fiamme Gialle / Canottieri Aniene
• Edoardo Giorgetti - Canottieri Aniene
• Filippo Magnini - Larus Nuoto
• Luca Marin - Ispra Nuoto
• Joseph Davide Natullo - Can Napoli
• Fabio Scozzoli - Imolanuotoromagna - GS Esercito

Germany

• Steffen Deibler - TG Biberach
• Hendrik Feldwehr - SG Essen
• Marco Koch - DSW 12 Darmstadt
• Benjamin Starke - SG Neukölln

http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/7331

Even though Laszlo Cseh is not participating, the European team has quite a few swimmers that will be great in Ryan's usual events. Some of the European swimmers were familiar to me: James Goddard is one of the world's best IMers as are Luca Marin and Thomas Haffield. Liam Tancock and Christoper Walker-Hebborn are excellent backstrokers, and Steffen Deibler and Filippo Magnini are among the best freestyle sprinters in the world.

Other members of the team were new to me. I researched their names and learned that Michael Rock and Joseph Davide Natullo swim 100 & 200 butterfly and Robbie Renwick swims 200 free. Christian Galenda is a freestyle sprinter. Edoardo Giorgetti, Marco Koch, Hendrik Feldwehr and Fabio Scozzoli swim breaststroke. Benjamin Starke swims freestyle and butterfly.

I haven't heard if Ryan's knee has healed or if he has been swimming. Hopefully he will have enough time to get ready for this meet. It's only 3 weeks away.

US Short Course Nationals

The U.S. SC nationals will take place next weekend in Federal Way, Washington. The psych sheet has already been released and can be found here:

http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/23ccd32f-163f-4e73-baf7-f7c880408a5f/Psych%20Sheet_SCYNats.pdf

Ryan is not entered in any events, but neither is anyone from UF. It will be fun to see how well Tyler Clary can do. I've missed watching him swim.

Ryan tested the Jaked & Arena suits, but is sticking with the Speedo LZR

Below is an excerpt from an article published by the Washington Post's swimming column, http://reachforthewall.com/. The article identified what suits the swimmers were wearing at the US nationals and found that the majority wore the new Jaked and Arena suits. Nevertheless, the article concluded that "swimmers wearing older models — in most cases because of contractual obligations to the company Speedo — won more gold and silver medals than athletes in other suits and therefore earned more qualifying spots for the upcoming world championships in Rome."

Ryan Lochte was interviewed and revealed he tested the new Jaked and Arena suits but decided to stick with the Speedo LZR. The portion of the article pertaining to Ryan is quoted below:

Despite being a Speedo-sponsored athlete, Lochte said he had tested out all of the new suits. The Jaked, he said, worked particularly well on the underwater portion of races, such as starts and while coming off the walls. The Arena, he said, was the opposite, doing more to keep the swimmer above the water.

But Lochte, who won the 200 and 400 medleys in the LZR, said he actually preferred his old suit to the newer models.

“Everybody’s all hyping the new Arena, the new Jaked” suits, he said. “I’m kind of trying to stick it to them.”

Source: http://reachforthewall.com/2009/07/14/high-tech-suits-favored-at-usas-but-old-suits-won/

I'm glad Ryan tested the suits...this way he knows exactly what he's up against when racing someone wearing a Jaked and Arena. I'm also glad he stuck with the LZR, even if at the end of the day it was strictly for contractual reasons. Ryan does not need a rubber suit to help him perform well in Rome. If FINA allows the rubber suits to continue after 2009, then Speedo will improve the LZR and come out with something even better to compete with the Arena and Jaked suits. Ryan is better off sticking with Speedo and showing his loyalty.

In the videos for the 200 & 400 IM at US nationals, you can see that Ryan is the only one wearing a Speedo LZR, with all the other swimmers in Jaked, Arena, TYR in the 200 IM and the Jaked, Arena, TYR and Blueseventy in the 400 IM. Moreover, Ryan is wearing the LZR legs in the 400 IM and not the full body suit.

200 IM

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090710/nationals_men_s_200_im_a_final-16846.html

400 IM

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090707/nationals_men_s_400_im_a_final-16794.html

Ryan places 2nd in 200 back, Peirsol breaks WR

The 200m back was a tough race, but Aaron Peirsol won and broke Ryan's WR with a time of 1:53.08. Ryan placed 2nd with a time of 1:54.21. Tyler Clary was 3rd. By placing 2nd, Ryan qualified for world championships and will have the opportunity to regain his title and WR in Rome in 2 weeks.

Here's a comparison of the splits:

Peirsol: 26.82, 28.36, 28.88, 29.02
Lochte: 26.81, 28.52, 29.33, 29.55

Ryan will have to speed up the 3rd & 4th laps in order to beat Peirsol and Irie in Rome.

Ryan and Dana Vollmer (pictured below) won awards for scoring the most points in the meet. Ryan finished with two firsts (200/400 IM) one second (200 back) and one third (200 free).

Initial thoughts about the world championships: Ryan will swim the same events that he swam in Beijing: 200/400 IM, 200 back and the 4 x 200 free relay. I think he will also swim the 4 x 100 free relay given that his prelim time in the 100 free was the second fastest time at trials.

If he swims both relays, here is his tentative schedule:

Sunday, July 26
4 x 100m Free Relay
prelims and finals

Monday, July 27
nothing

Tuesday, July 28
nothing

Wednesday, July 29
200m IM
prelims and semi-finals

Thursday, July 30
200m Back
prelims and semi-finals
200m IM
finals

Friday, July 31
4 x 200m Free Relay
prelims and finals
200m Back
finals

Saturday, August 1
nothing

Sunday, August 2
400m IM
prelims and finals

At least Ryan doesn't have the 200 IM and 200 back finals back-to-back like in the Olympics, but on Thursday, July 30 he has to swim the prelims and semi-finals of the 200 back and the finals of the 200 IM. That's going to be a tough day. I hope it doesn't hurt his chance of breaking the WR in the 200 IM.

Prelims of 200 back - US nationals

Ryan placed 3rd in the 200 back prelims this morning with a time of 1:55.99. I know he can swim a lot faster than that, so tonight will be very exciting.

Tyler Clary placed first with a personal best time of 1:55.37. Aaron Peirsol was second in 1:55.78.

As much as I admire Tyler Clary, I think tonight will be all about Lochte-Peirsol. The WR is definitely on the line. I hope Ryan will come out ahead and think he can do it. He has to have been thinking about this day for a long time and getting ready for it. My prediction is Ryan will place first, followed by Peirsol and the WR will be broken. Tyler Clary will finish 3rd.

US nationals - Day 5 Preview - 200m back

On the last day of US nationals Ryan will swim his best event, the 200m back. Ryan still technically holds the WR at 1:53.94 even though Ryosuke Irie swam faster earlier this year in an unapproved suit. Irie has come close to breaking Ryan's record in an approved suit, coming within .19 a few days ago. I can't wait for this event in Rome, but first Ryan has to qualify and it's not going to be a cake walk. Peirsol, Thoman and Clary all have a shot at winning.

The top 8 seeds in the 200 back are as follows:

1 Lochte, Ryan - 1:53.94
2 Peirsol, Aaron - 1:54.32
3 Thoman, Nicholas - 1:56.15
4 Clary, Tyler - 1:57.05
5 Tullius, Rexford - 1:57.73
6 Schirk, Patrick - 1:58.66
7 Cromwell, David - 1:58.75
8 Russell, David - 1:59.40

Ryan will be in heat 5, lane 4 in the prelims, right next to Tyler Clary in lane 5. Aaron Peirsol is swimming in heat 4 with Rex Tullius. Nick Thoman is in heat 3.

Ryan wins 200 IM, nearly breaks WR

"I just wanted to take it out fast but smooth and hold on for dear life," Lochte said. "At the very end, you've just got to put your head down and race. I feel like I can go a second faster. I'm going to try to put it all together in Rome and see what happens."

Ryan Lochte won the 200 IM on Friday in a personal best time of 1:54.56, which was also a U.S. Open record. Eric Shanteau came in 2nd and Tyler Clary was 3rd.

Ryan's splits were as follows:

24.78 (fly)
28.67 (back)
33.43 (breast)
27.68 (free)

By comparison, Ryan's splits when he swam his previous personal best - 1:55.22 - against Michael Phelps at the 2008 US Olympic trials were:

25.55 (fly)
28.95 (back)
33.60 (breast)
27.12 (free)

If Ryan can go faster in the freestyle leg in Rome, he'll have a chance to break the WR. I'm not sure he can do it given that unlike last night, the 200 IM follows the 200 back prelims and semi-finals in Rome. But, I can't wait to see him try.

What a great swim. The race video can be viewed here:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090710/nationals_men_s_200_im_a_final-16846.html

Gold Medal Mel's post-race interview with Ryan can be viewed here:

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.

Ryan takes 3rd place in 200 free, qualifies for 4x200 free relay

Ryan dropped the 100 back to concentrate on the 200 free but unfortunately it did not turn out that well for him. He finished 3rd thus failing to qualify for the 200 free as an individual event. The good news is by finishing 3rd he assured himself a place on the 4 x 200 free relay, but I think that was a foregone conclusion anyway.

The top 6 finishers in the 200 free were:

Michael Phelps - 1:44.23
Dave Walters - 1:44.95
Ryan Lochte - 1:45.66
Ricky Berens - 1:45.73
PVK - 1:45.77
Davis Tarwater - 1:46.36

Ryan swam a little slower (.05) than his personal best from the 2008 Olympic trials, which had to be a little disappointing to him. It looked like Ryan slowed down a bit in the 3rd 50.

Here's a link to the race video of the 200 free from swimnetwork.com

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090708/nationals_men_s_200_free_a_final-16802.html

In other news, Tyler Clary continued his great meet by finishing 2nd in the 200 fly and qualifying for Rome. He dropped more than 3 seconds from his personal best in this event. All his hard work is paying off.

Here's Ryan's interview with Summer Sanders after the 400 IM and also the awards ceremony.


Ryan is not swimming in any events on Thursday but he has two events on Friday: 100 free and 200 IM.

Prelims of 200 free - US nationals

Ryan surprisingly (to me anyway) swam in the prelims for the 200 free only and skipped the prelims for the 100 back. So surprised. Anyway, Ryan did very well in the 200 free with a time of 1:46.51.

Here are the top 8 finishers:

1. Michael Phelps - 1:46.31
2 Peter Vanderkaay - 1:46.42
3. David Walters - 1:46.46
4. Ryan Lochte - 1:46.51
5. Ricky Berens - 1:46.59
5. Davis Tarwater - 1:46.59
7. Daniel Madwed - 1:47.31
8. Daniel Beal - 1:47.81

Six guys all with times close together in the 1:46 range. The finals should be very interesting!

I hope Ryan's decision to drop the 100 back was planned and not because he's feeling poorly today.

I'm still so impressed with Tyler Clary's 400IM swim last night. He was improving so much this year and he did so well at the NCAAs that I knew he would be a huge factor in the race. Nevertheless, I never thought he would drop that much time or that his breaststroke would be so good, especially in a long course event. He made the race so much more exciting.

Maybe Tyler can give Michael Phelps the same kind of run in the 200 fly tonight.

US nationals - Day 2 Preview - 200m free and 100m back

Wednesday, July 8 is a big day at U.S. nationals, with the prelims and finals for both the 200 free and the 100 back. Here's a list of events in the order they will be swum:

8. 100 back (women)
9. 200 free (men)
10. 100 back (men)
11. 200 free (women)
12. 200 fly (men)
13. 4x100 free relay (women)

Ryan is entered in the 200 free and the 100 back. These events are consecutive and thus I doubt he will swim the finals for both. I think he will follow the same plan he followed at the 2008 Olympic trials and swim the prelims of both, but the finals of the 100 back only. He may skip the prelims of the 200 free altogether.

Ryan has already qualified for the world team. This means the coaches can put him on the 4 x 200 free relay even if he doesn't swim the 200 free at trials. Given that Ryan has been a solid member of this WR holding relay for more than 4 years already, I don't think he has to prove himself by swimming the 200 free at trials. Nevertheless, he may want to prove he's still in the top 4 in this event by swimming it in prelims.

I think Ryan will put all of his effort tomorrow in the 100 back. Even though it's a far more competitive individual event and it's riskier in terms of qualifying, a 1st or 2nd place showing in the 100 back would erase the disappointment of finishing 3rd at the Olympic trials and ensure Ryan a spot on the 4x100 medley relay.

Here are the top 8 seeds in the 200 free:

1 Phelps, Michael - 1:42.96
2 Vanderkaay, Peter - 1:45.14
3 Lochte, Ryan 24 - 1:45.61
4 *Meichtry, Dominik - 1:45.80 (not US citizen/can't make US team)
5 *Basson, Jean - 1:45.85 (not US citizen/can't make US team)
6 Berens, Richard - 1:46.14
7 Walters, David - 1:46.57
8 Beal, Daniel - 1:46.89

For tomorrow's prelims, Ryan in heat 6, lane 4, PVK is in heat 7 and Michael Phelps is in heat 8.

Here are the top 9 seeds in the 100 back (had to include Peter Marshall):

1 Peirsol, Aaron- 52.54
2 Bal, Randall - 52.59
3 Thoman, Nicholas- 52.91
4 Grevers, Matthew - 52.99
5 Lochte, Ryan - 53.37
6 Hesen, Benedict - 53.68
7 Cromwell, David - 53.81
8 Plummer, David - 53.83
9 Marshall, Peter - 54.19

Ryan is in heat 6, lane 5 (with Randall Bal). Peirsol & Grevers in heat 7, Thoman, Hesen, Marshall heat 5.

The 100 back is going to be crazy.

Ryan takes 1st place in 400 IM, Tyler Clary 2nd

Tyler Clary was so fast! He sliced 8 seconds from his personal best prior to this meet and 5 seconds from his prelim time. His breaststroke looked very good, so improved. His whole race was unbelievable. I was surprised to see Tyler pull away from Ryan in the backstroke. I know Tyler is a great backstroker, but Ryan is better.

Nevertheless, I thought Ryan swam a perfect race. He kept close to Tyler the whole way and then killed it in a devastating last turn. It was so fun to watch.

Fastest time in the world this year by 4 seconds and he did it in LZR legs. (Tyler was wearing a Jaked). Not bad. I think Ryan has a chance of breaking the WR in Rome.

Here's a breakdown of their splits:

Ryan: 25.70/29.72 (fly) 31.42/30.86 (back) 35.00/35.62 (breast) 29.40/28.68 (free)

Tyler: 25.64/29.45 (fly) 31.03/30.02 (back) 35.06/36.29 (breast) 29.91/29.56 (free)

Ryan won the race in the last 50, but Tyler's breaststroke really held up. Such a fun race to watch.

Here is link to a video of the race from swimnetwork.com:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090707/nationals_men_s_400_im_a_final-16794.html

Here is a link to Ryan's post-race interview with Summer Sanders:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20090707/ryan_lochte_interview-16795.html

Thanks to Yahoo Olympics for the photos.

Finally, here's a really nice article about tonight's race (and the 400IM in general) from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/sports/08swim.html?ref=sports

Prelims of 400IM - US nationals

As anticipated, Ryan swam the prelims of the 400m IM today. He finished first in his heat and second overall with a time of 4:15.63. Tyler Clary was 1st with a blistering time of 4:11.29, swimming in a different heat than Ryan. Ryan was wearing legs (presumably LZR) and Tyler was reportedly wearing a Jaked. Ryan was really not pushed in his heat, finishing 5 seconds ahead of Andrew Gemmell. Tyler also was not pushed finishing almost 7 seconds ahead of Jack Brown.

Tonight's finals are going to be very interesting! I hope Tyler and Ryan can push each other to some great times. Can't wait for Gold Medal Mel's pre-finals report starting at 5:30 p.m. EDT at http://www.universalsports.com/

Results for the 400 IM prelims can be found here:
http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Indy2009/C74A_ResSummary_6_Heats_Men_400_Medley.pdf

Results for all of today's prelim races can be found here: http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/2009/Indy2009/index.htm

This photo is from this morning's 400 IM prelims. Thanks to the Daily Reezy for finding it so quickly.

In a sad note, Garrett McCaffrey announced today that he has left flowswimming.org, one of my favorite swimming websites. For a new fan like me, the interviews and content he provided were largely unparalleled, especially regarding the technical aspect of swimming. I learned so much about the sport by watching his long interviews, particularly interviews with coaches. I hope he continues with the sport and finds another similar position.

US nationals - Day 1 Preview - 400m IM

Tomorrow is (finally!) the start of US nationals in Indianapolis. The prelims begin at 9 a.m. EDT and the finals begin at 6 p.m. Gold Medal Mel is hosting a 30-minute preview at 5:30 EDT just prior to finals.

Links for the stream of the prelims & finals and GMM preview can be found here: http://www.swimnetwork.com/event/detail/20090608/conocophillips_national_championships_and_world_championship_trials-2336.html

The finals will also be shown on www.universalsports.com.

The following events will be held tomorrow:

1 - 100 fly (women)
2 - 400 free (men)
3 - 200 IM (women)
4 - 100 breast (men)
5 - 400 free (women)
6 - 400 IM (men)
7 - 4 x 100 free relay (men)

According to the psych sheet, Ryan is entered in 3 events on July 7: the 400m free, 100m breast and the 400m IM. I could be totally wrong, but from everything I've read, I think he'll only swim the 400 IM.

A guy named Bill Bell created a compilation of the 25 fastest times ever in each long course event http://65.110.72.225/SPIPDF/20090706bellmlcm.pdf.

I read about it here: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/21578.asp?q=All%20Time%20Top%20Performers-Performances%20in%20Long%20Course%20Meters.

For the 400 IM, Michael Phelps has 6 of the top 10 times ever, including the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 9th and 10th best times. Laszlo Cseh has the 4th and 7th best times and Ryan Lochte has the 3rd and 8th best times.

Given that Michael Phelps has dropped this event, Ryan has the best chance of making the US national team and of doing well in Rome. Ryan's biggest competition is Laci Cseh and he won't be swimming tomorrow, at least not at US nationals.

The top 10 seeds are:

1 Lochte, Ryan 4:06.08
2 Margalis, Robert 4:13.85
3 Clary, Tyler 4:14.13
4 Gemmell, Andrew 4:17.97
5 Burckle, Clark 4:18.40
6 Brown, Jack 4:18.44
7 Clark, Ian 4:21.23
8 D'Innocenzo, Nicholas 4:22.25
9 Cregar, William 4:22.52
10 Walker, Michael 4:23.56

Many of the times listed above are from the 2008 Olympic trials: Ryan, Margalis, Clary, Burckle, Brown, Clark and Cregar. Gemmell swam a 4:21.85 at trials and improved to 4:17.97 at the Austin Grand Prix in March. D'Innocenzo did not swim this event at trials; he swam 4:22.25 at the Jr. Pan Pacs in January. Walker's time confuses me. He either swam a 4:27.18 or 4:23.56 at trials last year.

Ryan's best time in 2009 is 4:18.62 at the Santa Clara GP. This is the 3rd fastest time by a US swimmer this year, after Clary's 4:17.40 at the Quebec Cup and Gemmell's 4:17.97.

My prediction is that Ryan and Tyler Clary will finish 1-2 and that Clary will drop below 4:10 for the first time. They'll be close during the fly/back, but Ryan will get ahead of Clary on the breaststroke. I think Margalis and Gemmell will finish at least 5 seconds behind Clary.

I could be completely wrong but it's really fun to guess.

This is my favorite race ever.

US Nationals psych sheet is out...

and can be found here: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/03762154-b97b-4031-ad19-d8b8bacefe5b/psych%20sheets.pdf

Ryan is entered in a mind-boggling 11 events. Obviously he is not going to swim all of them. I'm still thinking he'll swim a similar schedule to the 2008 Olympic trials, which was finals of 100/200 back, 200/400 IM and prelims of 100/200 free. He may swim the finals of 200 free.

It's a testament to Ryan's versatility that he qualified for all of these events:

200 IM
400 IM
100 fly
200 fly
50 free
100 free
200 free
400 free
100 back
200 back
100 breast

He qualified for at least one event in every stroke plus the IMs. That's pretty amazing.

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

U.S. Nationals - Start in exactly one month!!

Here is the schedule of events that Ryan may swim:

Tuesday - July 7, 2009

400 IM (prelims and finals) - Event 6

Wednesday - July 8, 2009

200 free (prelims and finals) - Event 9

100 back (prelims and finals) - Event 10

Thursday - July 9, 2009

nothing

Friday - July 10, 2009

100 free (prelims and finals) - Event 20

200 IM (prelims and finals) - Event 22

Saturday - July 11, 2009

200 back (prelims and finals) - Event 27

Ryan can potentially qualify in 6 individual events, but I think it will likely be 5, with him qualifying either in the 200 free or the 100 back but not both. It's really too bad that Ryan will likely have double events on Wednesday and Friday and nothing on Thursday. At least the day off in the middle will allow him to rest up for the 2nd half of the meet.

I really hope Ryan swims the 400 IM. I still think he and Tyler Clary can go 1-2 at the world championships, particularly since Laci Cseh has not swam this event all year.

Thanks to Caroline for finding the picture at http://jerryenglehart.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/getting-up-to-speed/