2012 2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix Meets

btw Have you ever seen this vid? you might enjoy it watch lane 7 (2nd from the bottom of the screen) Men 50 Meters Backstroke (final A) Texas Circuit #3, Austin Hook Em and this one www.floswimming.org/.../80787-friday-afternoon-texas

A pretty bad meet for Lochte so far. He must be absolutely exhausted.

A pretty bad meet for Lochte so far. He must be absolutely exhausted. Lochte finished strong, with a 1:57 200 IM. 15 year old Katie Ledecky dropped to 8:25 in the 800 free! www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../30520.asp

Probably a dumb question but what are the "preseb sports" records?

I'm not trying to denigrate the performances in Charlotte, just pointing out that relative to other swims at this meet they were not as compelling time-wise. You do realize that none of the big guns were shaved, tapered or rested for this meet? Most of the women had more leg hair than wookiee. Adrian and Lezak weren't there either. I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from this meet other than Lochte can turn it on when he wants to and we have a lot of promising young female swimmers coming up through the ranks.

We have a lot of promising young female swimmers coming up through the ranks. That's for sure.

Wasn't aware of Jones' problems, it's not surprising he looked so out-of-sorts. I'm not trying to denigrate the performances in Charlotte, just pointing out that relative to other swims at this meet they were not as compelling time-wise. I'm sure everyone will be sharper in Omaha, it just some swimmers have less far to go to be potential finals threats in London. The US is clearly better in some events than others. IMO, the 50 on both the men's and women's sides one of the weakest. Again, no knock on US swimmers in these events but the facts are the facts.

Men's and women's 50. Schneider's 22.1 is a solid swim but I don't think he can go much faster. Jones looked (frankly) pretty sluggish. he has lots of work to do. Hardy's swim was OK but not stellar. Work to do. Jones and Schneider are in the middle of a training cycle and are very beat up. Cullen lost his goggles on the 50 and took three breaths. I stood next to them after their 100s and they were both clearly exhausted and unable to talk for around 10 minutes post race. I'm not sure what you mean by "lots of work to do." I think other than Adrian the 50 and probably the 100 is a crap shoot for the second slot.

I agree with geek (!) Mid-season times mean absolutely nothing. Some guys just drop huge amounts of time when they taper and shave, and some guys drop almost no time. I'm usually in the former group so I get how it is.

Ledecky at 4:05 and 8:25, awesome swims for her. Swims of the meet in Charlotte for me. At (barely) 15, she could potentially drop a bunch more time. Other good signs in Charlotte: Leverenz's first half of the IM is hugely improved. She'll be 2:08 at least in Omaha. Free is still a bit of a mess, though. Soni = ridiculous. What else can you say. Lia Neal dropped half a second off her best in the 100. She'll be in the 53s soon and is now a genuine threat to make the prelim relay team. Great to see. Shanteau at 2:09 is also very good to see. Burckle. Shanteau and Hansen, the US 200 br corps is looking a lot stronger than I thought it would. Gotta get more guys under a minute in the 100, though. Vollmer smoked that 100 fly, great swim for her. Her back 50 looked especially strong, she's a very experienced racer on top of being a dynamo. Ryan Murphy continues to impress in the 200 back. In Rio, he'll be a junior in college. That's crazy. I really wanted Berens to break 49 in the 100, he got damned close. His 200 looked beautiful. Could he pop a 1:45 in Omaha? I think it's possible. US 4X200 will be ridiculous on paper if he's able to do so. Bootsma is really stepping up in the 100 Back. Off to Cal in the Fall, she's going to be a real force in a couple of years. Not so good: Women's 200 fly is still weak in the US. 2:08 mid should not be winning grand prix races, IMO. Men's and women's 50. Schneider's 22.1 is a solid swim but I don't think he can go much faster. Jones looked (frankly) pretty sluggish. he has lots of work to do. Hardy's swim was OK but not stellar. Work to do.