Having never swam competitively or trained for a big race, I was wondering if someone could explain to me why guys like Lochte and Kitajima layed big eggs at this meet. They were waaaaay below their world class times. Does it have to do with them not taking it too seriously or does it have to do with where they are in their training regimens at the moment. Maybe it is calculated? I just don't know a lot about this stuff.
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Lochte in particular is known for never swimming well in season. Before Worlds this year he really looked like crap, and then suddenly he shows up in Shanghai and breaks a world record. I suspect he's doing workouts between prelims and finals at some of these in season meets. Hopefully he doesn't get sick again before London like he did before Beijing because he's going to be a monster come trials.
One other note: the US team in general is always out-of-phase with the rest of the swimming world as selection meets (usually national championships) are typically much later in the US than most other countries. That's why US swimmers are typically lowly ranked in-season and then "exceed expectations" (for people not paying attention) at the big international meets.
Lochte in particular is known for never swimming well in season. Before Worlds this year he really looked like crap, and then suddenly he shows up in Shanghai and breaks a world record. I suspect he's doing workouts between prelims and finals at some of these in season meets. Hopefully he doesn't get sick again before London like he did before Beijing because he's going to be a monster come trials.
One other note: the US team in general is always out-of-phase with the rest of the swimming world as selection meets (usually national championships) are typically much later in the US than most other countries. That's why US swimmers are typically lowly ranked in-season and then "exceed expectations" (for people not paying attention) at the big international meets.
