Women's 400 IM

Are the competitors asked to submit for testing just before the meet starts? Before, after and during

Before, after and during And they keep blood samples for around 8 years for future testing.

Because I was interested in this I found that almost half of the 100 free splits in the 400 IM at past World Championships and Olympic Games were faster than 58.6 Are you talking about the men only, or including the women? As you have pointed out, it may be that her first 300 was spectacular enough that she had energy to spare for the last 100. In which case, there would likely be a few examples of other women who had a similar races with a sub-minute last 100 (but were not as fast the first three legs).

Ye Shiwen and Sun Yang both seem to really focus on getting a ton of air and saving as much of their anaerobic energy stores for the end of the race. It seems to be working amazingly well for them! Getting a ton of air as some secret for success? If that was the case, every 10/under would be setting records daily. There is nothing you read about these swimmers that indicates some ground breaking training or unique abilities. The latest I read was that she will do 10K meters a day if her coach wants her to. Big whoop, that's been par for the course for 40+ years. Big hands, breathing more, crappy walls, where's the uniqueness? Then again, if I have to listen to one more story about Lochte and his tractor tires, I'm going to officially sever all ties to NBC. Speaking of NBC when are they going to realize their broadcast model is no longer working? Thank goodness for the DVR.

Probably the same drug that helped Missy Franklin win the backstroke gold just 14 minutes after swimming the 200 free to qualify for the final! FYI - Every age grouper in America does this at about every meet, especially prelims/finals meets. It is nothing new to Franklin or any swimmer.

FYI - Every age grouper in America does this at about every meet, especially prelims/finals meets. It is nothing new to Franklin or any swimmer. In addition, Franklin would do a crapload of events at Grand Prix Meets with the same amount of rest periods. I remember her doing the Indy Grand Prix last year and she swam three finals in one night. So, I guess that her coach trained her for this kind of schedule.

Can doping actually make THAT much difference? I mean if it's completely unbelievable and out of the question that she swam the last 50 faster than Lochte, how believable is it on drugs? Enough of a difference that just about every major player in the cycling world doped in the 90's. ESAs have a history of use as blood doping agents in endurance sports ... The overall oxygen delivery system (blood oxygen levels, as well as heart stroke volume, vascularization, and lung function) is one of the major limiting factors to muscle's ability to perform endurance exercise. Therefore, the primary reason athletes may use ESAs is to improve oxygen delivery to muscles, which directly improves their endurance capacity. Though EPO was believed to be widely used in the 1990s in certain sports, there was no way at the time to directly test for it, until in 2000... In 2002, at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Don Catlin, MD, the founder and then-director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab, reported finding darbepoetin alfa, a form of erythropoietin, in a test sample for the first time in sports. The testing is always going to play catch-up. I don't know how long they actually keep samples for, but if the swimmer retires shortly after the games, it's far less likely that s/he will ever get caught.

How much different is this from US media attributing Franklin's unusually large feet (size 13 uh?) to her swimming prowess? Or Phelps's breathing every stroke in the 200 fly explaining his closing speed.

Can doping actually make THAT much difference? I mean if it's completely unbelievable and out of the question that she swam the last 50 faster than Lochte, how believable is it on drugs? Is that a serious question? I dunno, ask Ben Johnson and Michelle Smith for further info.

One hypothesis is that she saved more for the 100 free than others. I think this explanation of why she swam the 400IM rather than the 400FR is the best one offered here: She could swim the first three strokes fast enough at loafing pace to keep up with the field. Then on the last 100 they were just hanging on while she still had plenty of energy. Maybe she would have needed to work harder to stay with the field in the 400FR, and would not have been able to hold the pace. But this explanation just shifts the focus of my awe away from the last 100 and to the first 300. She could keep pace with that field even without putting out max effort! I can't say what accounts for her speed, but it sure is amazing.