Michael Andrew goes pro at 14

Note: Kim Kardashian's ex Kris Humphries still holds the 10 & under 50 free LCM 27.71 - Kris Humphries, 1995 I don't think this record is going to last the year and I predict it will go down by the end of the summer to Winn Aung. Read about what he is doing here. www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../34727.asp Chas Morton is considered by many including myself to be the greatest age-group swimmer ever especially in the 10 under, 11-12, and 13-14. He held records in every stroke and every distance in 10 under and 11-12 age groups. He set over 60 national age group records. His record production went down a little in the 13-14 age group and in the 15-16 and 17-18, I believe Michael Phelps held more age group records but just in those 2 age groups. As great as Chas was a lot of swimmers caught up with him in the NCAA and the Olympic Trials. He was a great swimmer for Stanford but at the time Stanford was just loaded with great swimmers like Jeff Rouse, John Witchell, Alex Kostich, Jay Mortensen, and Ray Carey. He was on a lot of NCAA Championship teams and contributed to scoring for them every year. He was recruited the same year as Janet Evans in 1989 and 3 previous years to this you could say he was the better swimmer but not in 1989. I think he retired after the 1992 Olympic Trials. I remember going to a U of Michigan meet against Stanford in 1990 and seeing Chas swim against Erik Namsnik and Eric Wunderlich and being soundly beaten. The whole point of this is just because you are a great age group swimmer, it does not translate to being a future Olympian. Chas placed top 6 in 3 out of 4 years in the NCAA and won the 200 *** at USA Nationals and was a great swimmer in his own right, he just never made it to the Olympics. The only good I can see out of Andrew turning PRO is if he has the improvement he thinks he can get, it will open up other companies and sponsors like this one to take a chance on swimmer of his talent. What is interesting is I have not seen any press statement about why P2 signed him and what they expect out of his potential. P2 is a fairly new USMS sponsor and the owner and founder (Tim Shead) is one of best swimmers in USMS in the 60-64 age group and set many World Records last year. Perhaps because he has South African roots, he may have known Andrew's parents and perhaps that is how the relationship started. This is a first for this type of company because companies like Amino Vital and Hammer have never done something like this. When Speedo signed Phelps to his historic contract, they stated what he would be doing and the incentives that they would provide like if he won 7 gold medals in 2004, he would receive 1 million dollars for that effort. It didn't happen in 2004 but did in 2008 plus 1. I don't expect P2 to do something like that but they have been rather silent about what they expect. Its a gamble but both parties are willing to take that gamble. By the way, I think this kid is not just the youngest male, but the youngest swimmer ever to turn professional. I believe Anita Nall and Katie Hoff were older than this and I can't remember any swimmer just turning 14 and not even reaching high school doing this. Anita Nall I believe was the first after the 1992 Olympics and she just turned 16. I believe Katie Hoff was just turning 16 when she made the decision and it was right after the 2005 World Championships.

Chas' 100m FL 58.74 from 1983 was is and is remarkable here's links to Age Group NRs www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx All time Top 100 www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx Thanks for those links, Ande. Chas Morton still has the 11-12 100y fly and 200y IM records from 1984 (and he wasn't much slower than Ryan Murphy in the 100y back and he had to do the old flip turn). Since he is still in the Top 100 in every single event, I looked to see if there were any older times above him. Taking more time than I care to admit, the best I can tell Chas Morton had NAG records in every single 11-12 scy event but one (50 ***, he missed it by .03). I wonder if he still swims?

i keep getting moved farther and farther down the list. at #77 now. funny how the time has changed (0.01 slower now) and my team or lmsc has changed as well. at least it still shows 1979. and Oswangy isnt on the list any more which is kinda sad. if you look at the 13-14 200 fly, i'm ahead of chas...neener neener. i'm all the way back at #15 now and he's at #24. for almost 2 decades it had been Fili (a good friend), me and chris rives at the top of the list. but all these young guns and body suits and jammers have pushed us back.

There is a SI article defending Michael and his family for going pro: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.../ It also has some interesting info about how he trains. Apparently he almost never swims more than 50m continuously which probably explains why he is best at short events. The paper his dad based his training from is here: coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../energy39.pdf A 2 page overview of the program can be read here: coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../ultra40a.pdf

I get why he's turning pro (no college trains the way he does, and he won't be able to fit into that type of system). His approach to training seems to be the bigger story to me. Impossible to know for sure if he would have more or less success with a traditional training program, but he's certainly having a ton of success with pure ultra-short race pace training. Fort, I would think you'd love this kid for his training method no matter what else he wants to use his "fame" to preach.

Note: Kim Kardashian's ex Kris Humphries still holds the 10 & under 50 free LCM 27.71 - Kris Humphries, 1995 I don't think this record is going to last the year and I predict it will go down by the end of the summer to Winn Aung. Read about what he is doing here. www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../34727.asp He got it. www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../34789.asp

Impossible to know for sure if he would have more or less success with a traditional training program, but he's certainly having a ton of success with pure ultra-short race pace training. Fort, I would think you'd love this kid for his training method no matter what else he wants to use his "fame" to preach. I don't do ultra short training. I'll occasionally do an ultra set like 30 x (12.5 AFAP + 12.5 EZ kick w/fins) @ :30. But generally, I focus on high intensity/race pace training with maximum rest. The ultra rest intervals are fairly short. Now, I'm all for something different than just grinding out yardage and it's possible that the ultra short sets, which do focus on the aerobic energy system, could replace conventional aerobic sets. And who really needs to do lactate tolerance sets? :bolt: I've been watching track nationals and there is much talk of "god" as well. I wish they'd just stick to discussing the training that got them there.

I've been watching track nationals and there is much talk of "god" as well. I wish they'd just stick to discussing the training that got them there. Agreed! It has become THE thing in all sports, these days- and, one of the things that drives me away from watching many sports interviews on TV (especially Tim Tebow).

That's another thing I like about hockey. Not a whole lot of turning the other cheek going on. :-) (That said, I'm no fan of the fighting.)

Agreed! It has become THE thing in all sports, these days- and, one of the things that drives me away from watching many sports interviews on TV (especially Tim Tebow).just once I would like to see a sports star harangue god for not supporting them when they lose.