Swimming Finals at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain
Former Member
The finals of the first day, show:
.) in the men 400 meter free final, Thorpe (Aus.) went 3:42.58 for #1, Hackett (Aus.) went 3:45.17 for #2, and Coman (Rom.) went 3:46.8x for #3;
Coman -who is my fellow countryman, and I was telling you about him for years-, defeated Rossolini (Ita.) of the 2000 Olympics fame, Keller (U.S.) and Carvin (U.S.);
.) in the women 400 meter free final, Simona Paduraru (Rom.) finished #7, with a fast time;
.) in the 4x100 men free relay, Russia won;
the fastest split was by Frenchman Frederic Bousquet at 47.03 -which is the second fastest split in history-, and fast splits (in the 47s) were recorded by Alex. Popov (Rus.) and Jason Lezak (U.S.);
.) in the 4x100 women free relay, U.S. won, anchored by an ace 53.xx from Jenny Thompson (U.S.).
He! he! he! :D ho! ho! ho!
I post this, ahead of www.swiminfo.com and www.swimnews.com who are sandbagging...
Former Member
If 5 guys go under 2:00 in the 2 IM that would be something. I wouldn't be surprised if only Phelps goes under 2:00. And if more than 1 guy goes under it sure as heck won't be Thorpe.
Before following for a few years now Ryk Neethling' stats, namely:
.) 15:00.48 in the 1500 meter free in the 2000 Olympics, for #6 in the world in 2000,
and
.) 22.49 in the 50 meter free in 2002, for #13 in the world in 2002,
I couldn't have believed that someone like him possibly does exist.
But amazingly he does exist, and he made the final of the 100 meter free here.
Ryk is also competing in open water races like the La Jolla Rough Water in San Diego (in 2001, which I remember that he won it while Todd Robertson -who I swim with- finished fourth) or like the San Francisco Triburon, I guess so that he can grab the prize money for placing and run.
Jenny Thompson takes 3rd in 100 Free. Impressive comeback.
Anyone think Piersol will go for WR in 200 Back? That should be his only challenge in the race.
Thorpe and Phelps' 200 IM splits from semis and finals are interesting:
Phelps:
Semis: 25.74; 55.38 (29.64); 1:30.32 (34.94); 1:57.52 (27.20)
Finals: 25.29; 54.33 (29.04); 1:28.84 (34.51); 1:56.04 (27.20)
Diff: (-.45) (-.50) (-.43) (even)
Thorpe:
Semis: 26.09; 57.15 (31.06); 1:33.75 (36.60); 2:00.42 (26.27)
Finals: 25.48; 56.06 (30.58); 1:31.37 (35.31); 1:59.66 (28.32)
Diff: (-.61) (-.48) (-1.29) (+1.65)
Thorpe paid a big price for his early speed; Phelps was able to maintain his speed through to the end.
Um, I think this IS a fast pool after all...Whatever "racing for medals" means apparently isn't working for Thorpe--he's looking mighty human (as far as other-worldly swimmers go)...has anyone figured out what a "pure time" is? (better question, explain, then what an UNPURE time would be?)...this is history, nothing less...Michael Phelps is creating history.
I missed today's action. What a time to be travelling on business. Fortunately a friend left messages on my cell phone with race updates. Why don't they offer wireless web real-time updates for WC? We offer that in New England. I, for one, would check all of the time.
This rationale behind the prelim, semi, final format escapes me. Was it attempt to prevent some Australian or US swimmer from repeating a Spitz-like performance? (Like the two swimmer limit in swimming versus previous three swimmers per country per event?) Anyway it does favor the swimmer that can recover well after events. That usually works in favor of the younger and leaner swimmer. Jenny is leaner--now that she doesn't lift as much-but she's not younger.
I've already been admitted to the Phelps admiration society in earlier posts. He's the best male swimmer in the world--no doubt. There are so many other impressive performances. But in addition to Phelps and Jensen (according to Splash he BELIEVES he will beat Hackett in the Olympics) I'm might impressed with Amanda Beard. I saw her compete in 96 Olympic trials and there was a time when she was overshadowed by other swimmers (Megan Quann, Kristy Kowal) but she stuck with swimming and now was equaled an incredible world record (by a Chinese who was a flash in the pan, Ian). Amanda must really love swimming and competing and I think that's great.
Matt Biondi is one of the greatest swimmers that has ever lived. He held the American Records in Freestyle longer than anyone in the last 50 Years. He held the American Record in the 100 Meter Free from 8-6-85 to 7-28-01. He held the World Record in this same event from 8-6-85 to 6-18-94. He held the American Record in the 100 Yard Free at :41.80 from 1987 to 2003. He still has the American Record in the 200 Yard Free at 1:33.03 which was set back in 1987. He held the American Record in the 200 Meter Free from 8-7-85 to 9-18-00. The only person currently that has records this long is Janet Evans, who is another one of the greatest swimmers that has ever lived.
