I had a good seat just above the finish line, but up high.
Prelims the weather was nice overcast. Some good swims in prelims indicated the best races would be the mens 400 free, and it was.
Prelims ended at 11 am, sat down to lunch, and who sets down next to me? Just the best looking and one of the greatest women swimmers ever, DARA Torres. Still looking like she could beat the other women, and still beautiful. She swam in the 1984, 88, 92 and 2000 Olympics!!!! Made my day, the first time I saw her was in 1988 and she lit up the airport with her smile.
Then had a drink with Mo Chambers and her husband. Mo writes the great workouts and is one of the woderful masters coaches and people we have.
Then the first event, WOW 4:08.41 by Michael Phelps
Splits:
Fly 55.66
Back 1:02.19
*** 1:12.90 (great split)
Free 57.66
Some good swims in the womens 100 fly prelims, took 59 seconds to make the finals.
Then the best race of the night, mens 400 free, Keller in 3:44.19
beating Phelps american record by almost two seconds. And the kid from Mission Viejo swam a great 4:46
This was the USAs worst event for the last 3 Olympics, but if the Torpedo has a poor day Klete will be there.
Then a 15 year old girl broke Summer Sanders american record in the 400 IM with a very good 4:37
Mens 100 *** semi finals were good, Hansen swam an American record 1:00.19 and looked good. Moses did not look good, so my prediction of Hansen in 59+
Of course I always look like a cooked lobster at these meets, darn Scottish background I never tan. At least I used sun tan lotion:D
I may be mistaken here, Kirk, but I believe that people leaning back in the track start aren't quite doing it right. Your weight should be primarily over your front foot, as close to the front edge of the block as possible. I'm just speculating here, but because the back leg is already partially extended, the muscles can start the body forward sooner than during a grab start. This could lead to faster reaction times. Here's a paper that points out the faster reaction times at the Sydney Olympics: www.technion.ac.il/.../paper_18.pdf
My experience, switching to a track start this year after 20+ years of a grab start, has undoubtedly been positive. I just dropped about 6 tenths off my 100 fly and I'm sure that at least a tenth or two came from the different start.
Just my $.02 on the subject,
Jason
I may be mistaken here, Kirk, but I believe that people leaning back in the track start aren't quite doing it right. Your weight should be primarily over your front foot, as close to the front edge of the block as possible. I'm just speculating here, but because the back leg is already partially extended, the muscles can start the body forward sooner than during a grab start. This could lead to faster reaction times. Here's a paper that points out the faster reaction times at the Sydney Olympics: www.technion.ac.il/.../paper_18.pdf
My experience, switching to a track start this year after 20+ years of a grab start, has undoubtedly been positive. I just dropped about 6 tenths off my 100 fly and I'm sure that at least a tenth or two came from the different start.
Just my $.02 on the subject,
Jason
