Are we closing in on the end of the current Auburn dynasty of NCAA championships this year ? Will Stanford come through this time? I've heard that Texas had an extremely good recruiting year this year.
John Smith
You gonna answer my question or not? I can wait a few more months, not like it's killing me.
This is not the first time you've used the term war to describe swimming. Give me a break. Going to school for free, devoting hours a day to a sport you love. Heck yeah, sign me up for that war. You and Terrell Owens and your use of the word war, good company to be in these days, you crazy warriors.
I'm learning the warrior poses in yoga these days. Yoga, now that's war, just you versus the body.
Barney, pass the Kleenex, Smitty is sniffling again!
Ok everyone, lets get down to brass tax:
I am going to pick Georgia to win the Women's NCAA meet followed closely by Auburn. I predict this based on what the swimmers did in there Conference Meets. Kara Lynn Joyce will win the 50, 100, and 200 Free's and set a new American Record in the 50 Free. She missed the AR by .01 at the SEC Conference meet. Its a toss up between Auburn and Arizona for 2nd.
I am picking Auburn to win the Men's NCAA meet in a very close contest with Arizona and Florida. Auburn always seems to have depth in the sprints and the relays and I think that will put them over the top. Plus they have seasoned veterns in George Bovell, Eric Shanteau, and Doug Van Wie that should provide major scoring along with the spinters like Caesar Cielo. Arizona could challenge and veterns like Simon Burnett and Lyndon Ferns will have to be top 8 and in the finals for them to have a chance. Last year Ferns got two 3rds and a fourth and will have to have a repeat performance like that. Simon Burnett took the 200 Free last year and got 7th in the 100 Free but did not final in the 50 and took 10th. He has got to final in all 3 if they have a chance.
Florida will be good and it will be interesting to see what Ryan Lochete swims. A hunch is the two Flys and the 200 IM. Will he get his record back from Phelps? I think they will be 3rd.
The race to watch will be the 50 Free. Will Cullen Jones break 19:00? Will he break the record set last year? Will he win? He went :19.07 in the ACC Conference meet. The final field looks good with the likes of Grevers, Wildman-Tobiner, Ferns, and Simon Burnett. How many will go under :19.00. Another race to watch will be the 500 Free with Peter Vanderkaay and Sebastian Rouault from Georgia. Will Tom Dolan's record of 4:08.75 be broken. Vanderkaay went 4:09.82 last year so its in reach.
Auburn will win this year and slip a few places over the next few as they try to rebuild.
Stanford & Texas are on the upswing and look to be very strong the next few years.
Arizona and Cal will drop off as they graduate they're foreigners.
The rule change from a year ago that limits the eligibility of foreign athletes who are over a certain age will make it very interesting for those schools that have the euro feeder system in place.
The relays this year at NCAA's will be very cool to watch as a real "underdog" in the world of Div. I swimming; Northwestern blows some people away. They had everything but a closer for their medleys last year and now they'v got a decent one, they'll win the 200 & 400 medley relays this year.
Geek and Evil-Goodsmith I propose you guys take this debat t Coral Springs and have it out at the bar, we'll all place bets if Smith wins his son Clark gets a scholorship and Geek has move to France. If Geek wins Smith has to wear a "French Sprinters Rule" t-shrt for a year and Geek can give a scholorship to the foreign swimmer of his choice.
Mr Goodsmith:
I believe Auburn won't dominate like they have in the last 3 years. They were challenged last year but swam well enough to win. Texas is a young team and there hopes of placing in the top 3 hinge on how well there freshmen do. If Michael Klueh, Ryan Verlatti, and Sean Patton can get into the finals/consols and contribute in the relays, then yes they could get there. Garrett Weber-Gale and Matt McGinnis need to make the finals in the 3 events they swim and at the least make consols. If they don't score then in one or more events then I don't see Texas in the top 3. Texas doesn't have the depth it had 4 years ago and the diving power it had with those Dumais brothers.
Four years ago, Ian Crocker had won the 100 Fly and contibuted with some great swims in the relays but did not swim up to his potential in the Free's. If I remember correctly, he got 18th in the 100 Free and 24th in the 50 Free and didn't score in those events. If Texas has a great swimmer like that, he must score or they won't be able to compete with the big teams.
Over at Swimming World TV or Swimming Arizona TV as some people have referred, they have a split vote as to who got the best college mens recruited class between Auburn and Texas. Phil Whitten picks Texas and Ducan Scott takes Auburn. Texas gets a big boost because of the recruitment of Ricky Berens, who as an age grouper broke some of Michael Phelps records. He has gone :47 in the 100 Fly and 1:47 in the 200 Fly. They also recruited Hill Taylor and Dave Walters. Auburn top recruits are Tyler Mcgill, Matt Barlett, and Brooke Stoval.
Judging from this, I think in the future you will see more competitive team races with closer scoring than in 2003/2004 when Auburn really dominated. But sometimes its not the top recruits that suprise people. I know you remember that Shaun Jordon was not a top recruit and not heavily recruited and he surprised everyone when he swam and Texas benefited from that.
Frank you are correct. Auburn will probably win, but not by the landslide they typically do.
Note..... you missed Stanford in your top picks.
My only comment on Florida is that one man does not a team make. Lochte will undoubtedly be impressive. Relays and bottom 16 are usually where the surprises happen and a close meet is decided.
Texas will be in the hunt for 3rd. Arizona, I predict no better than 3rd.
We shall see.
Although I notice you really didn't answer my question.... "is this the end of the reign for Auburn"?
John Smith
Originally posted by patrick
Frank:
Texas last won in 2002 and it was by 11 points over Stanford (512 to 501). Stanford had no divers score and Texas took quite advantage:
1 Meter
1 DUMAIS, TROY
7 DUMAIS, JUSTIN
3 meter
1 DUMAIS, TROY
4 DUMAIS, JUSTIN
Platform
2 DUMAIS, JUSTIN
5 DUMAIS, TROY
It seems pretty ironic that Stanford recruited the youngest Dumais brother...
I've never seen so much whining and belly aching over something that ultimately improves the US competitiveness in both athletics and education. Get a box of Kleenex for goodness sakes.
Mr Aquageek:
Mr Goodsmith:
I think we have beat this dead horse into obvlivion and I blame Peter for getting us excited and talked about these swimmers on the dole. About a month ago Linsay NB posted an article about how we have been misinformed and since that posting this topic has died a silent death. Bill Wadley, who is the Swim Coach of Ohio State University and is President of ASCA said a lot of people are misinformed as to how Athletics are funded. The article was interesting because everything we were talking about on that thread was not what was actually going on in the real world according to Bill Wadley. I have put the article hear again in hopes that we stop going thru the roof.
www.usaswimming.org/.../ViewNewsArticle.aspx
Originally posted by TheGoodSmith
Spoken like a true member of the audience.
Geek, you wouldn't know what makes "competitiveness" if it bit you on the butt.
John Smith
That is a direct insult to my good friend gull80, a very competitive individual and all-round quality human.
You've only dodged this question for about 6 months now. Maybe you will finally answer it. How is the US negatively impacted by training alongside the best the world has to offer?
Sky is falling! Sky is falling! Poor US swimmers forced to be home skooled in college cause they can't get scholarships, boo hoo!
