Finest swim of all time

Alex: I would agree with you. I think his 50 Free from 2000 might be his best swim but I think it sometimes doesn't get the respect it deserves because it was done at a time trial and not in a competitive meet. There have been other swims at Time Trials and as long as FINA and USA Swimming allow them, then its ok my me. This was discussed at length on another thread. Recently Tara Kirk broke the Women's American Record in the 200 Yard *** in a time trial and there were no complaints. The only major competition from 1992 Olympics to the 2000 Olympics that Alex Popov lost was the 50 Meter Free in the 1998 World Championships to Bill Pilczuk who did a time of :22.29 to Popov's :22.43 so he was undefeated in the 50 Free and 100 Free with that exception for 8 years. Also when you talk about Alex Popov, you have to talk about his predecessor, Matt Biondi. Matt was undefeated in the 100 Free in both Short Course and Long Course for 8 years. He was not in the 50 Free because both he and Tom Jager went back and forth in the 50 Free for those 8 years. Both of Matt's records in the 100 Yard Free and the 200 Yard Free have to be considered also. He set the 100 Yard Free record in 1985 at :41.87 and lowered it to :41.80 in 1987 and owned the American Record for 17 years until 2002. The record today is :41.49 so its only been improved by .23 seconds in 18 years. His 200 Yard Free of 1:33.03 was an American Record for 18 years and he owed that Record for almost 20 years originally setting the record in 1985 at 1:33.22 and his NCAA Meet Record of the same time was broken this year making him the holder of that record for 20 years. Also in 1985 he set the LCM American Record in the 100 Meter Free and improved it to :48.42 in 1988 and that record lasted 16 years until 2001. He and Alex Popov both had the World Record in that event for about 6 years with Popov's record being broken by Hoggie, who is now the current World Record holder. Also you have to put Hoggie in this class also. He has had the WR since the 2000 Olympics at :47.84 and that is going on 6 years. He can match Dawn Fraser and be the first man to win the 100 Meter Free in 3 Olympic games if he can duplicate his efforts in 2000 and 2004. If he does he could be considered the greatest because he would be making history.

Alex: I would agree with you. I think his 50 Free from 2000 might be his best swim but I think it sometimes doesn't get the respect it deserves because it was done at a time trial and not in a competitive meet. There have been other swims at Time Trials and as long as FINA and USA Swimming allow them, then its ok my me. This was discussed at length on another thread. Recently Tara Kirk broke the Women's American Record in the 200 Yard *** in a time trial and there were no complaints. The only major competition from 1992 Olympics to the 2000 Olympics that Alex Popov lost was the 50 Meter Free in the 1998 World Championships to Bill Pilczuk who did a time of :22.29 to Popov's :22.43 so he was undefeated in the 50 Free and 100 Free with that exception for 8 years. Also when you talk about Alex Popov, you have to talk about his predecessor, Matt Biondi. Matt was undefeated in the 100 Free in both Short Course and Long Course for 8 years. He was not in the 50 Free because both he and Tom Jager went back and forth in the 50 Free for those 8 years. Both of Matt's records in the 100 Yard Free and the 200 Yard Free have to be considered also. He set the 100 Yard Free record in 1985 at :41.87 and lowered it to :41.80 in 1987 and owned the American Record for 17 years until 2002. The record today is :41.49 so its only been improved by .23 seconds in 18 years. His 200 Yard Free of 1:33.03 was an American Record for 18 years and he owed that Record for almost 20 years originally setting the record in 1985 at 1:33.22 and his NCAA Meet Record of the same time was broken this year making him the holder of that record for 20 years. Also in 1985 he set the LCM American Record in the 100 Meter Free and improved it to :48.42 in 1988 and that record lasted 16 years until 2001. He and Alex Popov both had the World Record in that event for about 6 years with Popov's record being broken by Hoggie, who is now the current World Record holder. Also you have to put Hoggie in this class also. He has had the WR since the 2000 Olympics at :47.84 and that is going on 6 years. He can match Dawn Fraser and be the first man to win the 100 Meter Free in 3 Olympic games if he can duplicate his efforts in 2000 and 2004. If he does he could be considered the greatest because he would be making history.