Do you think it's because her lineup is so stacked already?
I think that since she has set the world record in this event she now wants to work on her speed in the shorter events, particularly the 200 free. I read somewhere that she really wants to be on that 4 x 200 free relay in the Olympics. Since the 1500 is not an Olympic event for women, I really don't see her trying to take a shot at her new record until after the Olympics.
I noticed that Dara Torres is the top seed in the 50 by quite a bit for a 50 (24.81 to 25.18) and seeded third in the 100. I wouldn't be surprised if she won both in career best times...
What surprises me is that one year out from the Olympics this meet is not being conducted in the morning finals/evening prelims format that will be used in the Olympics...
A couple things I noticed:
- no Katie Hoff in the 400 IM
- no Kate Ziegler in the 1500 free.
Many of the superstars seem to be swimming "off" or different events. One of the "highlights" of the meet could be the Phelps/Lochte battle in the 200 ***!!!
Amanda Beard, Aaron Peirsol, Margaret Hoelzer, Jason Lezak, and Randall Bal are all swimming a meet in Paris and skipping Nationals.
I didn't see Kaitlin Sandeno on the psyche sheet either.
Kaitlin is swimming in the World University Games.
Any bold predictions?
No world records at this meet. Everyone's pretty much swimming through. But no one expected all those world records in Melbourne, so I hope I'm wrong. There might be a few American records. Keep an eye on the women's 200 free.
I find it fascinating that Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps are swimming breaststroke. Whoever can get that stroke down between now and next year will be the man to beat in the IMs. I think they both know this.
To wit:
Fly -- Phelps
Back -- Lochte
*** -- Even
Free -- Phelps
If Lochte can outsplit Phelps on the *** in the 200 IM (and possibly the 400), he can hold off Phelps in the free.
I'm telling ya, the men's 200 IM will be the race of the Olympics. Ryan's killed one giant. He's got his sights set on another.
This is not to say I'm anti-Phelps. I'm just making an analysis of what I've seen since Melbourne.
