I was watching the live feed on the mile last night and it took everything I had to not cheer for Erik Vendt (I was at work). It's too bad Dara's comeback is overshadowing his.
Lochte will have an impressive double tonight: 400 IM-200 back. He won't hold back on either. Since he's not in the middle lanes, Michael won't be able to see him at all.
The 100 free, men and women, are the big events of the meet. Lots of questions will be answered.
Since I live in Tucson, I'm cheering for Ryk and Roland. Neither of them had the kind of world championships they hoped for, and haven't been on their game really since 2005.
I don't know where Lyndon Ferns is, but he's been swimming well this summer and would have added more intrigue to the race.
That women's 100 free final will be tough. I'm thinking four women will be under 55. That's fast.
Erik Vendt is an animal, pure and simple. From what I've heard no one trains harder than he does.
I don't think it's out of the realm of possibililty to have two swimmers under the existing WR in the 200 back tonight. I'm a little surprised Lochte went so "slow" this morning, though. He didn't win his heat and he cut it a little too close for comfort. Dropping six seconds between prelims and finals is a tall order, though.
I noticed that 2 men were tied for 16th place in the 200 fly prelims…
Prelims, a swim-off and finals; 3 200 fly’s in one day. Now that’s fun!
I noticed that 2 women were tied for 16th place in the 400 IM prelims.
Alison Clemens won the swim off for the finals tonight in the 400 IM.
Prelims, a swim-off and finals; 3 400 IM’s in one day. Now that’s fun!
I noticed that 2 women were tied for 16th place in the 400 IM prelims.
Alison Clemens won the swim off for the finals tonight in the 400 IM.
Prelims, a swim-off and finals; 3 400 IM’s in one day. Now that’s fun!
Frank I had the same thought and was trying to figure out which one I'd rather swim 3 times ... yuck!
As for Vendt, what a rock star. He was an animal in that race it was unreal! He held his pace as everyone around him died.
I heard Lochte wasn't rested or shaved for Nationals and was swimming through it.
It's also surprising Cullen Jones got squeezed out of finals with 9th place
I'm not surprised by this at all. I had a chance to see Cullen last year at ACC's. He did pretty well there, but didn't do the damage everyone thought he would; and same at the '06 NCAA's.
I have two hypotheses here...
1 the pressure of the big meets gets to him
2 he's a better SCY swimmer than LCM (a la fred bousquet)
All of this really sucks, cause as I got a chance to snoop on his conversations on deck at ACC's, this guy is a top notch gentleman, and even though he went to a rival school, I really want to see him achieve the accolades everyone thinks he is capable of.
I'm not surprised by this at all. I had a chance to see Cullen last year at ACC's. He did pretty well there, but didn't do the damage everyone thought he would; and same at the '06 NCAA's.
I have two hypotheses here...
1 the pressure of the big meets gets to him
2 he's a better SCY swimmer than LCM (a la fred bousquet)
All of this really sucks, cause as I got a chance to snoop on his conversations on deck at ACC's, this guy is a top notch gentleman, and even though he went to a rival school, I really want to see him achieve the accolades everyone thinks he is capable of.
We don't really know where he is with his training though - is he tapered or not, did he take time off after worlds, etc.?
He did well in the relay at worlds and at Pan Pacs. I think he'll be okay.
I heard Lochte wasn't rested or shaved for Nationals and was swimming through it.
I find that hard to believe. This is his last chance before Trials to make a statement like the one(s) he made in Melbourne.
We'll find out in a couple of hours. If he breaks 4:10 in the 400 IM and approaches his world record, he's definitely not "swimming through."
And to make a comment about Cullen Jones. His not making the final does not mean anything at all. If you look at the top eight times, someone was bound to not be in the final. In the US, it used to be a major achievement to break 50.0 in the 100 free. Now we have almost 16 guys doing it (not counting Jason Lezak).
If Ben Wildman-Tobriner hadn't made the final, would we be talking about him crashing and burning? Probably. It's the court of public opinion, and I totally understand it.
The 100 frees, as I said before, are going to be two hellacious finals. And don't think those B finalists won't be out to prove something as well.
