The only reason I picked Randal Bal was because he looked so good in both his races. In the 100 Back heats he went :53.28 and then in the semi finals he went :53.09 and I thought he would drop a couple of tenths more and for sure be :52.9 something and challenge the World Record. He looked good until the last 25 and then he hit the lane markers toward the wall and that was the difference. He split :27.87 as opposted to :27.39 in the semi finals and that was the difference because the other four swimmers when :27.4 range.
See, I kind of had the exact opposite view. I think it's very difficult to swim a race like that three times all out. I think Peirsol's strategy of building through prelims, semis and finals was the way to go. Obviously only very few swimmers have the luxury to do this because most will need to go balls to the wall to advance to the next level.
The same thing happened with Hansen in the 100 ***. He swam fast times in prelims and semis then didn't seem to have enough left in the tank for finals (but he had enough cushion on the field that it didn't matter). Hansen's swim in finals was actually very similar to Bal's. Both took their races out a few tenths slower than their previous swims. Of course Coughlin managed to swim three very fast swims in the 100 back, although perhaps she backed off just a hair in semis.
The only reason I picked Randal Bal was because he looked so good in both his races. In the 100 Back heats he went :53.28 and then in the semi finals he went :53.09 and I thought he would drop a couple of tenths more and for sure be :52.9 something and challenge the World Record. He looked good until the last 25 and then he hit the lane markers toward the wall and that was the difference. He split :27.87 as opposted to :27.39 in the semi finals and that was the difference because the other four swimmers when :27.4 range.
See, I kind of had the exact opposite view. I think it's very difficult to swim a race like that three times all out. I think Peirsol's strategy of building through prelims, semis and finals was the way to go. Obviously only very few swimmers have the luxury to do this because most will need to go balls to the wall to advance to the next level.
The same thing happened with Hansen in the 100 ***. He swam fast times in prelims and semis then didn't seem to have enough left in the tank for finals (but he had enough cushion on the field that it didn't matter). Hansen's swim in finals was actually very similar to Bal's. Both took their races out a few tenths slower than their previous swims. Of course Coughlin managed to swim three very fast swims in the 100 back, although perhaps she backed off just a hair in semis.
