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.
I agree its difficult but at this meet if you get to conservative, you might not make the final. Plus I believe with most swimmers they should have the best time in the finals because most of them will get 24 hours rest and be more rested than from a heats to semi final swim where you get less than 12 hours and you can be eliminated easier because the field goes from the sweet 16 to the final 8. I say most because swimmers like Phelps, Hoff, Coughlin, and others are swimming multiple events so they have extra stress because of other events. This extra rest didn't seem to help Ryan Lochte in the 100 Back because he went the identical time without swimming a hard 200 Free.
The biggest suprise for me last night even more so than McGregory and Bal was Rebecca Soni. The 3 swims were as follows: Heats - 1:06.90, Semi Finals - 1:06.87 and then with 24 hours of rest, Finals - 1:07.80 taking 4th place. Soni went a high 1:06 at Santa Clara over a month ago.
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.
I agree its difficult but at this meet if you get to conservative, you might not make the final. Plus I believe with most swimmers they should have the best time in the finals because most of them will get 24 hours rest and be more rested than from a heats to semi final swim where you get less than 12 hours and you can be eliminated easier because the field goes from the sweet 16 to the final 8. I say most because swimmers like Phelps, Hoff, Coughlin, and others are swimming multiple events so they have extra stress because of other events. This extra rest didn't seem to help Ryan Lochte in the 100 Back because he went the identical time without swimming a hard 200 Free.
The biggest suprise for me last night even more so than McGregory and Bal was Rebecca Soni. The 3 swims were as follows: Heats - 1:06.90, Semi Finals - 1:06.87 and then with 24 hours of rest, Finals - 1:07.80 taking 4th place. Soni went a high 1:06 at Santa Clara over a month ago.
