Man, Randall Bal is an absolute hoss, isn't he? His shoulders are a mile wide.
Incredible finish by Megan Jendrick. I was actually shocked when her name came up on TV. Hardy and Kirk looked like they were running away with it until the very end.
I was just looking at the results for the women's 200 IM semis (which wasn't shown on TV) and noticed Elizabeth Beisel and Dagny Knutson tied for eighth, so they'll have to do a swim-off at the end of the session tomorrow morning. Ariana Kukors had a great swim with a 2:10.85 and is actually seeded second behind Hoff, but ahead of Coughlin.
"If Aaron wins and breaks the World Record at these Olympic Trials and then does a repeat performance in August at the Olympics winning both events, then they are going to start talking about him as one of the greatest, if not the greatest backstroker in swimming history."
If one holds the world records and is the Olympic champion at both distances, how can he be only "one of the greatest." Wouldn't he be, by definition, "the greatest?"
Yes but there are others that have done this in Olympic history. A case can be made for Warren Kealoha, Adolph Kiefer, Roland Matthes, and John Naber. Each of these swimmers have dominated the events just as Aaron has done. Warren Keahola is the only repeat Olympic Champion that the USA has had in the 100 meter Back. There was no 200 meter Back in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. Adolph Kiefer won the 100 meter Back in 1936 and there was no Olympics in 1940 and 1944. However he held the World Record in that event for 12 years from 1936 to 1948.
Rolland Matthes is the only repeat champion in Olympic history winning both the 100 and 200 Back at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics. He also held the World Record from 1967 to 1976 in both events. He lost the World Record to Gary Hall and Mike Stamm for less than a month to both swimmers in the 200 Back but pretty much had that record from 1968 to 1976 for a total of 9 years.
I include John Naber because from 1973 to 1977 he never lost a backstroke race at a championship meet and the meets I am including here are the NCAA, World Championships, Nationals, and Olympics. He got a DQ once during this time and that is the only loss he had in those years. He also held the World Record from 1976 to 1983 for both events exclusively which adds to 7 years.
Lets see how Aaron does in a couple of days in the 200 Back and in about a month and then we can start comparing him to the others I just mentioned.
Bal et all looked very strong
looks like he can bench 300 - 350 pounds
I noticed that also, very lean.
Other than Piersol, the backstrokers all were monstrous, good grief!
2 American's break :48 in the 100.
Garrett Weber-Gale set american record!
Phelps also breaks :48
Lezak was also under (his) old AR. Three guys under the AR in prelims. Not bad! The 4x100 free relay should be very exciting at the Olympics.
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.
I'm kind of happy that Stovall won, if only because Gaines picked Tarawater and counted the NCAA champ out. It is good to see him and his Phelps love fest turn out to be wrong every now and again. I'm bummed I missed the television coverage though, oh well.
I'm bummed I missed the television coverage though, oh well.
They showed about 5 seconds of the 100 free. :bitching: Is that because MP decided to scratch?
Well, tomorrow night it looks like they'll televise the 50.
Fort - why feel bad because someone is not ready to win?
Is it not reasonable to say they did not improve enough or train hard enough to be the winner?
I am the only one who should feel sorry if I don't win. Why should anyone else care?
It is called breaks of the game.
