My opinion is that the fastest swimmers in the world are doing it this way. I'm not going to suggest that they are wrong.
Really??? I don't think so. I did not notice any top swimmer with the rear foot in the toes pointed out position.
Dara Torres looked very comfortable, and she swam very fast. She is going to the Olympics, for sure. Did anyone notice the noise from the crowd, loads of people were cheering her on during the prelims, she really has captured the imagination of the masses. The few negative reports coming from simple pessimistic doubters doesn't fly when compared to the passion emanating from the fans.
Womens 100 free so far
Torres 54.5
Couglin 53.6
Here are my picks for tonights finals to make the team.
Women's 200 *** - I am going to pick Soni to win and bounce back from the disappointment of getting 4th in the 100 ***. The 2:24.65 and 2:23.05 times in this event are just to far ahead of everyone that has swam. I am not sure if she can get the AR but could be close. My second place pick is Amanda Beard based on her 2 swims so far and the 2:25.43 she brings to the final tonight. My 3rd place pick will be Leverenz and she could be the spoiler. Amanda could be one of only a very small few to make 4 Olympic teams.
Men's 200 Back - This is going to be a great race between Aaron and Ryan. I don't think there will be anybody to upset these guys for the first 2 slots but if they slip up Tyler Clary could get in there. This is a very important race for Aaron Peirsol because last year he lost the top position in the World Hierarchy of the 200 Back. The way he gets his postion back is winning tonight and if he sets the World Record while doing that, he will really get it back. I am picking him to win tonight with Ryan 2nd.
Men's 200 IM - Phelps and Lochte are the class of this event and they will be the first 2 places. I am picking Phelps here because he has not lost this race in major competition in 6 years and also feel that with only the women's 200 back semi final as rest between the 200 Back and 200 IM that it will effect Ryan and he will just race to make the team.
If Ryan Lochte wins both these races tonight, he will get major headlines at these Trials. If he goes one and one it would be a shock if he beat Phelps but not so much Peirsol because he has already done that in LCM competitions. If he is 0 and 2 in these races and still makes the team in both events, he has the Olympics to straighten things out.
Women's 100 Free - I have to go with Natlie Coughlin for the win based not only on the 100 Free swims in this meet but all of the 100 Free swims for the last 8 months. The only way I see her losing this is if she has a bad turn and dies in the last 10 meters and that does not look like its going to happen. My second pick is Dara Torres based on her swims here and how she has been swimming in the last 8 months also. The rest of the field just does not look very strong to over take these two. Lacey Nymeyer is the only one that I feel that could overtake either one or both of these swimmers if they don't swim well and she swims a little faster than semi finals. She is my spoiler for this event tonight if these other two have bad swims.
Dara along with Amanda will start to get major headlines and hype if they both make the team tonight.
Wow, Jeff Barrett from my hometown made the semi-finals in the 50! This is quite a story. Go, Jeff! I cannot wait to watch him swim tonight on NBC! He is truly living a dream he'd given up on.
www.venturacountystar.com/.../
Stroke of Serendipity
By Bob Buttitta
Ventura County Star
Three months ago, after noticing he was getting a little flabby, Jeff Barrett decided to get back in the pool to get himself back into shape.
Barrett, a former All-American at Arizona State and Ventura College, retired from competitive swimming in 2005, and since that time hadn't been in the water much.
He joined the Ojai Masters Swim team, and after a few weeks, Ojai coach Rick Goedan convinced Barrett to enter a competition, just for fun.
Barrett proceeded to swim faster than he had during any time in his career, despite having done virtually no serious training.
Shocked by his result, Barrett contacted Ventura College swim coach Larry Baratte. The two decided Barrett should continue his training and see where it could lead.
This morning, Barrett, 24, climbs into a pool in Omaha, Neb., to take part in the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
The former Nordhoff High standout will compete in the 100-meter freestyle event today and he is entered in Friday's 50-meter freestyle competition.
"It's really, really bizarre," Barrett said following his final workout last week at Ventura College. "It's serendipitous, how everything came together: Started swimming, then Rick said do this meet and then Larry said to do this. It kind of snowballed.
"Now, I have achieved something that has always been my dream. I guess the message is that it's never too late to go after something."
Ranked 23rd in the 50 freestyle and 33rd in the 100 freestyle, Barrett knows he's an extreme longshot to make the team or even swim in the finals of his two events.
His goal is to swim fast enough in the prelims to earn a spot in the semifinals, which would allow him to swim at night before a packed house of 17,000 fans.
Barrett believes the lack of expectations is to his advantage, and he's hoping it will allow him to be more relaxed and let his natural talent come out.
Four years ago, fresh off an All-America season at Arizona State, Barrett failed in his attempt to make the trials.
Barrett seemed liked such a lock to make the trials that his parents, Jim and Judy Barrett, purchased tickets well in advance of the event.
After that failure, Barrett said he stopped getting better, finally reaching a point where he figured he was through.
"I was physically and emotionally done," Barrett said. "I always felt like, Wow, I can't believe I didn't make trials.'
"But I never thought I would go back and try again, so knowing that I am going is a bit surreal."
Baratte calls Barrett's story a "head scratcher."
He said it's impossible to figure out exactly how someone can take as much time off as Barrett did and come back better than ever.
"Had Jeff come to me last September and told me he wanted to make a run at the trials, I would have never told him go take the next six months off, but that's what he essentially did, and look how it worked out," Baratte said. "And when he did come back, he did it basically on his own, primarily at the YMCA pool that is set up for fitness swimming and swimming lessons.
"I've seen swimmers take time off, relax and do a little less, but not to this extreme. It makes you scratch your head about traditional training methods."
During his high school and collegiate career, Barrett swam the 50 and 100 freestyle events, but the 200 was his best distance.
But when Barrett came to Baratte looking for help, Baratte suggested his former swimmer focus on the 50 because his fitness level and age were working against him in longer events.
With the 50, all Barrett has to do his go out fast and swim hard, an easy task for a guy who has spent much of his life training twice a day.
Barrett set his qualifying marks at the Janet Evans Invitational in June. In the prelims, he posted a time in the 50-meter event of 22.89 seconds. His previous best was 24.10. In the 100, his trials-clinching time was 50.4; his previous best was 51.9.
He set his time in the 50-meter freestyle despite a horrible start that left him in eighth place at 15 meters. But thanks to his ability to close fast, he was able to pass much of the field.
In the weeks leading up to the trials, Baratte and Barrett worked on starts, using film to break them down to pick up even the tiniest of imperfections.
Both feel the work has paid off and it could be an area where Barrett could find the time he needs to make a serious run at an Olympic berth.
"If he is with the pack at the 15-meter mark, he will have a good chance because the last half of the race he can swim with anyone," Baratte said.
Barrett's father was a swimmer, but when his parents suggested he give the sport a try, he fought it.
Barrett said his parents dragged him to the pool, but he discovered not only did he like it, but that he had a talent for the sport.
He started swimming with the Ojai Swim Club, then joined the Buenaventura Swim Club.
At Nordhoff, he continued to improve, winning CIF titles in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle as a senior in 2001.
At Ventura College, he was a national champion in the 200 freestyle in both years.
He earned a scholarship to ASU, turning in a spectacular junior season — qualifying for the NCAA Division I Championships and earning All-America honors. But after his failure to make the 2004 Olympic Trials, the magic seemed to leave Barrett.
His senior season was unspectacular as was a postgraduate season. He decided to leave the sport for good.
"After I retired, when I would talk to people about swimming they would ask if I made the trials," Barrett said. "Even though I think the NCAA Division I meet is tougher to get in to, not making the trials was something I was going to think about the rest of my life.
"That's what is great about what happened. I get a chance to take care of that unfinished business. And no matter how it turns out, I am going to go out and enjoy it."
in other events we see swimmers cruising through prelims and semifinals, They'll hold back, not go all out, let up when it's in the bag, do enough to move on, saving their big swim for the finals. You won't see this in the 50, swimmers have to go for it, they have to swim lights out, the 50 is too short to hold back, no one wants to hold back and miss out on advancing.
How the heck did he get that good in three months? Well, that is pretty amazing.
It's mind-blowing. Maybe the whole thing is just so improbable that he's relaxed and really enjoying the experience rather than putting so much pressure on himself.
I really can't believe that he will be swimming in the same heat as Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Gary Hall Jr. and Matt Grevers after not swimming for the past 3 years. His coach is his old community college coach; I don't even think he's in Omaha with him.
